Category: Ski Patrol

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!

The last weekend of December rolled in with a bang, and both Dan and I were on duty for both days. We made plans to stay the night at the cabin, and met at his place early and carpooled up to the Pass. After a quick morning meeting, our crew on Patrol 2 headed out to get ready to open the hill.

The lift was iced up, so we had to wait a bit for it to get spinning, which provided plenty of time to snap a few photos. I took a few portrait style shots below….

Once the lift was up and running, we headed up. Dan and I were assigned to open RTS, and although it hadn’t snowed much overnight, we still skied the upper half with safe travel techniques in case there was any movement. On the lower section of the run, we opened it up a little to enjoy the conditions, and took a few photos, including the shots below.

After skiing RTS, we headed down and worked our way over to Peak 2 for a couple of laps. The snow was decent, but not as good as RTS. Below is a shot of Dan skiing down Escalator.

A bit later, we hiked over to the top of EPA to meet Ian since Dan needed to do a sled check-off. I tagged along an took a few photos of the action, while Dan and Craig took turns running in the handles as well as the tail rope.

Once the sled checks were complete, it was time to do a little saw work. I’d made arrangements earlier in the day with Rachel to pick up the saw from the shop, and Dan and I were planning on working on a couple of trees that had fallen a day or two earlier in the windy conditions.

After retrieving the saw and hauling it up the chair, Dan skied it down RTS and we met up with Atticus on Amber’s Way to get to work. I’d hauled up several shovels, and we set to work digging to start with since the tree was buried a couple of feet deep. After an hour of so of digging, limbing, and cutting, we had the tree taken care of and the run was looking good again.

With our work complete, we headed down Amber’s way and then into the patrol room to grab some lunch. After lunch, I headed out and gave the Sabrina sled a lift back to the top of Twilight and then headed down to grab the saw again to head out with Dan for another round of cutting.

We spent the rest of the afternoon – an hour and a half or so, working on the big tree that had fallen on Eagle’s. This one was too big to chunk up and  haul off, so we dug out all the limbs to expose them and cut them off along the trunk. After working on the tree for a half hour or so, Brian and Shannon showed up, and with four of us working we took care of business.

With our work done on Eagle’s, we had a few minutes to spare to head down and drop off the saw gear before heading up to the top of EPA to for upper mountain sweep. I had just enough time to pull out the camera and shoot a few shots of Gretchen ripping down Eagle’s before she flew past me, and I followed that up by snapping a few pictures of Dan skiing with the chainsaw again.

We made it to the top in time for sweep, and the rest of the day went smoothly. Before long, the mountain was clear and it felt great to be hanging out in the patrol room, enjoying a cold beer in the company of the rest of the patrol. My beer of choice for the evening was a tasty and appropriate seasonal beer from Block 15 Brewing. The Ol’ Saint Nick winter ale definitely hit the spot after a long day of digging and saw work.

After enjoying our beers and good food with the patrol, Dan and I headed down to his cabin to settle in for the evening. We got the fire going, enjoyed some warm food for dinner, and hit the sack to get ready for the next day. It was snowing when we went to bed, but soon all that snow turned to rain and it really poured during the night. Thankfully, by the time we woke in the morning it begun snowing again, and we rolled into the parking lot at the Pass around 7:30 am. The word in the parking lot was that the highway was closed due to a wreck a few miles west of the Pass, so most of the patrollers and the employees weren’t going to make it up for a couple of hours. The few of us who were there booted up and headed over to Twilight to start digging. It had snowed a foot or so overnight, and the goal was to get Twilight spinning by 9:00 am for customers coming from the east side.

Once we had Twilight dug out, we headed up to work on other tasks that needed to be dealt with. Dan and I set up the terrain park closure, as well as dug out the entire terrain park fencing, which was pretty buried. Once that was complete, we started digging out tower pads on the light poles and also dug out the fencing around the snow guns. Eventually, as we continued working, shoveling and sweating, the highway opened around 9:45 am or so and the rest of the patrol, as well as the public were able to make it to the area.

After our work at the terrain park and light poles, we headed back up Twilight to work on tower pads on EPA. The work was taxing, as the pads needed to come up anywhere from 3-4 feet. Thankfully, after working on 3-4 pads, we got the call that Peak 2 was going to spin, so we headed down to get our avalanche gear and then rode EPA to make the hike to Peak 2 to run the avy route.

Once at the top of Peak 2, Dan and I headed out with jenn and Paul to run the upper route so we could demo while they observed. Toby stayed back for a few minutes and met up with Brian once he made his way to the top of Peak 2, and they set out to run the lower route. It was slow going through the deep snow on the avalanche route, and after cutting a few cornices we finally made it to the belay point on the Nose. Dan tied into the sharp end of the rope while I set up the anchor and belay, and a few minutes later we had the Nose controlled and moved to the second belay without incident. On the second belay, Dan set off a pretty good slide with a ski cut, and then we skied the rest of the ridge with no results before collecting the rope and skiing the meadow.

After we were off the second belay, Brian and Toby took care of the second route. Brian’s tracks in Gravity Chute looked nice as we skied by, and as a reward for all of the work from the morning, I headed over to June’s with Paul and jenn to enjoy a run in the fresh pow pow.

After Peak 2 was open and safe, I headed in for lunch, and then proceeded to help with a bunch of sled rides for the remainder of the afternoon. I started out helping tail for Ian on the 100, then ran the Edge Sled for a courtesy ride on Twilight, and then finished the day right before Amy’s final sweep by running the rear handles with Ian for a courtesy ride off of upper George. We brought our courtesy right down to the bottom of Twilight, and all of patrol was gathered and ready to load the chair.

