Category: Ski Patrol

Mid-February had arrived, and with it was our first NSP Level 1 Avalanche course that we’d offered through patrol in the last several years. And although conditions weren’t prime for holding an avalanche class, it was good to be up at the mountain for a couple of days of fun. As usual, I pulled in early at the Pass with Shaun (who was on duty for the weekend for SPY) and we unloaded our gear into the patrol room.

Soon, other patrollers and folks taking the class arrived as well. After grabbing the gear we would need for the day one, including beacons, probes and shovels, we headed over to the lodge to get oriented and discuss plans for the day. A short time later, we headed up on EPA, dividing the groups into two for the morning. One group would go over tranceivers and probing, and another was set for digging and evaluating snow pits as well as strategic shoveling. Brian, John and I led the snow pit group and we headed out to Lighthouse Knob to dig some pits.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous during the morning, and as suspected we didn’t find anything too interesting in the pits with respect to weak layers. Numerous extended column tests didn’t produce fracture/propagation, but the students still found a lot of useful information in the pits. After a couple of hours, the two groups switched, and the folks from the transceiver group headed our way and we did it (digging pits) all over again.

The morning went by quickly, and soon it was well past noon and time for the students to do a little work on their own with companion rescue before we all met up below the Sleepy headwall for some formal organized probing to round out the day. Hannah and Laurie led the conversation with the group, and soon the commands of “probe left, probe center and probe right” rang out.

After a healthy dose of organized probing, it was time to call it a day and we headed down about the same time as patrol was completing sweep. It was a good end to our first day of the class, and I was looking forward to a well-earned beer. My offering for the evening was a tasty McKenzie Hazy IPA from McKenzie Brewing.

After hanging out in the patrol room for awhile and enjoying some good conversation, it was time for Shaun and I to head down to Oakridge for the evening. Brian and Shannon were kind enough to let us stay over at their place, and it was nice to have a shorter drive the next morning for day number two. We had a good evening filled with good food and wine, and then headed back to the hill early the next morning. The students headed out with a few instructors on tours to put together all the information from the in-town lectures and yesterday’s field day, while Hutch and I recruited the SPY to help set up the final avalanche scenario.

Setting up the scenario is always a lot of work, but I think this year we made the most realistic looking avalanche we’ve made in several classes. Hutch dug out an awesome crown face the day prior, and the SPY did a great job of climbing up and down the slope and churning up the snow to make the debris look realistic. We put out several clues, buried six “victims” and things were pretty much ready to go by 12:30.

Around 1:30-2:00 pm, the class met at the top of Peak 2, and we went over the logistics of organized rescue as well as the various tasks associated with it. Before we headed in and turned the students loose, I snapped a group picture of everyone at the top of Southbound.

A few moments later, we headed in and the “rescue” unfolded. Toby was kind enough to act as the incident commander, and formed the teams prior to entering the scenario. The first team in was looking for the victims that may have had beacons, and did a great job honing in on them quickly.

A short time later, a search team was deployed to strategically probe around clues as well as uphill of trees and around the toe of the avalanche. They did an awesome job, communicated with their team leader and IC well, and found a few more “victims.”

 It was fun watching the class unfold, and I snapped several pictures to document the action. All told, including setting up the scenario, I must have climbed up and down the slope at least a half a dozen times if not more.

Finally, after there wasn’t any beacon signals anymore and all clues/likely catchment areas had been spot probed, the team setup an organized probe line to find the last two remaining “victims.”

Prior to setting up the probe line, I took advantage of the great light and snapped a few candid pictures of Brian as well as Hannah and Shannon with the trees along West Peak as a back drop…

The students setup the formal probe line, and did a great job, eventually finding the last two “victims” in and near the toe of the avalanche.

After the class, we did a debrief at the top of Peak 2 as we usually do. All things considered, I think this class performed as well or better than any class we’ve had in the last several years with respect to the final scenario. Once the debrief was over, folks headed down with gear in tow to the patrol room. Since we weren’t in uniform, Tyler, James, Brian and I headed down via SDN for our final run of the day, one of my favorite parts of the avalanche class.

