togwotee lodge.

[Dakota Drifter]

Just got back from my third trip there. Firts two trips were Dec. 15th and Jan.2nd and the service in the bar was horrible and the rest of the place was so so.
This last trip was Jan.24th and the service was excellent!!! I didn't see any of the same bar staff from the previous trips (maybe had three nights off). Jeff did a great job of turning things around. Thanks Jeff, be back on the
14th of Feb.
P.S. the greenie feel in the air was gone!

 

[Rev Kev]

Well we just got back form a Weeks Stay at Togwotee Lodge, and Half our Group stayed down at Lava Mtn Lodge. Here are the First Hand reports from each group. First Togwotee, a few rented, and the Rental Manager was almost impossiable to deal with (rebecca?) Trying to get seated in the Grizzley Steak House, with 8 Empty tables, took a Group of Four almost 20 Minutes, and one got sick off the Rotten elk Chops, now for the Group of seven who stayed down the Hill at Lava Mountain Lodge, James and His whole staff bent over backwards to make their stay pleasant, they rented the Big Cabin, food was awesome, and service was top notch, and the Best thing, they had the best Guide Togwotee ever let go. Good luck Next season at Glacier House in BC Matt!!

 

[wideopenlemans]

food for thought

Never order food that is out of the normal. How many other people are going to order ELK CHOPS! Just a steak would be fine. Think fresh shot elk on the mountain? Stay in the cabins at tog. to cook your own elk chops.
Its called KISS Keep It Simple Stupid. Food is never the same one night i ordered med. steak came well done. Next night ordered same thing med. steak it came still moving on the plate. now i never order food that will make me sick like the walleye. in wyoming. I am from minnesota i know what walleye taste like but not at 10,000 feet above sea level. How long do you think the truck with all the food was driving to get there.
beer, buger well done ,frys I will eat that for 2 weeks if I had to.

 

[Snowizard]

Wide Open--
I agree with you in principle, but for some reason Tog Lodge has had all kinds of issues this season. I posted in this thread, way back in January about the horrible trail grooming and marking conditions.
Myself and the GF love the area, but we are older, and I have a physical limitation on an arm, after an accident a few years ago, that prevents me from risking riding off trail and getting stuck, due to lack of strength.

I wrote the lodge about the conditions, since they have the grooming contract, and after a months delay I got a letter filled with excuses, not reasons. Rebecca seems to be part of the trail problem too.
(I know more than I'm going to post here!)

As far as the food situation, if the lodge is trying to discourage business, and snowmobiling in their area, they are certainly doing a good job of that.

Its a shame that the lodge has the ideal "location,location,location", but this year has management "issues, issues, issues."

p.s. I couldn't handle burgers and fries every day for the duration. The beer........well maybe.

 

[Jeff C]

I think Jeff could make things better if he had more concrete information.

Give him more to go on......

Like who (Name the staff member)
When did whatever happened,,,, happen? date and rough time

So far I have seen only one name of a staffer (Rebecca)


Just a thought

 

[R J]

I came back from my second trip out there and while again I go out for the riding and not all the other stuff I do have to say the following:

I'm working on a letter to Jeff at the lodge, they are going through a sale right now so I'm sure my letter isn't on the top of their list but I'm going to get it written here in the next week or so.

1) Front desk attendant (one who I won't name here) needs to be fired pronto. She almost made me loose my cool when I asked a few questions regarding staying another night. I didn't say a word and just let it go. When I was checking out with another employee, this same person from the night before hung up the phone and says under her breat "f-in people". I looked at her and just shook my head and drove the 17 hours home.

2) The rental shop I think has just been frazled. Attitude is key with this and while I don't deal much with rental stuff, I do buy some parts once in a while and I do like to go in and talk trash with some of the guides and mechanics, that has become a thing of the past in a way because everyone doesn't seem to be the "happy family" anymore. The grooming program, I can't say a word as everyone at Togwotee knows who I am when it comes to that end of the progam, even Snowizard understands when I say that. I have plenty of ideas for that end of things and I would love to help out along with the state and make it a great system. I know I could change things if some of my ideas were implemented because I do that type of thing every day. Some of it would cost a bit of money but for 30-40K those groomers would be rocking day in and day out.

