Category: Ski Patrol

After a fun trip to Tam McArthur Rim, it was time to head back to the Pass for my first day of patrolling in March. With all the rain in the previous week, expectations for the day weren’t high, but at least the sun was shining when I pulled into the parking lot a little before 7:30 am. After donning gear and getting the assignments put up on the white board outside the patrol room, it was time for our morning meeting. Dan and Patrick did a good job leading the medical minute on the proper use and installation of the beach chair, and then it was time to head out and open the mountain.

I headed up to EPA to help with opening, and it was nice to see Odell Lake again after being away from the Pass for a couple of weeks.

I spun a lap or two on the lift before heading down to check in on Shaun and Tanner, who had come up with me and were planning on skiing together during the day. The snow was quite firm, but it was apparent the rain had really put the hurt on the front side of the mountain, and there was quite a bit of dirt showing on the big four. By the time I came back up to the top, we were ready to open Peak 2, and I grabbed a quick pic before dropping the rope and heading back.

Around 10:00 am, I met up the SPY at the base, and we headed out to show them a few of the out of the way areas to help get them familiar with them in the event we ever had incidents that needed responding to. We spun a few laps on the backside, and skied through Obvious Choice, Lighthouse, Cherokee, and the Meadow. The snow was pretty terrible, but it was still fun to visit the out of the way spots and show Cesca, Calvin and Silas around.

By the time we were done exploring, it was nearing 11:30 am and I headed back down to the base to get an early lunch. Once finished, I headed back up to the top of EPA and found Dan sitting bump.

I waited around up top and bit, and soon Shaun and Tanner arrived, and I was able to have Dan grab a picture of me with them. They didn’t want to wait long though, since they were skiing with some other friends. Before long I wonder if I’ll even be able to keep up with them!

After Shawn and Tanner took off, I decided to check out RTS to see how the conditions were. It had been closed for quite awhile, but I wanted to give it a go. Dropping in, it was pretty firm. I made my way to the bottom, and headed out via Lois Lane. Spinning around back to the top of EPA, I snapped a quick pic of Andy and Craig with their matching skis.

Even though it wasn’t that great, I decided to drop into RTS for another lap, and before I got to the top of Twilight, I got a call regarding a courtesy ride there. I dispatched Patrick to respond, and when I showed up he took me up on my offer to provide a tail rope. We ended up doing a double, in more ways than one, in that the courtesy ride was for two small girls who were sisters and not older than probably 6 or 7. The other part of the double was that as soon as we got to the base, we got a call for another courtesy ride for a snowboarder with a broken binding. We made a quick turnaround with the sled, and headed down again with the snowboarder in tow.

After a couple of courtesy rides, I was ready to get away from Twilight, and headed back up to the top of EPA. I chatted with Buz for a few minutes, and then Dan and I headed down and worked our way over to Swoosh, which was skiing quite nicely.

We headed back to the top of EPA again, and it was time to start getting ready for sweep. While I was talking to a few patrollers at the top of EPA, we noticed a couple of bald eagles circling above us. I quickly put on my telephoto lens, and was able to take a few pics that turned out when one of them landed on a dead snag in the tree farm.

By the time I was done taking pictures, I noticed I was a little late for Peak 2 sweep. It turned out not to matter however, since there were plenty of others that had it covered. So instead of sweeping, I hung out with Greg at the top of EPA and monitored the radio traffic while we waited for everyone to come our way to start upper mountain sweep.

Soon, everyone was back at the top of EPA, and we swept the upper mountain after the final chair unloaded. Both upper and lower mountain sweep went off without a hitch, and everyone was happy for the day to come to a close because it meant it was time to crack open a beer after our evening meeting. Since it was a Sunday, I had brought up a mixed 12-pack from Pelican Brewing, and we also had a 12-pack from Ninkasi Brewing that was given to us from a visiting patroller earlier in the day.

My beer of choice for the evening was a Cape Crasher IPA from Pelican, and it definitely hit the spot while hanging out with fellow patrollers after a long day. Eventually, after the beers disappeared and everyone was through with the BS, it was time to call it a day and head home. I did a quick look through of the day’s incident reports, locked up the patrol room, grabbed Shaun, Tanner and our gear, and we hit the road, satisfied with another good day at the Pass.

Another week on patrol, and another week of no precipitation across the west coast. The number of days it has actually snowed during this season can nearly be counted on one hand. Nevertheless, I headed up to the Pass with Shaun for a day of patrol. We pulled into the patrol parking lot early, and before long it was time for the morning meeting. After discussing the day’s activities, several of us headed out for an avalanche refresher led by Hutch.