The snow wasn’t the best, but it was still fun and we enjoyed the run back to the area. Down at the bottom, I was happy to have a cold beer waiting for me as we wrapped up our day. This day’s offering was a cold and refreshing Alpha Centuri IPA from Hop Valley Brewing, and it hit the spot!

Like the day prior, I enjoyed socializing with patrol for a half hour or so after the day was over, and then it was time to grab Shaun and hit the road. With all the effort that goes into planning and executing the class, it’s always a bit of a relief when the weekend is over, and this year was no different. All in all, it was another great weekend at the Pass. Here’s a parting shot of Tyler shredding through the terrain below West Peak Saddle on his way back to the patrol room.

The winter of 2022-23 kept marching forward, and before I knew it, February was here and so was my first patrol day of the month. As usual, I headed out early in the am, with Shaun in tow, and we rolled up to the Pass around 7:20 am. The mountain was looking to be in good shape, with 4-5 inches of fresh snow overnight.

After our morning meeting, we headed out to open the hill. The front of the mountain was skiing all right, with the fresh snow settled over a crust, but by the time we worked our way to Peak 2 I could tell we were in for a treat. The new snow settled over the existing base nicely, and with no crust, the conditions were quite good. We got the mountain open, and then waited for the public before heading down for a second lap. Shannon, Gretchen and I headed over to June’s Run, and I was able to snap a few pictures of them before the masses tore it up…

After opening, the plan for the day was to head to the top of Peak 2 to work with the candidates on some sled training. I met up with the others at the top and it continued to snow — making it a decent day to run the 350!

The plan was for the candidates to get some work in both on the handles and the tails, and the preferred location was the trees on skiers right of Northern. The candidates worked on full scenarios, by heading down with the unloaded sled to a “patient,” and then loading them and running them down to the base of Peak 2.

Everyone was looking strong on the first run, and it didn’t take long to get patients loaded and work our way down to the base of Peak 2. After a quick debrief, it was back to the top for another lap…

We switched up roles a bit on the second lap, and rotated folks from the handles to ballast and from ballast to the tail rope. The second lap went smoothly as well, although I was interrupted by a radio call for a couple of incidents.

 After taking care of the incidents, it was back to work running laps in the trees. Gretchen and Jenn were rocking it on the 100, with James in tow. It was fun to watch their progress improve with each lap down….

After shooting photos of Gretchen and James, we headed down and then back to the top for another lap. This time, I shot a few photos of Michael coming down, with James on the tail and one of our instructors in the sled….

After lunch, we spent another couple of hours with the sleds, getting everyone more time in the handles and on the tails. The afternoon was quiet as well from the perspective of incidents, a welcome surprise after the previous few Patrol 2 days we’ve been having as of late. I caught a few more runs with the candidates, and before I knew it, it was time for sweep.

We swept off Peak 2 and then EPA, and I bailed on lower mountain sweep to head in and do paperwork before our evening meeting. It also provided a quick minute to grab a picture of my beer offering for the day – a super refreshing Irish Stout from Coldfire Brewing.

The evening meeting went quickly, and it was time to enjoy the beer and some good company before packing it up and calling it a day. I grabbed Shaun, and we hit the road, happy with having logged another great day at the Pass. Here’s a parting shot of Shannon from earlier in the morning on June’s Run…

Where has the time went I thought to myself as I headed up Highway 58 for my last patrol day in January. As hard as it was to believe, the month was coming to a close. I was looking forward to a fun day on patrol, and was happy to see the mountain looking good as I pulled up to the patrol room to drop off gear.

Our morning meeting went smoothly, and after discussing the plans for the day, we headed out to open the hill. I snapped a few pictures in the morning light at the base as we headed out, including the shot below of Tyler, Gregg and Anna. By the time we arrived at the top of EPA, the clouds were rolling in and out, but I could tell it was going to be a beautiful day.

After opening a run on the frontside, I worked my way over to Peak 2 and decided to traverse out to our avalanche route to check it out. Not having had the opportunity to run the route yet this season, it was nice walk the ridge, and it reminded me that I needed to get back out to the backcountry again soon.