It's just not what it used to be for us out there. It may come back with good dialouge like we have on this forum but it's going to take some time.

As for Lava Mtn, we back country rode down the drainage from the lodge all the way to Lava Mtn, got gas, the bar tender came out and chated with us a bit, we went in talked a bit about everything, had lunch and it was like a whole other world. It's just too bad that it's a bit low for most of my liking in terms of snow and riding areas. Who knows, maybe it's worth the low altitude?

 

[BU1]

Good luck Next season at Glacier House in BC Matt!!

He'll need more than good luck if the same a- hole still owns GH.


I was at Tog the first week of March and wish I would have got the name of the snippy little biotch behind the front desk. After checking in I asked for a map to find my cabin, and was left feeling like I had caused her to go way out of her way. Excuuuuuuse me, but aren't you in the business of catering to your customers?????????

 

[Beels]

Isn't it funny how some people that are in the customer service business don't like people?

 

[2fun4u]

After the issues the boys had last year at Togwotee, they weren't thrilled to go back. I had never been there, and really wanted to ride the area. So, I read through this post and read about the issues people mentioned and I took Jeff Golightly up on his offer to call them and chat about it. Jeff was very forthcoming with the fact that they have had problems and he seemed genuine in his interest to have us come back. He worked with me and answered my questions/concerns, so I booked it.

We got there last Monday and checked into the lodge. Hung out, got sleds situated, figured out where we were, etc. Everyone was nice and cordial when we got there.

Monday night we went to the bar and were having an awesome time with some guys we met from Michigan. Then, at 10:30, the bartender called for last call! ??? I thought, WTF? So asked the bartender what the policy was ............... since it is not posted anywhere that they close early. He said they are open until 11 then if there are less than 10 people in the bar, they can close if they choose. So we tried to bring our own cooler down - Tim at the front desk didn't like that much, so we took it back. We gave poor Tim a hard time, when in reality it wasn't his rules. We hung out and played pool awhile, then went to bed. SUGGESTION 1: Post the hours all over the bar so people know ahead of time! Not a problem if I know.

Dinner - Bob (Manager) at the restaurant was great and got us seated quickly! Skylar, our waiter......Dude - you rock!!! You were an awesome waiter and we enjoyed meeting you at the hillclimb too! Food was good, hot, yummy! The spicy ravioli was mmmmmmm. Only 2 issues: 1) since it's toward the end of the year, they were out of a few things each night. 2) Restaurant wasn't open enough during the day - they were only open from 7-9am 12-2pm then for dinner. We aren't early risers, so that didn't work very well for us. But it was posted, so we understood and adjusted accordingly.

Trails - were great! There was a ton of untracked great snow and the trails were in good condition. Saw the groomer both days.

The lodge was nice and clean, rooms were made up every day (Miguel - was fun chatting with you).

Jeff called me during my stay to check and see how things were going. I made the bar sign suggestion and a couple of other things. We talked and I was appreciative of him taking the time to ask - a lot of places wouldn't.

Snow was off the hook! Great riding - fun fun time!!!

All in all, I am glad I called and we went, and based on my first say......we'll go back!

2fun

 

[R J]

Lets not forget, Togwotee is a great place, we all like going there, heck I have been there every year since 1995 at least once a winter if not two times. I think this thread shows how much passion a lot of us have for the place and would like to see it just that much better.

I know Jeff reads these posts and prints them out on occasion for meetings and so on.

On a little side note I do give some of the employees a bit of a break, it's been since November they have had to deal with all us riders day in day out without so much as a break. I'm sure they are seeing all this snow still falling and wondering when they will get a chance to exhale.

Whoops, I almost forgot. We were in a lodge room on the front (parking lot side) of the lodge and it was the best!!!!! When I'm out there again I will for sure request the front side as it was extreemly entertaining, daylight savings was a huge bonus as well.

 

[wideopenlemans]

Forest service

From what i hear. the grooming lease is up soon on togwotee pass. for grooming trails on the pass. correct me if wrong. but I know there is a lease on the trail grooming with how the forest service or the feds because of who owns the land. the resort to tog. lodge? is that leased land?

