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After stumbling through a dry January and wondering if there would be fresh snow to make our Level 1 Avalanche course at the Pass more enjoyable, February arrived with cooler temperatures and a healthy dose of fresh powder. Needless to say, the stoke level was high as our crew headed out to the Pass for a couple of days of field work after wrapping up the classroom sessions earlier in the week.

After spending a few hours to put the final touches on the field days, we divided our rather large class of 23 folks up into two groups for the morning session on day one. Everyone was boot ready in the lodge at 8:00 am, and soon we hopped on the lift to head to the top of the mountain for some work with beacons, probing, shoveling and snow pit analysis.

Brian and Laurie led group one with small group rescue in the traditional spot near the Kris Kross closure, and I headed down to Lighthouse Knob with John Fischer and Jon Marshall to do some snowpit tests and observations.

After leading a discussion on the various stability tests, we dug a test pit for the students and then they dug their own pits. Everyone performed extended column tests and several of us also did the propagation saw test. Interestingly, most of the ECT tests were negative (no results) although a few results were in the range of ECTP25-28. The PST results, however, were mostly positive. Given all the new snow, the weak layer was 30-40 inches down, which appeared to be accounting for some of the variable results.

The weak layer was a crust sitting on top of a fairly large amount of depth hoar, something we traditionally don’t see in the Oregon cascades. It was a good experience for the students and also fun to be able to look at the crystals and see the facets.

Once the first round of rotations were complete, we switched groups and did the same work again. Once that was complete, that brought us to an hour or so of small group rescue. My team headed down to the bottom of RTS and did some work hiding and subsequently finding buried beacons. By 3:00 pm, the whole class gathered at the top of the Sleepy Headwall for an orientation on formal probing and probe lines. Laurie led that conversation and I snapped a few photos before we headed down to the top of Sleepy for some work with the probes.

The formal probing went well, and after a half an hour or so, the day was done and sweep was underway. Our crew headed down to the base to take part in the evening meeting, and also to collect all the patrol gear (beacons, shovels, probes, etc.) that were loaned out during the day.

The evening finished with some good food and cold beverages in the patrol room, enjoyed in the company of other patrollers. After the evening wore on, Shaun and I headed down to Oakridge to stay with Brian and Shannon, who graciously offered to let us stay at their place. We enjoyed a tasty homemade mac and cheese that hit the spot, and later in the evening Brian and I went over the last details of the final scenario that would take place on Sunday afternoon.

The next morning we woke early, had a quick breakfast and a cup of coffee, and loaded into the car and headed up to the hill. Like the day before, we met early in the lodge, and the groups did some trip planning for their tours before heading to the top of EPA

After everyone was on the lift and ready to head out of the area, Brian and I set about getting the gear ready for our organized scenario later in the day that would test all the skills the students had learned throughout the course. It took a couple of trips to get all the gear to the top of EPA, and then we headed down to Peak 2 so we could bring it up to SDN where everything would be placed.

The next couple of hours were spent creating the avalanche, which is always a ton of work, but lots of fun. With the help of SPY (Obende and Adair), we dug out the crown face, the flanks, and then spent some time digging out the toe. Next, it was time to hide the targets, which included beacons as well as plywood placed strategically below clues. This year, we strategically placed some tasty beverages (both beers and sodas) below the targets, which would be enjoyed after the class.

By 1:00 pm, we had a pretty good looking avalanche scenario built and ready to go. Satisfied with our work, we headed back to the top of SDN about the same time as some of the tour groups were arriving back at the top of Peak 2.

Since we were wearing coats, we headed down through SDN to get back to the base – one of the perks of teaching the class. If was the first time through the area for Obende, and he was pretty stoked by the time we got to the bottom of RTS.

Once down at the base, we enjoyed a quick lunch and then headed back up to the top of Peak 2  for a 2:00 pm meetup with the rest of the class. This year, Amber was serving in the role as “hill chief” and Emily agreed to be in the lead role of “incident commander.” The two ladies did an awesome job of assigning the first response teams (beacons and spot probers), and soon the class started filtering into the scenario. Steve served as the patroller who met with the reporting party (me), so we were able to watch the scenario play out.

