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After a long (technically the longest) and amazing season, closing day for the 2024-2025 ski year was finally here at the Pass. I left the house early with Shaun, for what would most likely be his last day as a member of the SPY program, and we drove to Dan’s house and headed up to the Pass from there on electric power. We were greeted to a flooded aid room when we walked in, which is somewhat typical during the two to three week period of intense snowmelt at the end of the season.

The rest of the patrollers on duty showed up a bit later, and soon we had our final morning meeting of the season. James was acting as hill chief, and we debriefed plans to get the gear down off the hill in the most efficient manner possible before heading out at 8:00 am to catch the first chair of closing day. The plan for the operating hours was to be open from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm for the public, so we’d have an abbreviated day to get everything off the hill.

I rode up the chair with Dan and a couple others, and after opening RTS and Amber’s, headed back up to head over to open Peak 2 with Dan. Once Peak 2 was open, Dan and I set about pulling all of the gear out of the lift shack and storing it next to the sleds in preparation for it to go down later in the day. With the exception of the expensive stuff (BLS pack, etc.), everything came out.

A bit later we headed back to the front and I spent a bit of time with Atticus pulling tower pads down off EPA since By George was closed. It was bit tricky getting down (especially with a big EPA pad in tow), but I managed to find a path through without having to take off my board and by only having to ride over a bit of dirt, sticks and rocks.

We spun another lap to the top, and this time I headed down and recruited Rob to help me bring down the fencing around the ski shack. With George closed, it was already taken down and just needed to be skied to the base. The race shack fencing is large and super heavy, and always makes for an awkward ski carry.

By the time we got the fencing put away, it was time for lunch before heading back out for some more work before meeting up to take the tower pads down off of Peak 2. I met up with Shaun and someone (I think James but can’t remember who) snapped a picture of us outside the bump shack. Looking back on this picture I can’t help but think of how much Shaun has matured in his three years on SPY and how proud I am of all he’s accomplished.

A few minutes later, I watched Shaun and Atticus take off to head to Peak 2 and then helped Dan load the sled from the Saddle Tube with unneeded gear to take down to the base. I snapped a few pics as they all took off…

Around 1:00 pm or so, a group of us gathered at the top of Peak 2 and closed off Northern and Down Under so we could head down and remove tower pads from the lift. We headed down and I snapped a few photos, and I smiled as I remembered that nearly 6 months earlier in late November I was putting the same pads up with Brian and Dan.

We hauled the pads down to the base and stacked them outside the lift shack so that the area could snowmobile them around to the front a few days later. Amazingly, it only took one run to get all the pads down and then we all headed back to the top to get ready for sweep.

Before we dropped in to close the runs, we orchestrated a picture of the closing crew for the final Peak 2 sweep of the season. Pictured below from left in the back row is Dan, Emily, Rob, Shaun, Atticus, Scarlett, James and Matt. In the front row is Raina, Toby, Kyron, Mindy and Kerstin.

After taking a few pics of the closing crew, we dropped in to close the backside for the final time of the season. I accompanied Shaun and we closed Down Under. It was a bit bittersweet knowing this was likely his final day as a SPY and final time “officially” closing Peak 2.

We regrouped at the base of the lift and loaded the chair for the final time for the season, and headed back up to the top to gear up for closing the upper mountain. 

At the top of EPA, we loaded the rest of the gear into the sleds and assigned runs for sweep. I snapped a few more pics of the action, and then once the call was made that sweep was on, I headed down KP with a loaded Cascade 100.

The tow of the sled down KP to the base was a bit on the sticky and sloggy side, but eventually I rolled in and there was a flurry of activity at the patrol room with folks unloading and organizing gear. Shaun and Atticus were putting the empty sleds away in the patrol room, and I jumped in to help drag some of the tower pads over to the lodge.

We worked for a half hour or so after closing to take care of all the gear, and then it was time to enjoy the final social hour of the season with the crew. I grabbed my beer of choice for the day – a well rounded Hazy Pale Ale from Icicle Brewing Company, and headed out to get a shot of it with the mountain in the background. Looking up at the hill, it was obvious that even though we were hoping to eek out an additional weekend, the mountain made a good call for this day to be closing day.