For the guy with the bad arm. Sorry to hear that. I have rode with lefty you ever met him? he was a guide for goosewing ranch last year when they were open. with one arm. great rider with great spots to ride. yes the trails are marked poor.
like you said you dont ride off trail much so a good marked trail for you would help out on your trip alot.

with so many people on the mountain all winter some staff will burn out on work and dealing with everybody but if thats the case there not there for the lov of the mountain its the money to live.

this becca sounds like a real hum dinger! shes needs some.....leave it at that.

 

[R J]

Grooming in Wyoming is a contract based thing. People or places can bid it as long as they meet the requirements of the Wyoming State Trails program plain and simple. The state sets the conditions and schedules with help from the lodges/contractors and to be awarded the contract they must follow them as best they can. Most of the time Togwotee gets the job done but when something goes down it's more noticable there because for 1) they are in plain site and people can tell if they moved or not, 2) the trails in and around the lodge are congested at 9am and 4pm everyday making it near impossible to be down for more then a day.

There isn't a place in the area that could handle the volume or the amount of grooming that Togwotee does. The state could do it but I know for a fact they don't want to go down that road unless they have to. It's more advantageous to award it to contractors and Togwotee is up for renewal and they are in need of some newer equipment.

 

[Sleddingfarmer]

beware it longs...

Ive made two trips to Tog, one last winter(07) and one this past winter..Absoutely love the area ( so few people man thats nice) and yea the riding is pretty good to. Its fun to just sit out in the lot and watch the place in the morning while everyone is getting going it doesnt take long to see the place can be an all out zoo some days... Pretty entertaining to watch the people who've never rode before hop on a sled...One morning this yr I watch a lady get her sled stuck on the edge of the driveway trying to cross the rd. A simple rock of the sled and it prolly wouldve taken off but she got off and got a couple guys she was with to push her....Anyways I have very little to complain about from our first trip, there was some sled mixups but the lodge took care of it and gave us bigger sleds at there cheapest rate.
This past yr Id have to say I was pretty disappointed with a few things..
#1 by far was the food and I can see each side to this debate. Were up on a mtn top so your whats safe guard should be a up a bit, but then is it really all that hard to make at least a semi decent meal? Our first night there myself and another guy ordered ribs(had them prior trip and were great) but they mustve changed their recipe.. My idea of ribs is you know a series of ribs with meat on them.. What we got was some meat in a werid sloppy sauce with chunks of bone thrown into the mix but at least the potatoes were good... Im kind of a picky eater, and certain im in a minority but im not really a steak or beef eater and the dinner menu makes it a bit tough. With some of the meals they serve It almost seems like they are trying to make themselves out to be a 5star type lodge. Were just snowmobiling not staying at the Ritz or Hilton.. I cant think any sledders who while riding cant wait to get back and order Spicy Buffalo Rigatoni Bolognaise- Rigatoni Pasta tossed with Ground Buffalo, Crimini Mushrooms, Sweet Red Bell Peppers, Spicy Bolognaise Sauce and Finished with Cream.$17.95 or Pan Seared Airline Chicken Breast- Stuffed with Smoked Gouda, Crimini Mushrooms, Button Mushrooms, Herbs and Garlic served with a Chicken Jus and Roasted Red Potatoes. $17.95 The guy who mentioned burger and fries is right.They need to just keep it simple and take their lunch meal and throw on a couple steak/fillet type choices and maybe a seafood selection(surprisingly the salmon I had was good) and call it done. Side note- One day this yr our first guide took us to Lava for lunch, and minus all the trail running to get there the food was pretty good.

My 2nd gripe was what seemed like lack luster enthusiam in the morning by some of the guides. Last yr I think the latest we were out of the lot was just a touch after 9 and that was on our first day.. This yr it didnt seem like it made sense to come out of the room til 9...I dont think we were out of the lot til 930ish most days.. Not a lot of time but w/ the $$ im putting down to ride, I want to ride. I'll rest later after riding for a few hrs..Im pretty good w/the direction and we thought about going unguided but hell, ride down the trail a few miles hop into the trees some place and play for a while I wouldnt beable to tell you which way we needed to go to get back...

