Splitboard Oregon

January 15, 2022 – High Pressure & Helicopters

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.

Jenn working through a lower extremity OEC scenario

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.

Hannah & Laurie enjoying a break before lunch

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.

Laurie watching the approaching helicopter

Tim surveying the chopper coming in to land

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.

January 2, 2022 – First Patrol Day of 2022

After a pretty fun day of turns the day before, I headed up to the Pass with Shaun in tow for my first patrol day of 2022. The forecast was calling for mostly sunny skies, and the snow looked to be in decent shape after several feet had fallen over the prior several days. We pulled into the parking lot and I geared up, and then headed over to the patrol room to get ready for the day…

The lodge and patrol room in the early morning

Patrollers gathering ready for the morning meeting

Around 8 am, we started the morning meeting and discussed plans for the day, which included sled check-offs for existing alpine patrollers. We also had a quick conversation about assessments and upper extremity injuries, and then it was time to head out and open the mountain. After making a run, I headed back to the car and got Shaun, and we headed back out on the hill.

We made some good runs on the front, and enjoyed the snow on Good Time and High Lead. After a couple of runs, we headed down at 10:00 am so I could spend some time with the Spy to get them lined out for the day. While Anna and I were working with the Spy, Shaun headed back out on the hill to make some more turns.

After working with the Spy on various activities around the base, I headed back up top to EPA to get ready for sled-checks. Both Joe and Ian were up and set to lead the sled running, and we determined High Lead would be a good run for the check-offs.

Bringing an unloaded sled down the top of High Lead

I ended up running the sled with Tyler, and brought it down to the top of High Lead unloaded. Laurie then hopped in, and with me in the handles and Tyler on the tail rope we headed out.

The run was a bit on the icy side, and it took me a minute to remember that instead of trying to muscle the sled it was better to push down on the handles and engage the break to make the sled do the work, and then feather the handles as needed for navigation. Once Laurie reminded me of that, it was smooth sailing down the run. Halfway down, Tyler and I switched, and he took over the handles while I grabbed the tail rope. The check went smoothly, and soon we were back out on the hill ready for another run.

I linked back up with Shaun at the top of EPA, and we made a couple more runs together, and then I wanted to check out RTS with Dan while Shaun skied one of the front side runs and would meet us at the base.

RTS was in pretty good shape — it was definitely skier cut, but the packed powder skied well and we enjoyed turns down to the bottom.

As the afternoon wore on, we made a few more runs on the front side, finishing up with a couple on Timburr, after receiving clearance from the area to do a little chain saw work and cut up a couple of trees that had fallen on the run —- one that had fallen a few days prior and one that had just fallen the night before.

We made our way down to the base after checking on John and Dave who were working with the saw, and then headed up for another lap. There was an empty Cascade 100 that needed to go up, so I grabbed it and headed up. At the top, Laurie was waiting to greet me, and I snapped a pic of here getting ready to take one of the OEC training sleds back down to the base….

It looked like we had plenty of time for another run down Timburr, and I wanted to stop and give John and Dave a hand with the tree work. By the time we got there, they had cut the log from the new tree up into large chunks, and Calvin and I helped them with rolling/pushing them off the run and out of the ski path.

After our work, we made it to the base just in time to catch the last chair for sweep. Shaun rode up with me and was happy to be able to help with sweep.

While we were waiting for sweep to begin, I pulled out the camera and snapped a few pictures of the sun setting over Diamond Peak, with Shaun in the first one and Anna and Tyler in the second.

Closing began a few minutes later, and we swept the hill clean without incident. At the base, we held a quick evening meeting, and then it was time to enjoy some tasty Red Chair beers from Deschutes Brewery that I had brought up for everyone. The cold beer hit the spot after a long day, and it was a great day to end my first patrol day of 2022.

Protected: Pow turns on New Year’s Day

DIY Split – Jamie Lynn 160 cm

After several years of abusing my first Lib Tech Jamie Lynn splitter, it was time to move it to rock board status and make another one,if for nothing else than I find the art of turning a solid board into a splitboard rather fun. Like my previous Lib split, after spending the past couple of years using the board for ski patrol, it was a good time to turn it into a splitter. I find Jamie’s board to work really well in most conditions, and for that reason they make good homemade splitboards. A project like this can take as little as a day or so to complete if you get after it, but I like to work on them over the course of a few weeks as time allows. Below is a picture of the board before cutting it.