We hung out for awhile in the parking lot outside the patrol room, and eventually loaded our gear, including the skis and boards which were coming down for the season. 

Finally, it was time to hit the road and sign-off on a great 2024-2025 season. Here’s a parting shot of Shaun working the mop in the patrol room on closing morning 🙂

After celebrating Easter with the family a day early, I headed up to the Pass for a day with Patrol 2 on Easter Sunday. The weather was looking to be quite nice, with clear skies and warm temps forecast for the day. We’d planned an Easter brunch as well, and I was looking forward to some good potluck style food. After our morning meeting, we headed out to open the hill. At the top of EPA, I snapped a bunch of pics of patrollers getting ready for the day, including the two pics below.

Ian grabbed a few pictures as well, and even got me in one of them. He was nice enough to send it my way….

After spinning a lap on the front and getting the mountain open, I headed to the back and put in a bit of work there. At the top, I grabbed a few pictures of Emily and Andy before setting off for opening another run.

After getting the back open, I headed back down to the patrol room to tidy up the avalanche gear for the season and take care of a few other tasks. By the time I was done with that, it was getting close to lunch time, so I headed out to the car for a quick minute and snapped a couple of pics before coming back to enjoy the potluck.

On my way back to the patrol room I found Zach tending to some food on the grill, and when I entered the patrol room, the potluck was in full swing! I loaded my plate with some Easter ham, some salad, and a few other items, and wolfed it down before heading back out on the hill.

I rode up to the top of EPA to sit bump for an hour, and brought my telephoto lens along with me to shoot a few pictures of the peaks to the south of the Pass, including Diamond, Redtop and Lakeview.

I also snapped a few photos of my beer I was hoping to enjoy later in the evening – a tasty PFriem lager from PFriem Beer. After situating the can in some grass down below the top terminal, I found a composition that showcased the golden can.

A bit later, I heard some traffic on the radio and it sounded like Ian and Mark were going to be giving our dispatcher Kris a sled ride so she could experience the “ride down” that a patient experiences while in a sled. 10 minutes later or so, Ian and Kris arrived at the top of EPA and Ian began rigging the sled to take here down.

It was about time for my bump to be over, and before I headed down to shoot a few pics of Ian, Kris and Mark, James offered to take a quick shot of me and Diamond Peak. I returned the favor and snapped a picture of him and Emily, before getting a shot of all of us reflecting in the EPA camera.

A few more pics of the Easter crew followed — like I mentioned, it was beautiful weather and a beautiful day for taking pictures.

Eventually, I strapped into my bindings and slid down the toothpaste tube and caught up with Ian and Mark running Kris down in the sled. I snapped several photos as they headed down KP, including the three below.

Down at the base, we put the sled contents back in the sled, and returned the sled back to the top of EPA. I took a stroll through the patrol room to see if any patrollers were in need of assistance with their patients, and surprisingly the aid room was empty, so I headed up to the deck to get a view of the mountain. The below shot, while not seeming to be anything special, is pretty cool, since this spring marked the first time the outdoor deck had been open in many, many years (I can’t remember it being open in the last 15-20 years)!

The rest of my afternoon was spent spinning a few laps on EPA and riding RTS, which had corned nicely in the afternoon sun, as well as shooting some photos of a bald eagle at the top of EPA. There was actually a pair of eagles hanging out up top, but by the time I got up there only one remained for the photo op.

After walking down the toothpaste tube a short ways to get the optimal angle to shoot pics of the eagle, I headed back up and grabbed a picture of Michael, Craig and Ken hanging out up top, before heading down for a final lap on RTS before Peak 2 sweep.

I made to the top of Peak 2 in time for our afternoon sweep, and just before we began sweep we orchestrated a quick group shot of our Easter crew.

Sweep went quickly, and we actually had time to get one last lap in before upper mountain sweep began. James, Emily and I headed down across the James Bond trail and skied down Eagle’s, which was pretty soft in the afternoon sun, but still quite fun.

