After an amazing year, the last day of the “regular” season at the Pass had finally arrived, and Patrol 2 was on the schedule to close things out before we headed into two weekends of operation for the month of May. As we’d done several times throughout the season, Shaun and I woke up early and this time we convinced Carson to come along with us for a fun day of turns at the Pass. We arrived at the patrol room early, and got situated before heading out after the morning meeting to open the hill.
The sun was out and it was looking like the corn was going to be good. As a patrol, we were a bit early to the base of EPA, so I caught a couple of photos while waiting to load, including the shots below of the groomer heading in for the day as well as a few patrollers hanging out at the base of lift.
A few minutes later, we loaded the chair and arrived at the top of EPA. The weather was beautiful, and I caught a picture of Shaun before we headed out to open runs. After my first run, I stopped in to check on Carson, who was geared up and ready to head out with Stone, the son of another patroller. We agreed that he would ski a few runs with Stone in the morning and then we’d ski together in the afternoon.
Around 10:00 am, I met up with Andy who was up for the day, and we caught several laps together. It was fun to ride down RTS and some of the other frontside runs in good corn and brought back memories of the old days. Dan showed up about 10:00 am as well, and was skiing really well after his recent shoulder surgery.
The skiing on RTS was excellent, so we spun several laps on it in a row. Laurie joined us, and it was nice to see her having fun without her patrol coat on…
Around noon, the snow started to soften quite a bit, and Andy, Laurie and Dan all headed home. I went in for a quick lunch, and then Carson and I headed out to ski the rest of the afternoon together. Carson made a lot of progress skiing, and was excited to ski Good Time, Escalator, June’s and Destiny.
We had a lot of fun on Peak 2, and soon it was time for last chair and sweep. Carson decided he was ready to head down once Peak 2 sweep began, so I sent him off and went to check on Shaun who I’d assigned to close Kris-Kross. I helped Shaun set up the closure and then swept the backside before heading up to EPA for upper mountain sweep.
Upper mountain sweep went off without a hitch, and I swept KP so I could ski part of the run down with Shaun, who was closing Upper and Lower Rosary. We had a couple of slow skiers heading down Rosary, but eventually worked our way down to the base, where a cold beer was calling my name. My beverage of choice for the afternoon was what has since become one of my new favorites, a smooth and refreshing Cosmic Creatures IPA from Deschutes Brewery.
Our evening meeting was quick, and just like that the regular season at the Pass was over and done. I was looking forward to at least one more day of patrolling at the Pass in May, but still it was bittersweet to have our season end. Here’s a parting shot from the day of Dan, Joe and Jon enjoying the sun from atop EPA!