My last gripe would be they need to look at picking up some true trail sleds for the people who are just going to ride trails... The one day we were waiting in the lot, there was a group of guys from I believe Wi. who were in standby waiting for the rental shop to come up with 2 sleds i think.. We were talking to them they were there to do the off trail thing and it was obvious were regular sledders given the suits and all that... In the mean time there was a group of at least 15-20 sleds over in the unguided parking spot. We'd heard them the night before discussing how they couldnt wait to go on a trail ride and it was terribly clear by how they were trying to operate and simply apporaching the sled that most if not all had never ridden before. Never mine that they were all deck in the rental gear as well. They certainly didnt need the 155" dragon or 153" m8 to go putting down the trails.. Really there's nothing wrong with those people ( or that type of person) renting those sleds. There plenty capable the problem really only becomes a problem when you this type of situation. But while the trail riding folk had a bunch of mtn sleds tied up to put around at 5-10mph(I know we got stuck behind both out and in that day) the Wi guys had their day delayed and maybe canceled if they didnt come up with something. I dont know what did happen but they were waiting when we pulled up and still were when we pulled out. That afternoon we got to talkin about this with Carter and he said theyve looked into but were apprehensive for 2 reason.. The cost and possible lower return the trail sleds might bring since majority are there for the steep and deep. Secondly was of those who might rent them, whipping down the trail and see some nice hill or meadow and go try it out only to have it end up a disaster of one sort or another. A reasonable arguement that i guess I could only counter with maybe only updating the trail sleds every other yr or two yrs depending on there use that first yr. Similar to their thought for not updating the 07 m1000, just didnt have much time on them and didnt need new ones.
Wow, this is long but hopefully some of the powers at be might read this and make a change or two...Maybe i should print this off and send it like RJ...hmm...

 

[Kong]

Indy the problem with offering "trail" sleds in the mountains is a lot of people end up taking them off trail anyway. Then it is stuck and even retrieval time. I seen it over and over. I've been riding the area and the rockies 15 years and like I say, whenever I get into tourist territory and the folks have trail sleds they look at others off trail and away they go.

The mountain sleds work just fine anymore, are more versatile, and have better resale value.

IMHO

 

[R J]

The food has been my biggest pet peeve since they got rid of the grill in the middle of the dinning hall. I know it was long ago and I should forget about it, but the food then was perfect. Now we only eat at the bar 1 night a week at most and the rest of the time we will drive to places (dubois, Jackson etc) for a good meal as well as doing our stuff at the cabin.

If you go that route, bring a gas table top grill. Charcol in the high country takes too long!

 

[Sleddingfarmer]

Indy the problem with offering "trail" sleds in the mountains is a lot of people end up taking them off trail anyway. Then it is stuck and even retrieval time. I seen it over and over. I've been riding the area and the rockies 15 years and like I say, whenever I get into tourist territory and the folks have trail sleds they look at others off trail and away they go.

The mountain sleds work just fine anymore, are more versatile, and have better resale value.

IMHO

Your right.. I was going to add that last night, but then forgot...Carter had mention that same statement the day we were talking about it and it makes perfect sense.
As for the food thing we are kinda stuck w/the lodge attm. We fly in, so cant bring much unneeded stuff w/us. Most of our group rides up to the hill via the lodge, thus no rental car. A couple guys do rent a tahoe to bring some ski-doo's up from jackson but thats all they do with it to keep costs down...
Kinda figure we should eat up there anyways given we stay there on the package so were already paying for it...
Its all good, got another 10-11 months to figure out what we are doing next yr..

 

[Idaho Slim]

Sooooooo, I am going there this weekend, anyone I need to kick in the gooch??

 

[R J]

Well, Carter deserves a good kick! Say it's from RJ!

 

[F-Bomb]

Prepare For A Novel

Well we just got back from Togwatee and had a MUCH improved stay over last time. I can see that they have been working hard to improve or correct some of the issues of the past. I want to thank Geoff and the crew for watching out for us and we will be back. (maybe not that good of a thing?) I still highly recommend the place for your snowmobile riding vacation.

The snow is flat amazing for this time of the season. Ahh the good old days! Mom Nature didn't want us to have too much fun before Hillclimb so viz was iffy but we found enough holes in the trees to make it a really incredible time. Nothing got busted and nobody got too hurt..that's a good day of riding for me! The place is incredible for terrain, beauty, and vastness. Love the fact that I can climb, ride trees, bust wind rows, carve meadows and do it all within five minutes of food, drink, and gas!