We started off at the base of EPA with a discussion about the rope, harness, belay setup, etc., and then moved up top once the lift started spinning.

A bit later, when we had discussed running the route, it was time to head to Peak 2 and actually run the route. The hike to the top went quickly, and soon we were skiing down to June’s Run and then walking the ridge line out to the nose. The lack of snow along the normal route was pretty stunning.

Once we reached the nose, we set the belay up and talked through how we cut the cornices and windslab that builds up around the nose. From the nose, we moved down the ridge to then second belay point, setting up the belay once more and discussing how to make appropriate ski cuts in avalanche conditions when the slopes are loaded. Finally, we worked our way out into the meadow below, skiing from island of safety to island of safety, and then down to the bottom.

After running the route, I took a lap or two on Peak 2 to enjoy the snow, and then headed down to the base for a lunch break.  At the car, I couldn’t resist pulling out my beer for the day — a Stash Bandicoot Hazy Imperial IPA from Hop Valley Brewing — but just to take a picture. Enjoying it would have to wait until the end of the day.

After lunch, I headed back up to the top of EPA to check on some OEC training that was going on. Gretchen was working on leading a femur fracture scenario, and Fischer and Tyler were assisting, with Laurie supervising. Things appeared to be going pretty well, so I then headed out for a couple of laps before meeting at the top of Peak 2 to supervise some sled training with Ian and the sled candidates.

When I arrived at the top of Peak 2, Ian informed me they were hoping to do a full scenario, including a mock injury, treating the patient, loading the patient into the sled, and then running the loaded sled down June’s to the base of Peak 2.

It was fun to watch the sled candidates apply all the training they had been doing over the year, including discussing where to park the sled, applying the necessary OEC treatment, and then loading the patient into the sled before ultimately wrapping them up and heading down the mountain. Overall they did a great job!

After a bit of discussion and trouble shooting, they were able to get Gretchen in the sled without issue, and the ride down to the bottom of Peak 2 was smooth and easy. The overall progression of Anna, Ben and Patrick on the sleds has been great, and the following weekend (after running the RTS Belay Sled), they became full fledged alpine patrollers!

With all the day’s activities, the hour was getting late and it was almost time for Peak 2 sweep. I met up with Shaun, and we were able to ski a few runs on together on Peak 2. Our final run before sweep was on Destiny, and I was able to grab a few photos of him as we headed down…

Peak 2 sweep went off without a hitch, and soon it was approaching the end to another day of patrolling. Clouds were starting to move in as well, which hinted at the slightest possible change in the weather pattern.

We loaded the Peak 2 chair, rode to the top, and headed to EPA for upper mountain sweep. The light on Diamond Peak was looking really pretty, and I was able to snap a few pictures before we started sweep, including the shot above as well as the one below framed by a chair from EPA.

While I was taking pictures, Gretchen began belting out Happy Birthday to Kyle…..in Opera. It was Kyle’s birthday — all the lifties had let us know about it earlier, and everyone stood there in awe. Gretchen absolutely rocked it, and at the end there was a big round of applause. In all the years I’ve been on patrol, this was one of the coolest moments in recent memory.

After the opera show, it was time for upper mountain sweep, which went off without a hitch. Lower mountain sweep went without incident as well, and finally it was time to enjoy that beer in the parking lot after we cleared the mountain and held our evening meeting.

Even in the midst of ridiculously long extended ridge of high pressure, it was still a really good day on the mountain, and I’m looking forward to getting back up again soon. Here’s a parting shot from the day of Shaun skiing down Destiny…

With the unrelenting ridge of high pressure hanging tough off the Oregon coast and showing no signs of abating, I headed up to the Pass for another day of patrolling and to escape the valley fog. The forecast was calling for blue skies and sunshine, and it turns out that’s exactly what we got. As usual, I pulled into the patrol lot around 7:20 am with Shaun in tow, and donned my gear before heading over to the base area. After checking in with management about the day’s activities, I was able to capture a few photos before we settled in for the morning meeting…

After the general announcements and discussion about the day’s activities, Hannah led a conversation for the medical minute about mid-shaft femur fractures and the sager splint, which gave me time to step away from leading the discussion as hill chief and shoot a few photos, including the one below.

