Category: Ski Patrol

Search and rescue practice was on the agenda today as I headed up to the Pass for a day of Patrolling. This activity is fun because it affords the opportunity to head out of bounds with the splitboard to practice GPS and compass skills, with the added bonus of getting untracked turns outside the area.  The reason for the practice is that generally a few times every year people become lost or stranded outside the area, requiring help from Patrol and sometimes Lane Co Search & Rescue.  After opening the mountain in the morning, I met up with Laurie and Todd in the patrol base area for a quick breakfast and to study a map of the area.  Laurie gave us some coordinates of a “lost” party, and finding them would be our objective for the morning.  The area they were lost in just happened to be in one of the better areas for riding back to the resort – the high point on Cherokee Ridge.

After putting the coordinates in our GPS’s, we loaded the EPA lift with our overnight packs and rode down to Boundary Pass, where we switched to skinning.  We set a track around the ridge, following our compass bearings and occasionally looking at the GPS.  Within about 30 minutes, we located the lost party (several pieces of pink surveyor’s tape), heated some water with our Jet Boil stoves and talked over how to warm a cold patient and other possible scenarios.  After running through another mock scenario, we skinned to the top of Cherokee Ridge and dropped in to some excellent fresh powder.

There is actually more vertical from the top of Cherokee back to the ski area than you think, and we made turn after turn through the gladed trees in the untracked powder.  It’s always nice to earn turns and make tracks, but today was nice because it was a patrol day and the snow was great.

Back at the bottom of Peak 2, we loaded the lift and went back to work with regular patrol duties.  I met up with Andy and made a few runs in pretty good snow before we closed Peak 2 at 3:30.  I’m thinking I’ll have to acquaint myself with a few more of the areas outside the resort boundaries in the future and get a few more earned turns while on patrol (while learning the spots people become lost in of course:)

Andrew was visiting from Hawaii, and I had patrol duty on Saturday, so we headed up to the Pass for a few runs prior to our trip into Tam McArthur Rim.  After a quick stop at McDonald’s in Oakridge (for old time’s sake) we pulled into the parking lot at the pass and it was cold, with a base temperature of -2 degrees.  We had our morning meeting, then I headed out to open the hill.  The first run down Eagle’s Flight was excellent, and I knew we’d be in for a good day.  There wasn’t tons of untracked powder around, but there were some stashes to be had and the groomers were screamin’ fast.  At 9:00, I met up with Andrew, after making a few runs on the backside, and we enjoyed several runs on the front side.

Around 10:00 or so, we met up with Andy, who had come up for the day and was on his snow blades.  Andrew found a few little play features in the trees between High Lead and Timbur, and Andy grabbed the camera to take a few shots of us making turns.  It wasn’t difficult to really make the smoke fly – just one hard turn and the snow was suspended above our heads for several seconds…..

I went in for a quick breakfast while Andy and Andrew made a few more runs, checking out the terrain park off of George.  The temperature by mid-day had warmed a bit, to a balmy 14 degrees or so.  Here’s a shot Andy took of Andrew in the terrain park…..

After a few more runs, we took a break in the patrol room for lunch, then headed out to the back side, making numerous runs in the trees around June’s and Destiny.

We did some looking around the Dragon’s Back, but there wasn’t quite enough snow to ride the Gravity Chute.  Here’s a picture of Andrew on the rocks below the meadow at Dragon’s Back….

We were able to find a nice drop off the small cliff between lower June’s Run and Down Under, and hit that feature several times over the course of the next hour or so.  Andrew thought it would be cool to take some pictures of himself and Andy reflecting in my goggles on the lift ride up.  The results are shown below:

The shot below is a reflection of Andrew and Andy, with Maiden Peak also making an appearance in the background of my goggle lens….

After the fun on the backside, I went to sit bump at EPA from 2:00 – 3:00, while Andrew and Andy made runs on RTS and in SDN.  At the end of the bump shift, we made a few more runs on the backside and Andy bid us farewell to head back to town.  Andrew helped patrol sweep the hill, and we closed Destiny.  The run was clear, so while we were waiting, I snapped a few photos of the trees in the relative silence after everyone else had headed off the mountain…..

When Peak 2 sweep was over, we hiked to the EPA for closing of the upper mountain.  Andrew and closed High Lead to the glades, and I finished sweeping that run while he made one last lap in the terrain park.  Back in the patrol room, we had our evening meeting, cracked some excellent tasting Oakshire beers, and then headed for home, after an excellent day of skiing and riding at the Pass.