This time the lodge staff was really pretty great. I dont remember anyone not being at least friendly and we actually got some excellent treatment and service. We met some fun guys from Michigan plus got to tip a few with the traveling band of sled show carnies. Nice to hang out and it was a great time. We were sure sad to leave early on Thurs when that looked to be the best day but HIllclimb beckoned. Really wanted those Michigan short trackers to show us their stuff. I apologize to the front desk guy for our gangs Monday night drunken debaucary/behavior...tough job hearding cats and while the drunks seemed less then appreciative it was best to have shut it down when you did! I'll thank you for that deal.

Stan and Bob in the repair/rental shop are just plain cool guys! They both took special care in looking out for us and we really appreciated the effort and consideration. Hard to ride when your handlebars won't stay put...especially when youre weak on the sticks and don't have the skilz

Skylar the waiter...HUGE THANKS man! Thankless job being picked on and complained at when it's not even remotely your fault. Saw you handle yourself with class multiple times and you deserve serious kudos. Enjoyed hanging out with you at hillclimb and hoped you enjoyed the beer/VIP swaray at jumping. Your welcome at F-Bomb Racing anytime!

Now how do we make it Togwatee better? Don't know as we had a pretty darn great time. Maybe think about these adjustments....

Food...I wonder if a simple continental style breakfast for folks in the lodge 7am to 10am like all of the better hotels are doing these days would be a good program...put out a quality coffee bar for everyone and BAG THE LIMITED TIME MORNING MADE TO ORDER BREAKFAST

lunch menu simple burger sandwiches fries and salad BUT HOLY CRAP COME ON WITH THE $11.99 plain jane burger! $10 should get me a deluxe mushroom cheese (PREMIUM) burger fries and a beer or pop and that is New York pricing! We raise beef and 10x over food cost is not right! Funny how I will spend $1000 on drinks, riding, and a couple nights lodging but $2 too much for a sub par burger just STICKS IN MY CRAW! (there is a customer service and psychology lesson in that statement)

evening restaraunt..we had such great tasting food it's hard to complain. Actually I'm not complaining merely expressing an opinion on what I think would improve our experience. Our service was exceptional as I already mentioned. I guess my comment would be that the ambiance of the facility doesn't really go with the food menu and by looking around at the guests it didn't really appear to be in line with the average customer either. I saw 25 to 60 year old males who looked to want a solid value meat and spuds style meal. (70% of the room ordered prime rib..I'm weird and observe such things for some reason) To me that means the old staple standby's... great prime rib and a couple of alternate red beef cuts, a couple poultry choices, halibut/salmon, a pasta dish, a couple potatoe choices, salad, and something resembling a colored veggie. GOOD BREAD always makes the dinner guest happy! IE Simplify and take the fluff out of it. Didn't see one single metrosexual in a room of 40. Jackson and some of it's over stuffed Cadillac Grill attitude is down the hill...let's leave it like that and just offer great tasting filling MAN food at a reasonable price!

Experienced some lodges that do taco bar and spaghetti bar nights and that was a great idea. Mix that with your salad bar and that should cover almost everyone. Super easy on the staff! More money less complaining.

Now for the Saloon (my favorite)

All you need to do is staff (with happy smiling warm hearted sled enthusiasts...or really really hot girls) and keep the bar open with set hours and stick with them. I'm on vacation and it's not fair to book a stay in a remote location sometimes based on that particular amenity and then have it be closed or randomly available just because it's not busy. If it isn't busy do something to promote more activity or simply suck it up and that night isn't a money maker! Slow nights are the cost of doing business balanced with the great nights. When you are a vacation guest every night is FRIDAY night.

Thanks for listening see you again in 09

 

[R J]

Good post there Rob.

I still want to see a auto door closer on the red fox's outside door!

It's probably too late for this but why not a simple list of things you would like to see at Togwotee. A one line request, no long explanation or anything, just a simple suggestion to make Togwotee what we all want it to be or would like it to be?

Here it is:

1) Winter staffing that is fun to be around, and enough to handle busy times.
2) Simple menu choices that are down to earth.
3) Cabin maintenance in the summer so everything is up to par come winter.
4) Pricing to stay in check.
5)