Category: Ski Patrol

Saturday, April 11th was slated to be the final “patrol” day of the 2025-2026 ski season, and though the mountain wasn’t open and there wasn’t any skiing to speak of, it looked to be a fun day of pulling gear off the hill along with hanging out with fellow patrollers. I made plans to head up to the mountain with Dan, and we loaded our ski gear in his truck just in case there was an opportunity to get turns. Our motivation, in addition to getting the gear off the hill and to see folks we hadn’t seen during the year due to the lack of patrol days, was to be able to possibly make some turns on Peak 2 depending on what the conditions looked like.

We arrived at the Pass a few minutes before 9:00 am, and quickly divided up into multiple teams to be most efficient with the day’s work. I headed up the Midway lift with Hutch, Dan and a few others, and within an hour or so we were able to pull all the pads off of both lifts and drag them down to the nearest access road so the mountain ops could pick them up with the trucks.

Next, several of us headed up to the top of EPA with the goal of pulling gear from the top lift shacks there and also at Peak 2. Dan and I headed up in his truck (with ski gear along for the ride), and followed the Pass truck full of a few other patrollers to the top. 

Driving to the top of the Pass is always fun, but driving to the top in early April means only one thing – it was a very unfortunate snow year. Once at the top, we pulled all the gear from the lift shack and bump shack, and loaded it into the back of the pickups. Ironically, the skies clouded up and it began to snow hard for 10-15 minutes.

Once we had all the gear from EPA loaded, we headed over towards Peak 2. After getting parked and situated, we pulled gear from the top of there. After a bit of persuasion, I was able to convince the lift op that it would be best if they fired up the lift and let Dan and I ski down and get the patrol gear from the shack at the bottom.

Stoked that our dream of lift-assisted turns were about to be realized, we grabbed our gear, donned ski and snowboard boots, and stepped into bindings to drop in. I headed down first, and captured several shots of Dan as he headed down.

We worked our way down Northern, and then per usual for late season conditions, we headed skiers left to farm some turns down Down Under. The turns were surprisingly good, and we made the most of our “free” lap on the backside.

From Down Under, we skied the lower half of June’s Run, and then worked our way over to the lift to finish out the turns down to the bottom. There were quite a few obstacles on the lower half of the run, but both of us were pretty happy with the turns.

We were able to milk the turns all the way to the lift, having only to walk the last 1o feet or so to the lift shack. It was awesome to have the entirety of Peak 2 all to ourselves, and we snapped a few photos at the bottom before getting to work.

A few minutes later, we had the gear pulled out of the lift shack and secured on the chair, and I radioed up to the top that we were loaded and ready to go. The lift started a minute or so later, and we were on our way back to the top. On the ride up, I was able to look back at our turns from the chair and snap a few photos, including the shot below.

At the top, we unloaded carefully and then unloaded the gear that was loaded on the chair behind us. Once everything was in Dan’s truck, we headed back over to EPA and then readied to head down to the base. Dan dropped me off at the top of the tree farm so I could get a few more turns (and picked me up at intersection of KP and Lower Rosary down below) and then we drove the rest of the way down to the base. The turns along the ribbon of snow on the tree farm were run, and I was able to slide most of the way to where Dan picked me up.

Once at the base, we unloaded the gear from the truck, and headed over to the grill, where Jon Ewing was cooking up salmon burger (with bacon) for everyone to enjoy. They hit the spot, and paired nicely with my tasty beverage for the day – a smooth drinking Poolside Blonde from LaQuinta Brewing Co. that I’d picked up a few weeks earlier while vacationing with the family in Palm Springs.

A bit later, we had all the work of cleaning up the patrol room complete, and to cap off a good day we got a group shot for the patrol newsletter before departing for the day. Laurie (I think) snapped the photo of the crew, and that was a wrap for a fun April day at the Pass and (thankfully) for the unremarkable 2025-26 ski season.

Until the snow flies next season and we return with our crosses and red coats, below are a couple of shots from the day!