We made it back to to the top with ample time to spare, and a few minutes later the call came across the radio and upper mountain sweep was on. We had extra bodies at the top, so I doubled up with Zach and we swept Success, which is my second favorite run to sweep next to RTS.

Both upper and lower mountain sweep went smoothly, and soon the crew was down in the patrol room, happy to have another good day on the mountain come to a close. A few beverages and snacks after the evening meeting capped off the day, and eventually we threw the gear in the car and headed down the highway with another fun day of patrolling at the Pass in the books! 

The middle end of March rolled in with a storm for the ages, dumping about six feet of snow over the previous Saturday and Sunday, and it stayed cold for much of the week. After getting out the previous Saturday for a non-patrol fun ski day with Andy, I was back on duty on the 22nd and captured a few photos of the mountain looking absolutely buried. The snow stake was holding steady at about 138 inches, which is about as high as I’ve ever seen it. Someday I want to see the Boundary Pass sign completely buried!

Since we’d had about 4-6 inches of snow overnight, we decided to run the avalanche route, but my suspicions of nothing moving proved out after we ran the ridge and setup the belay to ski cut the meadow. Nevertheless, it was good to run the route because you never know what you’re gonna’ find.

It really was amazing to see all the snow at the Pass, and the backside truly was buried. When I got to the base of Peak 2 after doing the avy route, I had to snap a picture of the Peak 2 base sign nearly buried!

The rest of the day went played out like most patrol days had this season, we had a few incidents, a few sled rides, and some good turns. I snapped a picture of a few of the P2 crew in the patrol room when I came in to put the avalanche pack away, and then took the camera off for the day.

A couple of weeks later, I was back at the Pass for a day of patrol, this time with out Shaun since he ended up taking a baseball to the eye and was on light duty for two weeks. The weather was a start contrast to the month of March, and it was sunny and nice. I headed up to help open EPA and it was super icy and firm. Naturally nobody wanted to open RTS, so I volunteered. It was scary icy, and after making my way down, I ended up opening most of Twilight since the lift was having problems.

After doing equipment and weather, and stationing the sled near the end of the unloading ramp, I opened Swoosh, West Rough Cut, and Rough Cut, I headed back up to the top of EPA hoping to come down RTS and get the other runs before anyone else was able to get up Midway. My plan didn’t work out as folks topped on on the Midway lift just before I made it back to the top of EPA, so I enjoyed the view before heading down to help with the ski tests.

It had been a year or two since I’d helped out with the ski testing, and there was a slew of folks signed up for testing this year. We had about 12-15 ready to go on this day, so I headed out with Joe, Andy, Ian and jenn, and we made our way to the top of Twilight (via Midway) for a run before heading to EPA to spin a couple of laps on Eagle’s.

We put the crew through the paces, evaluating long, medium and short radius turns, as well as overall skiing ability and the ability to follow simple directions. The folks did well and we wrapped up just before Jen was done grilling burgers. Ultimately, we ended up passing 4-5 folks.

By the time we were done I was definitely hungry, and Jen’s burgers hit the spot. She was happy to grill for everyone and we were happy to eat! I snapped a few pics before taking my burger and chowing down with the crew in the patrol room.

The afternoon was filled with more sun, and it was nice to get out and make some turns with Patrol 3. I headed over to Peak 2 after lunch and enjoyed some good turns on the backside before heading up to the top at 3:30 for sweep.

Peak 2 sweep went smoothly, and soon I was hiking to EPA for upper mountain sweep. When I arrived at the top, I found Dan, Ian and Sarah all hanging out waiting for last chair.

I also snapped a few pics of Asa, Adair and Asher before we started sweep. It was just a good day for shooting some pictures with the beautiful weather.

Upper mountain, and then lower mountain sweep both went smoothly, and Toby held a quick evening meeting so we could jump in and enjoy some chips and salsa as well as some hard earned beverages. I had a cold Pale Ale from Ninkasi Brewing on the snow that I was looking forward to drinking, and that’s exactly what I did.

I hung around the patrol room for another half hour or so, enjoying the company of P3 and the rest of the crew. Eventually, it was time to head home, feeling good after having spent another enjoyable day at the Pass with good people.