Although one can get pretty involved with precision tools to cut a splitboard, I find using a straight edge and a circular saw to work just fine. I like to make sure I measure and mark the center of the board in multiple places, and then connect the dots using a straight edge and a sharpie marker. Before using the circular saw, one thing I find helpful is to cut the first couple centimeters along the line from the nose and tail with a hack saw, which helps to keep the board from splintering at the ends during the cut. Then, after carefully placing the straight edge on the board with clamps, it’s ready to cut. Slow and easy does it…

Following the cut, the next step for me is to tape the board halves back together with masking tape, and then measure from the tip and tail to drill for the split hooks. After measuring, I apply the split hook templates and center punch where the holes need to be drilled, followed by the actual drilling. After drilling, it’s time to counter drill just the right amount from the base in order to set the screws so that they are flush with the base (or just a little beyond flush). A little bit of epoxy goes in the holes next to keep the wood from getting wet during use, and then the split hooks can be installed.

Next up, it was time to drill and install the touring brackets and heel risers. As usual, the first step is to center and tape the Voile templates over the board, after measuring where you need to put them.

Following the application of the templates, I will center punch the holes and drill through board with the appropriate sized bit for the touring bracket screws and heel lifter screws. The next step is to flip the board over and carefully counter drill the holes for the t-nuts with a paddle bit. Easy does it here, since you have to be extra careful to keep from drilling too deep. I like to drill just deep enough to only barely get into the wood core, so that the t-nuts are just 1/16 of an inch or so below the base of the board when installed. It’s easy to drill too deep if you get too aggressive.

Below are a couple of shots of the t-nuts after installation, along with the epoxy I like to use to fill the holes after installing the t-nuts, as well as to seal the edge along the board cut.

To actually fill the holes, I mix a bit of black pigment into the epoxy when mixing, since I like the look of black holes in the base of the board better than the color of regular epoxy after it dries. A small paint brush usually does the trick to applying the epoxy, and then I come back the next morning and cut/scrape the excess off with a razor blade. Of course it always helps to have a beer or two on hand when doing a project like this, and for this project I was glad to have a tasty Incredible Pulp Blood Orange Pale Ale from Boneyard Beer on hand.

Once the hole were filled with epoxy, I sanded down the epoxy along the cut line of the two board halves, and my new split was ready to ride. Below are a couple of shots of the finished product looking at both the base and top sheet sides of the board.

Detailed instructions that I like to consult when creating a new split are the DIY Voile Split Kit instructions, found here. Overall, this was another fun project, and it’s been great getting this split out on snow for both touring and riding the past several months.

December 31, 2021 – Final ski day of the year

The final day of the year had arrived, and Shaun wanted to make some turns for his first day of the season, so we headed to the Pass for a day of lift serviced riding. I wasn’t on duty, but after checking the schedule it looked like it was going to be a light day for patrollers, so I threw in my coat and pack to give P4 a hand. We pulled into the patrol lot around 9:00, and shortly thereafter were geared up and ready to go.

We took a first lap on Twilight, since EPA was iced up and not quite ready to spin yet, and cruised down By George. By the time we got to the bottom, it looked like EPA was ready to go, so we joined in the big line to catch a lift to the top. Given that it was a holiday weekend (with the 31st being a holiday for many since the 1st fell on Saturday), I wasn’t surprised to see a ton of people at the mountain…

We met up with Dan and Cindy, and caught a ride to the top with them. At the top, for some reason, the area had a snowcat parked out past the unloading ramp, and it made for a nice spot to snap a quick picture. After that, we skied down and made a run on Good Time Charlie, which was in really nice shape. Shaun skied it nicely, and I was happy to see his skills gained from the year before were still there.

Another long wait in line at the bottom followed, and then Shaun and I made several more laps on the frontside runs, starting with Eagles, then High Lead and then Timburr.

Around noon, it was time to head to the car to enjoy some lunch, and we got to visit with Carolyn (a former patroller) in the lot. The snow, which had started falling earlier in the day, kept falling, and there was nearly 3 inches of new by the time we headed out for some afternoon turns.

As we headed back towards EPA, I noticed a sled that needed transporting to the top of the hill, so I had a patroller load it for me and then we headed up with it in tow. Shaun wanted to ski Success, so after taking care of the sled up top we dropped in over the edge and skied some surprisingly decent snow under the chair.

The rest of the day was filled with turns, and Shaun did really well for his first day out of the year. We called it a day a few minutes before sweep, and headed to the car to change into more comfortable clothes. Shaun was content to get into a video game on his phone, while I was content to get into a tasty Rippin’ NW Pale Ale from Sunriver Brewing Company.

I finished my beer as I cleared the car of snow and ice, and we were ready to hit the road. All in all, it was a great day, especially considering I was able to spend it with Shaun, and definitely much easier that my previous patrol day a few days earlier, with a lot less work!