The month of March arrived, but unfortunately, it did not arrive with lots of fresh pow and cold temps. Needing to get a few turns in, and wanting to help out with the on-hill OEC final at the Pass, I headed up to the mountain for a day spent evaluating our OEC candidates along with the promise of a few lift-served turns on suspect snow. I arrived at the mountain early, and there was a thin blanket of snow on ByGeorge to greet me. After the morning meeting, I headed out for a quick lap on the Midway chair to get my March day officially in the books.

The ski down Swoosh was fun, albeit it with limited coverage, and then I set out with the crew for a morning of OEC scenario testing. I was teamed up with Andy, and we worked through three different scenarios before lunch. Overall, the candidate crew was performing well, with a few scenarios that required a bit of extra attention. Around noon we headed down to grab a bite to eat after Jen made the radio call that the burgers were on the grill. If we couldn’t have great snow this season, at least having the opportunity to get some good grilling in was a small consolation prize.

It was nice to visit with the patrol 3 crew during the lunch break, and I grabbed my camera an snapped a few photos of the action. I particularly got a kick out of the fact that a backboard was doubling as a table for some of the lunch items.

After eating my burger and chatting with Toby and a few others, it was time to head back out for a couple more hours of working through the final OEC scenarios.

I snapped several photos before we started, and then we got to work. Below are several shots from the afternoon…

Eventually, our work was done, and all the candidates successfully passed the scenarios, and we had a new crew of certified patrollers ready for on-hill duty! To cap off the day, Brian, Toby and I headed out for a couple of Midway runs. The skiing was actually quite nice, but man the snow sure did melt during the day. 

To cap off the day, we held our regular evening meeting, and then celebrated with a beverage. My beer of choice for the afternoon was a tasty Fresh Squeezed N/A IPA from Deschutes Brewery. It really hit the spot!

Before we got too involved in the socializing after the evening meeting, we needed to get a couple of shots of the candidate class to celebrate their accomplishment and hard work. Below are a couple of pictures of the crew, clad in their new patrol coats given to them a few minutes earlier.

All things considered, it was a pretty good day at the mountain, even with dismal snowpack, and definitely made me long for more fun days with my patrol family in the near future.

Finally, after a rather long wait, there was enough snow at the Pass to get the upper mountain open! Patrol 4 took care of tower pads and gear at EPA on Friday, and Patrol 2 was up for Saturday, and it was looking like it was going to be a great day, with sunshine and blue skies in the forecast. After getting gear ready the night before, I set out with Carson early on Saturday morning and made the drive up highway 58 to the Pass.

Arriving at the mountain, it was great to see the Patrol 2 crew. Everyone was stoked and ready to hit the hill, and spirits were high at the morning meeting. After taking care of the usual business, we headed out and waited a few minutes for EPA to spin a whole revolution before loading the chair for our first ride to the top of the season.

I rode the chair up with Amber and Hayley, and captured a couple of shots of them as we neared the top. We closed RTS on the advice of Patrol 4 from the day before, but wanted to have someone ski it to make sure, so I gladly volunteered. The top section was spicy with lots of rocks and stumps poking out, but the lower section was really nice and well preserved powder.

Having skied RTS, I made my way to the top of Twilight and checked equipment and the snow stake. Oddly enough, the mountain decided not to run Twilight, but was running Midway instead, so I had the top of Twilight to myself. 

After checking gear and the stake, I headed down via Swoosh, enjoying some fun turns back down to the base before loading and heading back to the top of EPA. At the top of EPA I helped setup a closure of RTS, and after we had it finished I convinced Zach to take a run with me just to check out the conditions once more. I tagged a rock up top, and it was a good call to keep it closed, but man the lower half was awesome as demonstrated by the three shot sequence of Zach ripping below…

From there, we went about the rest of the patrol day as usual, and did various tasks like setting fencing around some downed trees on Charlie and tending to a few walk-ins at the aid room. Before long, it was time for lunch, and after grabbing a quick bite, I snagged Carson and set out to make a couple of runs with him.