The beacon searchers made short work of finding the three buried beacons, and soon a few other “victims” were also found downhill of clues with concentrated spot probing. When there were only two targets/victims left to find, the group moved to an organized probe line that started at the toe.

Eventually, all the targets were found, with the exception of one. After digging a hole that must have been about 10 x 10 feet, we determined that one of the SPY must have buried one of the plywood targets not in the area where we thought they put it.

Once everyone was accounted for, we headed back to the top of Peak 2 and got a class photo after debriefing the scenario. This year’s class was quite large, but it was an awesome crew made up of patrollers, hosts, SPY, backcountry patrollers and area employees.

We finished the day off by skiing all the gear back down to the patrol room and making sure all the patrol avalanche gear was returned. Brian, Mark, Emily, Haley, Dan and I took the opportunity to ski down SDN, and I snapped a quick photo of the group at the bottom of RTS.

Sitting in the patrol room drinking one of the beers we’d hidden in the scenario, I was feeling pretty happy that the weekend was coming to a close. Planning the avalanche class is always a big lift, and I couldn’t do it without the awesome crew of instructors we have on patrol. This year was no exception, and this year’s course was a resounding success, that was capped off with great snow and field conditions. Here’s to hoping the next class we hold is just as successful! 

The end of January was approaching, and with it was more high pressure and sunshine. Shaun had the weekend off, so I headed up with Carson for a day of patrolling, training and turns. We arrived at the area early, and unloaded our gear for the day. After our morning meeting, I headed out to help Patrol 1 open the hill, and the weather was quite nice.

At the top of EPA, the sun was out and the clouds on the east side made for a cool setting since we typically don’t have clouds building on the east side of the mountain in the middle of winter. After taking a lap to open a run, I headed back up and hung out at the saddle closure for a few minutes with Stefan before heading back down to get Carson at the base.

When I got to the patrol room, Carson was ready to go and we headed out to catch the EPA chair back up to the top. The morning sun was really nice, so I snapped some more pictures with my 50mm 1.8 Canon RF lens before we headed down. One of the patrollers even took a picture of Carson and I up top.

Carson and I took a lap down Rosary, which was skiing nice in the morning sun. We stopped at the big corner and I snapped a picture of him looking out over Lakeview Peak, and it reminded me of a few pictures I’ve taken from that spot in past years, including in the fall when we’ve come up to cut and ski.

After a couple more runs, we headed over to Peak 2 and caught up with the sled candidates for some toboggan training on Waldo. The crew was advancing quickly after a couple of days of training, and started the morning by running loaded Cascade 100’s down the nicely groomed run.

We staged across from June’s Run to discuss the nuances of managing the sled while in the handles and the tail rope, and after a bit more discussion, it was time to head down.

I fired off several shots as we worked our way down the run, as well as evaluated how the candidates were doing both in the handles and on the tail rope. When we got to the bottom of the Peak 2 chair, we gave everyone some feedback, and then loaded the sleds to head back up the lift and do it again.

I snapped a few more pictures on the second lap, including a few of Joe giving some training advice to the candidates. Well, at least what came out of his mouth was advice – his body language was quite hilarious :).

After the brief discussion, we headed down, and I fired off several more shots.

By the time we were done with a second lap, it was time for me to head in to get a quick bite of lunch with Carson, and I was greeted by Joe and Dan F. who were on the grill outside the patrol room cooking up a batch of burgers. I was hungry and they definitely hit the spot!

Once lunch was over, I headed out to sit bump for an hour, and then rejoined Carson to take a few runs before getting ready for sweep. From the top of EPA, Diamond was looming large in the mid-day sun.

I also took advantage of the photo op for my beverage of choice for the day, which was enjoyed after sweep at the end of the day of course. However, given the sunshine, I opted to take it up in my pack to the top of EPA, which made for a good photos of the tasty Pelican Brewing Pilsner.

After hitting a couple of front side runs, Carson and I decided to spin a few laps on Twilight, and I grabbed a few photos of him skiing on both Rough Cut as well as West Rough Cut.