Once the medical minute was over, it was time to head out and open the hill. I headed up EPA, and opened one of the frontside runs, and then went down to grab Shaun and get him out on the hill for the day. We had time to make a couple of runs before meeting up with the SPY at 10:00 am…

A few minutes before 10:00 am, I had to head down to the base, while Shaun wanted to spin a few laps on Peak 2. My conversation with the SPY focused on aid-room activities, and then I headed out to check-in on the OEC candidate training that was occurring at the base area. I found several scenarios going on at once, and decided to take the opportunity to snap a few pics with my camera to document the action…

It was looking pretty serious with several folks evaluating, and it was good to see both Jen and Matthew on the hill, as both were recovering from health/injury issues….

About the time I headed back to the patrol room to grab my gear, the area completely lost power. We later learned that most of central Oregon from La Pine to Klamath Falls was out of power, but nobody knew it at the time. To keep in communication, as a patrol we had to switch to channel 6 (line of sight), and I was able to establish connection with John Fischer at the top of the hill to relay to our folks on Peak 2. After about 20-25 minutes, the area had everything up and running on backup power, and we were back in business.

I quickly hopped on the EPA lift and made my way to the top. With all things considered, I was pretty amazed at how well the area management was able to get everything switched over (including running the Twilight lift on diesel power) to get everyone back in business. I waited up top for a few minutes for Shaun, who I knew would be coming up soon, and snapped a few pictures of Lakeview Peak through the barstool at the top of EPA, as well as a self-portrait reflecting in the glass of the EPA summit shack….

A short time later, after another lift stoppage of about 20 minutes, Shaun arrived at the top of EPA and we headed over to Peak 2 to check in on the sled training Ian was leading with Anna, Ben and Patrick.

The sled candidates were working with the 350, and although conditions weren’t ideal, they were rocking the unloaded sled on Waldo.

I took a few pictures of Anna in the handles and Ben in the rear handles as they came down, and then skied down the run with Shaun.

We ended up spinning one more lap with the sled group, and then it was time to head back over to the front side for some more turns…

A bit later I found myself back at the top of EPA, and I wanted to take a few photos with my Canon f/1.8 50 mm lens. Anna and Austin showed up a few minutes later and made for a suitable subject.

Ian and Dan were next, and obliged while I fired off a few shots. Finally, I turned my attention to Brian, as we supervised some of the OEC training that was happening up top.

Given the power failure and that we were running on backup power, I was happy to have the extra patrollers and candidates at the top of EPA for training as opposed to the base, in the event that we needed extra hands if something went awry.

As it usually does, 3:30 pm rolled around before I knew it, and it was time to sweep Peak 2. I headed over and met up with Shaun, who was game to help with sweep as well. At the top of the lift, I snapped the below picture of Anna, Tyler and Patrick before we closed the runs off for the afternoon….

Shaun and I were assigned to sweep Waldo, and it was awesome watching him sweep the run after everyone was off the hill. He clearly enjoyed being the last person on the run, and as Fischer said, he’s clearly got a little patroller in him….

Down at the bottom, we loaded up and headed back to the front to sweep the upper mountain. The sun was low enough in the sky that I was able to get a few decent shots with my wide angle lens, including the one below of a group of patrollers unloading Peak 2.

After unloading Peak 2, we made the short walk to the top of EPA, and the light was still really nice, so I grabbed a picture of Kyle at the top terminal, as well as the P2 crew just before we shoved off for sweep.

Shaun wanted to sweep Success, so we headed down and found some really nice corn. I was pretty happy with how Shaun was skiing, and he made really nice turns down the good snow.

We headed down the bottom, not needing to sweep George since it was covered from the Twilight closing crew, and found the OEC candidates getting their jackets. OEC candidates no more, they had successfully passed their training and were now full fledged patrollers!

A few moments later, the rest of the patrol trickled in, and we had a quick evening meeting and then celebrated with post-patrol beers. The social committee had a cooler full of Oakshire, and I was happy to drink a tasty beer that had been in my fridge for a few weeks — a Tangerine Express Hazy IPA fro Stone Brewing.

The beers hit the spot, and it felt really nice to hang out with fellow patrollers after a long day on the hill. I did manage to escape for a few minutes to head in and review the incident reports in the patrol room, and then it was time to make my way to the car to load gear and hit the road. All in all, it was another great day on patrol, even if it hasn’t snowed in several weeks!