We rode up EPA, and since it was Carson’s first day on SPY, it was a great opportunity to get a couple of pictures at the top of me and him with him wearing his SPY coat. Shaun, who had come up with us for the day and was skiing mostly with Scarlett, even stopped by so we were able to get a picture of all three of us!

We spun a couple of laps on Eagle’s and Rosary, and then I checked in on the OEC crew, who were up practicing on-hill scenarios after a full class in-town this fall. Hannah and Matthew were leading the group through various drills, and I captured a couple of photos while visiting briefly with Hannah.

A bit later, Carson and I skied a few runs on the Midway lift. The twilight area was skiing nicely, and we hiked to the top of the Twilight lift to take advantage of some untracked grooming off of Duck Soup.

Around 3:00 pm, I finally got word that the lift crew was ready for us to haul gear up to the top of Peak 2 – something I’d been waiting for all morning long after checking with management and hoping to get Peak 2 ready to go for Sunday. A few of us helped Michael transport gear on the back of the snowmobile, and Joe and I made a couple of laps up schlepping gear. On the way back down, I captured the below pic of Michael and driving down Southbound with Diamond in the distance. It was probably my favorite shot of the day.

By the time I’d helped get medical equipment and toboggans stocked to the top of Peak 2, it was time for upper mountain sweep. I arrived a few minutes early and found patrollers ready to go and stoked on the fun day!

I grabbed Carson and Stone and snapped a couple of photos of them as the sun sank lower in the sky to the south, and a couple turned out well, including the two shots below.

A few minutes later, James called upper mountain sweep on, and I took a group shot of everyone and also one of the SPY just before we shoved off. Little did I know, but this would be the only group shot that I’d get at the top of the Pass this season. It turned out well, and so did sweep as we shoved off and swept the runs clean one by one. Since a bunch of folks were skiing RTS during the day (despite the closure) by coming in through the trees, we decided to sweep it and I gladly volunteered to do so, getting to enjoy my third run down for the day.

Lower mountain sweep also went smoothly, and soon we were back it the patrol room for our evening meeting. A few minutes later, it was time for “Matt’s famous bean dip” as James calls it, along with the cold beverages to enjoy with a great crew. My beer of choice for the day was a tasty Ola IPA from Ola Brewing on the Big Island of Hawaii that I’d picked up in November while vacationing with the family. It hit the spot, as did the bean dip and various other salsas. There’s nothing quite like enjoying the good company of other patrollers on a Saturday evening at the Pass after a great day of patrolling – and it’s really one of the reasons I keep doing this!

Eventually, it was time to hit the road, so we gathered our gear and I grabbed Carson and Shaun, and we headed off, happy with a great day of turns and patrolling. Here’s a parting shot of Carson from the top of EPA!

As hard as it was to believe, the spring was racing by and June was already here, which meant that it was time for Nuts & Bolts 2025 at Mt Hood. I was looking forward to this year, since it was likely the last official “patrol” days that I would have with Shaun since he was aging out of the SPY program. It was also our 3rd season together at Nuts & Bolts, and a good time for some father/son bonding. Like the year prior, we left our house in around 5:00 pm, and after a quick stop in Coburg to pick up Atticus, we headed north on I-5 towards Mt Hood.

We stopped on the way up to grab a quick bite at Chipotle, then made our way to Govy, arriving at our condo at Collins Lake  around 8:00 pm. Ian and James were getting a bite to eat at the Mt Hood brew pub, so we unloaded our gear and grabbed a bunk. A bit later, Ian and James showed up at the condo, and a few others trickled in a well, including jenn, Mark, and Dan. A few hours later we headed for bed, ready for a fun day of turns and clinics on the mountain.

We woke early, and after eating my usual breakfast of two eggs and a bagel, I hit the road with Shaun and Atticus in tow. About 10 minutes later, we were gearing up in the Timberline parking lot, and checking in with other patrollers from around the northwest and beyond. The morning meeting was filled with the usual announcements and banter, and before long we organized into groups and headed out. Ian and I were on the same track for the weekend, with most of our clinics being instructor/toboggan related.