After checking out the route, I skied back down to Where’s Waldo and enjoyed a nice groomer to the bottom of Peak 2. The lift ride to the top went quickly, and it was time to begin sled training with our crew of candidates who were ready to go.

We met at the top of Peak 2, and then headed over to the top of June’s Run with a Cascade 100, Cascade 350 and an Edge sled in tow. The conditions were exactly all time to run the 350, with only about an inch of new snow over a firm crust, but it would have to do. After talking things over at the top of June’s, the candidates jumped into the handles, sleds and tail ropes, and we shoved off…

The first run down June’s went smoothly, literally because half of the run had been groomed the night prior. The candidates did well on the Edge and Cascade 100, and had a few challenges on the 350, which was expected given the conditions.

Once down at the bottom, we provided some feedback, before heading back up to do another lap. This time, folks switched positions and those in the handles, went to the tails or provided ballast for the sled. This time, I jumped in since we were short a couple of folks, and got pulled down the hill by Gretchen and Sarah.

Gretchen and Sarah did great, although I could tell the conditions were challenging. We made it to the flats below, and they ran the sled empty from there down to continue practicing with the 350 sans a heavy load.

The rest of the morning was spent making a few more laps on June’s, which went similarly to the first couple. I snapped a few more pictures as we practiced, and then it was time to head in for lunch.

After lunch, which provided a quick rest, it was back to sled training. The feedback and repetition was starting to set in for the candidates, and the runs after lunch looked quite a bit better than in the morning. 

The shadows started to creep onto the run, and pretty soon most of June’s was in the shade — a subtle reminder that winter wasn’t giving way to spring quite yet. I fired off several more shots, including a couple below that I liked of Tyler and Althea pulling Ian and then Gretchen and Jenn pulling James….

After shooting the above mentioned crew, I headed to over to the other side of the run and was able to snap a few photos of Amber pulling Michael on the Edge sled and then zoom out to get a wide-angle shot of the crew heading down towards the base of Peak 2.

Down at the bottom, I caught James lounging in the sled, and he was more than happy to pose for the camera :). We had time for a couple more laps before sweep, so we headed up decided that Escalator would be a good run to finish on. 

I jumped into the sled pulled by Jenn and Gretchen for our final training lap of the day. They rocked it on the way down, and I was able to capture a few shots of Jenn from my vantage point in the sled, including the picture below.

After our last training run, the candidates took care of the sleds and it was time to close Peak 2 and then EPA. Closing went smoothly, and I snapped a picture of Greg on RTS before heading down to take care of paperwork and get the beers and bean dip ready for after our evening meeting.

I kept the evening meeting short, and enjoyed a tasty Robot Overlord Hazy IPA from Loowit Brewing that I’d picked up a few months earlier in Vancouver while visiting Mt St Helens with my family. It hit the spot, and so did the bean dip.

I enjoyed the camaraderie with fellow patrollers in the patrol room while looking over run reports, and eventually it was time to call it a day and hit the road with Shaun. All in all, it was another great day on patrol at the Pass!

I was looking forward to a three-day weekend with an extra day off of work, and the plan was to head to Sunriver with the family to enjoy a couple days of vacation. Shaun and I had a patrol day smack dab in the middle of our weekend, but we were happy to get some turns in and headed out early from the east side and made the trip south on highway 97 before arriving at the Pass. Our morning meeting went well, and soon we were out opening the hill.

I could tell it was going to be a busy day, and soon the chairs were full of skiers and riders and the lift lines started to queue. The first couple hours of the morning went pretty smoothly, but then things started to get interesting….

As it sometimes does, things started to happen in a flurry, and within an hour we were managing 6 different incidents that included a broken wrist, a seizure on the Peak 2 chairlift, a diabetic that hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for hours, a very small girl with a fractured leg, and concussion, and a single leg amputee that had fallen out of the chairlift from 20 feet. Needless to say things got busy. After dispatching all my patrollers, I ended up treating the broken wrist until Toby could come and relieve me, and then I took the toboggan down to the skier who fell from the chairlift. While skiing down, I came across another injury, a twisted knee, and let them know we’d get to them as soon as we could.

After dropping off the sled and riding back up the chair, I grabbed another and headed down to meet up with Patrick who was treating the knee injury. We took the patient down to the bottom of Peak 2 and I bid Patrick farewell as he headed off around the haul road for the front.