After over a week of high pressure, I headed up to the Pass for what I was hoping would be a fun day of patrolling in the sun. As usual, I left the house early, and arrived in the parking lot around 7:20 am, in hopes of snapping a few photos with my fisheye lens prior to taking care of the morning activities. I snapped the below shot of the base area, and then headed to find Tim to discuss plans for the day.

A bit later, it was time for the morning meeting, and after discussing the day’s activities, Laurie led a discussion on the medical minute, which included a discussion on assessments, as well as seizures. Having Laurie take over the discussion for a few minutes allowed me to step back and shoot a few pictures, including the one below…

After the morning meeting, we headed out to open the hill, and a number of us (including the OEC candidates who were up to train) made our way to the top of EPA to open the upper mountain. Before we headed out to open runs, Jim England was nice enough to grab my camera and shoot a picture of us at the summit.

I opened Timburr, which wasn’t really friendly right out of the gate, but then headed over to Eagle’s with Anna to ski some better snow for a second lap…

After spinning a couple of laps off EPA, I decided to check in on the OEC training. Laurie, Hannah and Matthew were leading the OEC candidates just off the top of EPA where we typically do avalanche training, and it looked like they were starting out with lower extremity injuries.

After the OEC check-in, I headed back to the top of EPA, and noticed Dan, Doug and Tyler working on a sled and getting some of our signage from the base up to the top shack, so I snapped a photo of them as well…

The morning was going quite well, so I took another lap, enjoying the snow which was just starting to soften up on the south facing runs. Once back up to the top, I pulled out the camera for a few more pics, including the one below of Anna and Jon.

By this point, the temperature was really starting to warm up, and as I poked my head back over to see what the OEC group was doing, I had to laugh (and snap a picture) when I noticed Matthew with just his vest on and no shirt!

Next up, it was time for a couple laps on RTS before heading to the car for lunch, and although the snow wasn’t soft, it wasn’t too hard either, and it was nice to get some technical turns in on the steepest run on the hill.

Back at the base, I enjoyed a well-earned lunch at the car, and headed back out on the hill for what would become a somewhat tumultuous afternoon. At the base before I loaded the lift, we got a call from dispatch of an potential injured snowboarder on Peekaboo. I deployed Anna, who was in the area to check it out, and then worked my way to EPA to load. A few minutes later she replied that she needed a sled, backboard, a BLS pack, and three additional patrollers, and I knew it didn’t sound good.

With other patrollers behind me on the chair, I responded as backup, and requested 3 others for additional assistance. I headed down RTS to the top of Twilight, got the sled and equipment, and headed out. Without getting into detail, we ended up making the call for a helicopter, and readied the landing zone at Sleepy. SPY, hosts and candidates did an awesome job of clearing patrons from the lift and bunny hill, and a short time later, we had the patient to the base area, at which time another incident occurred that required an ambulance ride. With shit getting real in a hurry, I was super happy to see the Life Flight helicopter as it arrived.

The paramedics headed over to our aid room to care for the patient, and ultimately transport them to a higher level of care. I headed back out to run the hill, and worked my way back up to the top of EPA.

Ultimately, the helicopter crew got the patient loaded and off the hill, with the assistance of several patrollers, and things settled down for the rest of the afternoon. The candidates went back to training, and beyond a wild goose chase trying to locate a set of keys for a car that belonged to the family of a patient in the aid room, the rest of the day went smoothly.

When it was time to close the hill for the day, nobody was happier than I was to be done. Just before everyone headed out to sweep the upper mountain runs, I snapped the below pic of Kerstin and Joe basking in the evening light….

Dan was running sweep, and I stayed up top with him while patrol called in the runs one by one. I always get a kick out of staying up top to end the day, and it reminds me a lot of spring missions to the Pass after they are closed — with the only thing missing being the beer!

Once upper mountain sweep was over, we swept Twilight without a hitch, and then headed down for a lengthy debrief of the day’s incidents and activities. Finally, it was time for some well deserved beers, and I pulled out a Pray for Pow stout from 10 Barrel Brewing, which I was hoping might help turn the tide against the stubborn high pressure ridge that seems to be planted firmly in place off the west coast.

Unfortunately, my Pray for Pow beer didn’t bring any pow back to us (as I’d learn in the coming several weeks), but it sure did hit the spot, and made for really nice ending to an otherwise stressful day. Drinking a good beer in the company of my ski patrol family at the end of the day reminded me of what I really enjoy most about patrolling, and soon the stress of the day was washed away with the laughter of the parking lot crowd hanging out by the campfire. All in all, I’d have to say it was a pretty good day on the mountain.