We took a ride up the Mile chair and then skated down to the Palmer, and zipped up to the top and were greeted with great views under blue skies. We skated over to the middle of the top of the run, and met up with our Toboggan Trainers group to discuss some optimal training exercises for new sled candidates. We dropped in for a few runs with the sleds, taking turns in the handles and on the tail rope. I snapped a few photos of the action before jumping in to the handles myself.

After spinning a couple of laps, Heather from Mt Hood snapped a photo of several of us in the instructor clinic, including Andy and I from the Pass. When she gave me the camera back, I offered to shoot a picture of her and Rich (who’s a National board member), and she was happy to accept.

After snapping a few pics and enjoying a break for lunch, we spun one more lap with the sleds before calling it a day around 1:00. Right about that time, Shaun met up with me at the top of the Palmer and we were able to ski a couple of laps together. It was nice skiing with him, since we didn’t get too many runs together all season since our regular patrol schedule was so busy.

Once we made our way back to the top of the Palmer, we met up with James, Ian jenn and Mark to spin a few laps before closing. A few more pictures followed, and Ian snapped a few photos of James, Shaun and I, as well as just Shaun and I. They turned out nice, and the second shot below is my favorite patrol shot of the season of Shaun and I.

We enjoyed a couple of laps on the upper Palmer before calling it a day and heading down through the lower Palmer, to the Mile and then into the public park. I snapped several photos of the crew as we descended. As usual, the halfpipe was in perfect condition, and a few of us enjoyed riding the walls (no air unfortunately) on the way down.

The further down we skied the stickier the snow became, but it was nice to slide all the way back to the parking lot. After changing out of ski boots and ski gear, we ditched the gear and headed to the Ram’s Head at the lodge to enjoy a cold beer. With the weather being conducive, we opted to sit outside on the patio in the front of the lodge with a great view south towards Mt Jefferson and beyond.

A little later, we headed back to the car and then down to Govy to get ready for the evening. The plan was to meet up around 6:00 pm or so at the Ratskellar, eat pizza with the crew, and take part in the raffle. We did just that, with the added bonus of watching the 1st game of the Beaver baseball super regional against Florida State on the big screen. It turned out to be a great night. Not only did Shaun win a Leatherman tool and enjoy a whole lot of pizza, but we got to watch the beavers win game 1 in the most dramatic comeback I’ve maybe ever seen. Down 4-1 entering the bottom of the 9th inning, they scored one run on a past ball, and then tied it up on a two-out, two-strike pitch that Jacob Kreig took into the outfield. The whole bar went absolutely berserk and did so again in extra innings when they walked it off. It was definitely a night I will never forget. To top it off, I played a few games of cornhole with Shaun, before heading out for a walk around Govy with both him and Atticus.

After our walk, we headed back to the Ratskellar to find the rest of the crew, and then made the short walk back to the condo to hit the sack and get ready for day number 2. Day 2 dawned clear and warm, and after breakfast we headed back up to the hill. This was going to be Shaun’s last day, since he was heading home in the evening for a planned get together with friends. We headed up to the check-in, got our skis hot waxed, and then headed out for another day of clinics in the sun on the Palmer.

Shaun was in a ski enhancement seminar, and I was back in the instructor series for toboggan enhancement. Like the day before, we broke into groups, and my lead for the day was Jim O’Conner, the current Outdoor Emergency Transportation director for NSP. He put on a great clinic, and had lots of good tips for skiers working with snowboarders and vice-versa. We started the morning off with some simple drills that became progressively more and more challenging.

We spent the better part of the morning running drills on the Palmer, and I learned several things I’m planning on taking back to the Pass for the upcoming season. Around 12:30 or so, the clinic wrapped up, and I caught up with Shaun for a few laps to free ski. Several others from the Pass joined in on the fun, and we spun a few laps on the groomed snow of the Palmer.

Like the day before, I pulled out the camera and shot a bunch of photos of the Willamette Pass crew harvesting the corn. We hung out on the upper Palmer for a couple of laps, and once the snow started getting sticky, we headed down to hit the lodge after an enjoyable day of clinics and turns.