Eventually, the afternoon wore on and it was time to head to the top of Peak 2 for sweep. When I got to the top, I noticed patrollers were staging near the unloading ramp, so I climbed up on the opposing side from the lift and snapped a picture from the higher vantage point with Maiden Peak in the background.

Before we shoved off for sweep, I wanted to get a picture of the group, and Hutch thought it would be funny to grab my board and do a picture with it over his head like I normally do, which I admit was quite funny. Look at all those clowns :).

Peak 2 sweep went off without a hitch, and I walked back up to EPA after riding the Peak 2 chair, and met Carson at the top. We swept Good Time Charlie together, before heading down for lower mountain sweep and then to the patrol room for the evening meeting.

The evening meeting was short and sweet, and soon I was enjoying that Pelican Pilsner, as well as chips and salsa and some good laughter with friends in the patrol room after another great day on the hill. All things considered, it was a great way to close out January and look forward to a hopefully snow filled February!

After a fun trip to Leavenworth with Julie, Shaun and Carson for some skiing and to celebrate the new year, I found myself back at the Pass for a couple of days of patrol activities. On Saturday, I headed up to the mountain with Shaun for a day of Senior OEC training. Shaun was on duty and I was working to become a trainer evaluator for Senior OEC training, so we headed up early and arrived at the hill to find a couple inches of fresh snow. After the morning meeting, the crew headed out to open the hill, and I made a lap down RTS before heading in to get oriented for the training.

Laurie and Anne were up to help assist with the day, which ultimately wound up running like a clinic. Hannah, Toby, Brian, Shannon, Matthew, Ian and I were working on becoming senior trainer evaluators, while several other patrollers were working on becoming Senior OEC certified. As we prepped for the opening scenarios, I snapped a few photos of our crew.

We ran through several scenarios, which ran the gamut from the usual multiple issues such as a diabetic with a broken elbow to a pregnant woman with a broken leg. Since this was the first on the hill training for the senior candidates after a few evenings of in-town practice, it was a bit challenging as they navigated through the scenarios but they all did well and showed improved skills as the morning went on.

We trained until about noon or so before breaking for lunch, and I spent quite a bit of time working as an evaluator for the scenarios, although I still found a bit of time during breaks between the action to get a few shots, including the three below…

After lunch, the group headed back out for more training that lasted throughout the afternoon. Brian and I needed to attend to other business as the PD and APD, which included meeting with area management to go over a number of items related to patrol business. By the time we were done with our meeting, I had enough time to head out for sweep before the day ended. When sweep was over, it felt great to relax in the patrol room for a bit and enjoy a tasty hazy IPA from Goodlife Brewing Co. while chatting with the rest of the patrollers.

Since we were on the next day, Shaun and I left our gear in the patrol room and headed down to Oakridge to stay the night at Brian and Shannon’s. As usual, the Millington’s provided great company and an awesome dinner, and it was nice not to have to drive all the way home to just turn around and come up the next morning. On Sunday, we woke early, enjoyed a good cup of coffee, and the four of us headed to the hill in my Outback. On the docket for today was a sled instructor calibration clinic, and I was looking forward to it since a bunch of instructors were going to be running the sleds, which is always a good time.

Joe was up, which is always a good time, and since he was still recovering from a shoulder injury, he volunteered to be sled ballast while the rest of us took turns in the handles and on the tail rope of the Edge sled. We did a few runs down Eagle’s Flight, and discussed the fine points of how we wanted our training regimen to go for our new crew of candidates, who were beginning sled training the following weekend.

It was particularly fun to get to work with Paul, a transfer patroller from Mt Hood, who has a lot of sled training experience and is just fun to hang out with in general. As usual, I took quite a few pictures to document the action.

After a couple of runs and after everyone had a turn in the handles and on the tail rope, we put the sled away and finished the day by enjoying a few runs, and of course getting busy with incidents that required sled rides and helping patients. I managed to get a run down RTS with Shaun, who was skiing with Jesse who was up for the day.

We finished the day as usual with sweep of Peak 2, the upper mountain, and then finally lower mountain, before holding our evening meeting which capped of another fun weekend of patrol activities at the Pass. Below is a parting shot from Sunday of Toby running the Edge sled down Eagle’s, while Joe sits as ballast and Shannon manages the tail rope!