Once we had the 350 ready to go after stashing the handles and carrier in the sled, I took it up Twilight and waited for the rest of the patrol to load, which they did a few minutes later. Shannon and Laurie organized everyone up top, and soon the two of them were leading the procession for Amy’s final sweep down George. Amy, one of our beloved patrollers and Ski Patrol Youth coordinator, tragically past a few months earlier in a car accident, and our patrol had been waiting for this moment to honor her.

The night was getting quite dark as we headed down ByGeorge in a single file line. Many patrollers had LED lights that made for a beautiful sight from below as we came down the mountain. I tried my best to shoot some grainy photos in the dark light, but had to really crank the ISO up to make the shots turn out. After shooting a few pics, I joined in with the rest of the patrol to slowly snake down the run.

Once at the bottom, the whole patrol gathered around the 350 sled brought down by Shannon and Laurie that contained Amy’s patrol coat. Brian, as the patrol director, read several passages about Amy as the patrol and several of her family members looked on.

It was a great way to honor a very special patroller that left us too soon, and once the “sweep” was over, the patrol gathered in the lodge to enjoy everyone’s company as well as a very large potluck.

After changing out of snowboard and ski boots, Shaun and I headed over to the lodge to partake in the potluck. The food was great, and the company was even better. After visiting for an hour or so, I grabbed Shaun and we loaded the car to head out. The potluck was still going strong, but we were leaving in the morning to head to visit Julie’s aunt and uncle in Peshastin, which is just a few miles from Leavenworth. I was looking forward to a visiting Mission Ridge with Shaun, as well as Leavenworth with Julie and Carson. All in all, it was another great weekend at the Pass, and one that I’ll always remember. Below are a couple of shots from our trip to Washington.

As hard as it was to believe, the middle of December was already here and Shaun and I were on the schedule for patrol. We headed out early in the morning and Carson came with us, and it looked like we’d be in for a good day of skiing and riding at the mountain. It also happened to be our candidate/makeup refresher, so there was a lot on the schedule for the day. After we pulled in, geared up, and had our morning meeting, it was time to head out and get the mountain open.

I opened RTS and enjoyed a good run down from the top, and then swung by the base to pick up Carson and take a couple of runs with him. We skied a few runs off of EPA, and then worked our way over to Twilight for a run before heading back up to the top of EPA. Next, I headed up top to meet up with Ian to help work on some sled checks with a few patrollers. When I arrived, I found him hanging out with Gretchen and Amber, so we snapped a couple of shots before heading out with Michael for some sled work.

Once Michael made his way to the top of EPA, we grabbed a Cascade 100 and headed out. I headed down and snapped a few pictures, and we met at the top of Charlie to run the toboggan loaded down the run. Elise was willing to be ballast in the sled, and Ian was game to be on the tail rope, so we set off.

I headed down ahead of the group and snapped several photos as they skied down to me, and also watched to make sure everything was going properly to make sure the check-off wasn’t just a rubber stamp. Michael was solid in the handles, and halfway down we stopped and he and Ian switched positions and they headed down for the second half of the run.

There were hardly any folks on the run and Odell lake was looking really pretty with the clouds behind it, so I snapped a few more shots as the crew headed down, ending up with quite a few photos, including the two additional shots below…

 After our sled work, I headed down for a bite to eat and then Carson and I headed to the lodge to get him a cup of hot cocoa before we made a couple of runs prior to me helping with the chairlift evacuation portion of the makeup refresher. On the way to the lodge, we found several patrollers working on OEC skills using the new vacuum splints the patrol recently purchased.

Shannon and Sarah were overseeing the training, and the folks doing the refreshing were a pretty veteran crew that worked well together.

After our quick trip to the lodge, Carson and I headed back to the patrol room and I loaded my gear and headed out with the crew to practice a unique lower from the chairlift where the chair was stopped on the sheaves.

It had been awhile since we’d practiced lowering someone from a chair stuck on the sheaves, and even though we were only 6-7 feet off the ground it was really good practice to set the special sheaves system up and practice the 1:1 lower rather than our usual 2:1 lower. Plus, I had to snap a few photos of Brian sitting on the chair next to the ladder because it looked so ridiculous :).

After running most folks through the chairlift evacuation procedures and getting everyone a chance to both lower and communicate, I headed up to the top of EPA to help James assist with a search for a missing person (who was eventually found after skiing the West Peak saddle area), and ran into my favorite former patroller, Raleigh Taylor. It was great to catch up with Raleigh, and we both agreed we needed to get out for some turns together sometime this season.

A few moments later, upper mountain sweep began, and I was assigned to sweep RTS. I snapped a quick picture of Michael and Ian at the top before heading out, and then snapped another picture of Shaun at the top of Success before he headed down to close the run.

RTS skied great to end the day, and I paused at the bottom to take a picture from just above Amber’s Way. The view from here is one I always enjoy, and reminds me of all the year’s gone by where I’ve enjoyed making turns on RTS and stopped here to take a picture, not to mention the fall views from the same spot when I’ve been up to cut trees from the run.

After upper mountain sweep, lower mountain sweep went smoothly, and everyone gathered in the patrol room for a quick evening meeting followed by enjoying some chips and salsa and tasty drinks. I’d been waiting for the day to end to enjoy my Pathfinder Hazy IPA from Sunriver Brewing Co., and it was nice and cold after chilling outside in the snow.

We spent the next half hour or so enjoying the company of fellow patrollers before it was time to clean up, lock up and hit the road. All in all, it was another great day at the Pass with good snow and good people, and it was nice to be skiing all runs top to bottom with a great base in mid-December. Here’s a parting shot of Carson skiing Good Time Charlie….