After a week of mid-winter rain, I headed up to the Pass for a day of patrolling with the forecast calling for sunny skies. Arriving around 7:45 am to partly cloudy conditions, I could tell the snowpack had taken a beating from the previous rainfall. After the morning meeting, we ventured out onto the lifts to open the mountain. The morning was calm and beautiful.

The snow was pretty hard for the morning runs from the freeze the night before. After making a few runs on the backside, I ventured over to check out the sled training. I saw the red coats down below, and rode up to find Andy and Joe instructing the candidates.

The candidates were working on running loaded 100’s, and switching out with time in both the handles and the tail rope. I snapped a few pictures of the work, including the shots below….

I met up with Andy who was up for the day, and we headed to the backside for some runs on June’s and through the trees. The snow softened up just enough to make it playful. On the frontside, the snow softened up quite nicely and we were able to make lots of runs on Eagle’s Flight and others.

We made a few more runs off the front side, and I sat bump on EPA for an hour. After bump, we made a few runs with some of the local telemarkers and then worked to close Peak 2. Since I ran sweep, I stayed up top while the others closed the runs. After I put away the bamboo and signs, I snapped a few photos.

After getting everything put away, I waited for the rest of the patrol to arrive back at the top, and while doing so noticed the light on the ramp was really nice. A few moments later, I captured a few shots of patrol as they unloaded the Peak 2 chair….

Once the backside was closed, I headed over to the front to begin closing the rest of the hill. The sun was starting to head down in the sky, and I was able to catch this picture of Carolyn standing at the top of the EPA…..

I helped close Timburr, then headed over to the Twilight lift and helped close Swoosh. The run down Swoosh is always fun, and probably my favorite Twilight run. Between closing calls, I was able to snap the below photo of the sun setting w/Diamond Peak in the background……

After the mountain was closed, everyone headed into the patrol room for the evening debrief before parting ways and heading home. Today was another good day at the Pass, but it needs to snow again soon in a bad way. Here’s a parting shot of some sled training from the day…

My first Patrol day of 2011 couldn’t have started much better, with blue sunny skies, good snow and cold temps!

After a quick morning meeting in the patrol room, we headed out to open the mountain. I grabbed my camera, noting earlier that the light would probably be excellent for taking a few morning shots. The views upon arrival at the top of the Eagle Peak Accelerator didn’t disappoint….

I made an opening run down Good Time Charlie, and the bumps were pretty soft and nice. There still was a bit of fresh snow in the trees down lower on the run. Back at the base, I loaded the EPA chair and headed back up for another run. After the mountain was opened, we were able to do some sled running. High Lead was the run of choice for running the sleds, and Todd, Ken and I formed a 3 man team for the task. Ken and Todd started out running the sled while I sat in it. Once we all had a turn in the handles and on tail rope, we worked over to By George for some fun running the sleds without any weight.

We did a few sled drills, reached the base of EPA, then headed back up. Todd and I headed to the backside to check out the Dragon’s Back area on the advice from another patroller. The area was really filled in, and Gravity Chute was almost doable, but we decided against it since there were still a few rocks showing. The views to the north were excellent……

The snow was pretty good lower down in the trees. At that point, I headed back to the EPA and the frontside for a chance to test out a couple of different sleds from a different manufacturer (Edge Clipper). The sleds ran pretty nicely, the most notable difference being that they were lighter than the Cascade 100’s. Again, High Lead was the run of choice, followed by By George.

Before lunch, I snapped a few more photos before heading in for some food. Back on the hill, I was able to enjoy a few more runs before sitting bump on EPA. Here’s a shot of John I took earlier in the day…

Sweep went off without a hitch, and the sunset on Diamond Peak was incredible! The snow was excellent all day long – one of the things I love about mid-winter on the ski hill. Overall, it was the perfect way to start 2011!

 

My 2010 Christmas was spent up at the Pass for a day of Patrolling, which actually worked out well since my family and I celebrated the weekend before and on Christmas Eve since my sister was heading across the state to visit in-laws.

The morning started out by carpooling up to the Pass with a few other patrollers, and though rain was in the forecast, the weather was sunny w/blue skies when we pulled into the parking lot. After our morning meeting, we headed out at 8:00 to open the hill. The first chair to the top early in the morning is always fun…….

Once at the top of the EPA, we unloaded to heavy winds, with gusts near 30 mph. Looking out across the southern Oregon cascades is always a treat when the weather is nice, and today was no exception. Mt Scott and Mt Bailey were plainly visible, and Diamond Peak and Odell Lake were looking good as usual…

I opened Eagle’s Flight which was nicely groomed. On the next run down High Lead, I snapped this shot of Todd w/Diamond Peak in the background…..