I managed to get over to the front and the aid room was like a MASH clinic with patients everywhere. After a bit, we were able to get things somewhat calmed down and I found 20 minutes to eat my lunch before heading back out on the hill when we started to get more calls from dispatch. Another knee, a concussion, etc., the calls just kept coming.

Eventually, things calmed down and the day moved to an end with sweep, but not before one more incident which brought the total for the day to 11, not including courtesy rides. Sweep went off smoothly, and I was pretty happy for that, and I managed to capture a few pics of Amber as we closed RTS.

Back down at the patrol room, we held the evening meeting and it was clear everyone was a bit weary from the day. We recapped the day’s incidents, discussed learning points, and then it past time to enjoy a well deserved cold one. My beer of choice for the day was a fitting Mountain Rescue Pale Ale from Good Life Brewing, and it hit the spot after a stressful day on the hill.

An hour or so later, after looking over the incident report forms and closing up the patrol room, Shaun and I headed back to Sunriver. Both of us were looking forward to getting back with the rest of the family and taking a dip in the hot tub, before coming back to the Pass the next morning to ski together with the cousins! The next day was definitely fun and a lot more relaxing. Below are a few shots from our day…

I was on duty for my first patrol day in January on the 7th, which was also the first Saturday of the month. Conditions were looking to be ok, with about an inch of new snow overnight and sunny skies in the forecast. I headed up in the morning with Shaun in tow, and we made it to the ski area in good time, arriving early to the morning quiet ahead of the hustle and bustle a few hours later.

Our patrol had a good morning meeting, and then we headed up to the top of EPA to open the mountain. After our first lap, I snapped a picture of a few of the gang at the top.

The plan for the day was to get all of our toboggan instructors through a continuing education clinic, to ensure everyone would be on the same page for teaching the sled candidates coming up over the next couple of months. We wanted to start that early, so I snapped a picture of Jon and Anna at the top of EPA and headed over to Peak 2 with several others to get started…

Once at the top of Peak 2, I found several others getting a few Cascade 100’s ready to roll down Waldo. We talked over a few points applicable to proper sled running, then headed down to the rollover to chat some more….

We talked over a variety of issues associated with running the 100’s, including proper use of the brake and how to effectively run the tail rope, as well as proper weight distribution for skis, etc. After our discussion, Craig headed down with Brian on the tail and we all slid down Waldo. I snapped a few shots as everyone headed down, capturing Mt Ray in the background….

After making a couple of runs, we called it good for the sled running and headed up to the top of EPA to play with the sled pickets that Laurie was interested in. Basically the sled pickets were just mountaineering pickets with some sewn runners and carabiners that work pretty well to anchor the sled in most snow conditions.

We spent a little time practicing with the system, and it definitely worked well holding the sled on a slope with a load applied to it. Hopefully we won’t have to use the pickets anytime soon, but it’s nice to have the option in the event they might be needed.

By the time we wrapped up the sled work, it was time to head over to Peak 2 and get ready for sweep. I was able to catch up with Shaun, and we swept Escalator together. I let him go down ahead, and snapped a picture of him at the bottom looking quite small from up above.

Peak 2 sweep went quickly, and soon we were all back up top and ready to head over to EPA for upper mountian sweep. I captured a few pictures of the SPY as well as James and Julie with the SPY up top before we headed over.

After making the short hike to EPA, we swept the upper and lower mountains. The frontside sweep went smoothly (no major incidents or courtesy rides) and we were back down at base in time for me to snap a few more pictures, including Shaun below as well as a pic of my cold beverage of choice for the afternoon, a tasty Cloud Core Hazy Pale Ale from Ecliptic Brewing.

After our evening meeting, it was time to dive into the beer and chips/dip, and it felt great to hang out and catch up with fellow patrollers after a fun day on the hill. Good camaraderie with fellow patrollers is one of my favorite things about being on patrol, and probably the main reason that I keep coming back year after year. Like many days on patrol, this day was a great day, and I’m hoping to have many more this year filled with good snow and good friends! Here’s a parting shot from the day….