The ride down the lower Palmer and the Mile was fun, and like the day before, we hit the halfpipe and popped off a few of the smaller hits in the public park, before riding it out back to the parking lot. 

Once back to the car, we ditched the ski boots and headed to the lodge for a deserved drink at the Ram’s Head. A few minutes later, Julie showed up to grab Shaun, and we enjoyed a few minutes at the lodge together. I walked them out to the car, and it was bittersweet to see them leave, knowing it was probably the last time I’d ski with Shaun in his SPY jacket.

After Julie and Shaun left, I headed back to the lodge and hung out with the crew for a few minutes, and then we headed down to Govy for the afternoon. I headed out for a run to get a workout in, and a bit later it was time for dinner outside the patrol area. The theme for dinner this year was Mexican food, and it the tacos hit the spot. As usual, the shot ski made an appearance, with money going to the Mt Hood ski patrol. And Matt (the Mt Hood patrol director), was busy blending up margaritas and passing them out to anyone who was thirsty, so it made for a fun evening.

Eventually, we all made our way back to the condo, and went to bed in anticipation of the final day of the 2025 Nuts & Bolts event. Sunday morning arrived early, and after a quick breakfast, we checked out of the condo and headed up to the mountain one final time. It was forecast to get warm, and it was already around 65 degrees in the parking lot when we arrived.

The crowd for the Sunday check-in was a bit smaller than the previous two days, but nevertheless it was a good representation of folks from across the northwest and beyond. After the morning announcements, everyone headed out and we made our way to the top of the Palmer.

I was in an instructor clinic led by Joe Harwood, who I’ve worked with a ton at the Pass and who was also my sled instructor during my candidate year, and Andy and Matt also took part. As was typical, we had to wait for Harwood for about 15 minutes at the top of the Palmer…

Once Joe showed up, we set to work running drills on the Palmer. It was fun discussing how to best work with new and experienced sled candidates back at our local hills, and we spent a few hours working the hill. As usual, I snapped several photos, as well as a few of Ian and jenn once we made our way back to the top of the Palmer – they were working a similar clinic.

Joe’s clinic wrapped up around noon, and wanting to play a little more with the sleds, I headed over to work with Whit, Ian, Amber and jenn. They were working with the edge, and practicing wheel-barrowing (how to handle the sled in the event it breaks away from the skier in the handles). I jumped in and gave jenn a few tips on the snowboard, and soon she had it down!

After a couple of runs, I was able to convince jenn to take the sled up for one more and let me sit as ballast and shoot a couple of photos from the patient view. It worked out well and I got a few shots as well as a good run. 

We ditched the sled at the mid-station, and headed back up to enjoy the last few free ski, lift served runs of the season. I snapped a few shots of Ian enjoying the action before we met back up with the group to head down.

For our final lap, I grabbed sled carrier that needed to be taken down, and Ian took the Edge, and we headed off. Someone took a cell phone shot (below) of our crew on the way down, and I snapped several shots of Ian running the Edge…

We milked the snow right down to the parking lot, and after depositing the sled and carrier where they need to be, headed to the car to strip off the ski gear and enjoy some snacks and cold beverage. I was excited to have a super tasty Log Splitter pale ale from Great Notion that I’d tried a few weeks earlier on a trip to Portland with Julie, and it definitely hit the spot on the warm afternoon.

A bit later, the crew all took off for home. I headed down to Govy – with a glimmer of hope that my original thought of spending the night and riding one more day on the upper mountain via either the south side or the Wy’East face might pan out. When I made it to town though, I knew that wasn’t going to work. It was 87 in Govy and supposed to be just as warm or warmer on Monday. So, I made a pit stop at the Mt Hood brew pub and picked up a 6-pack of Cloud Cap amber ale for later in the season, and hit the road home (it hit 101 in Estacada on my drive home!). A couple of hours later, Nuts & Bolts 2025 was a memory, but it’s one I’ll hold onto forever. I’m already looking forward to a return trip in 2026. Until then, hHere’s a parting shot of our Willamette Pass crew from this year!

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 🙂