A Glance at Ski Patrolling - Heavenly Ski Resort

A Glance at Ski Patrolling - Heavenly Ski Resort

Shot from my shadowing experience

Special thank you to the Heavenly Ski Patrol for making this article possible!

Seasons greetings! Welcome back to Emergency Radar, I've got a special piece for you all. For winter break, I've headed to the mountains of Lake Tahoe, home of North America's largest alpine lake and stunning scenery. My family and I are passionate skiers; almost every year we have gone down to Tahoe to ski. I wouldn't call myself an advanced skier, but I have experience. This year, I've decided to change up my skiing experience...

You've very likely seen these guys around if you have been on the mountain; a typical uniform of red with a white cross (seen above). These individuals are members of a large network of respected first responders and outdoor enthusiasts, known as the Ski Patrol

What is the Ski Patrol and what do they do?

A Ski Patrol is an organization that provides medical, rescue, and hazard prevention services in the territory of a ski resort/area (and sometimes in backcountry territory). In some locations, patrollers can be skiers and snowboarders. Members of the Ski Patrol will be referred to as patrollers in this article.

In the medical scope, the primary goal of a ski patrol is stabilization: patrollers aim to assist a patient so that the individual will not deteriorate any further. After attempted stabilization, patrollers work to bring the patient to the bottom of the mountain to an ambulance/medical transport unit where advanced care can be provided.

In the rescue scope, besides transport to the bottom of the mountain, patrollers survey the mountain and search for any missing persons. Patrollers may use rescue dogs to assist their missions; the Heavenly Avalanche Rescue dogs are a great example of hard-working puppies. Specialized rescue, such as avalanche search and rescue or helicopter rescue, are also important aspects of the Ski Patrol career and training in the rescue aspect.

In the prevention scope, patrollers constantly work to mark boundaries, place signs on ski runs (showing direction, warnings, etc.), create controlled avalanches (by far the most interesting to me!), and more. In addition, patrollers will often collect detailed incident reports to analyze issues on the mountains, which could help pinpoint severe dangers or eliminate grievances.

To put it shortly, the Ski Patrol is an essential force for any skiing territory.

Important: A patroller can be a volunteer or an employee; this all depends on where they work. The Heavenly ski resort has both volunteers and paid employees

The exterior of the Ski Patrol lodge on the top of Dipper, Heavenly

How do I become a Ski Patroller?

(The Heavenly Ski Patrol will be my primary focus and example) 

Heavenly Ski Patrol website: http://www.heavenlyareaskipatrol.org/

The first step in becoming a ski patroller is to ski. Been there done that? Congratulations! You are one step closer to becoming a patroller. However...

Patrollers are expected to rescue and assist various patients on thousands of acres of skiable territory regardless of the weather or run conditions, one can expect a patroller to be an exceptional skier.

For Heavenly, you must pass the prerequisite skiing test (exact criteria unknown, but patrollers explain to me that you must be able to "navigate all territory safely and look good doing it"). Heavenly does not accept snowboard patrollers due to variable terrain.

Next, in most places, you must be 18+ and have an OEC (Outdoor Emergency Care) certification (some may require EMT). Additionally, certifications may be needed depending on the territory.

For Heavenly, 18+, an OEC certification, and CPR certification are needed. I have been told about exceptions, but this is the general rule of thumb. Additional courses are provided to train and upcoming patrollers. Heavenly patrollers are constantly tested and evaluated to assure that all patrollers are capable of providing the best care and services to the public.

Again, it's important to emphasize that each territory will have its own expectations; research the territory you would like to work in!

The Details of the Heavenly Ski Patrol

Personality

Let me start this section off by repeating my thank you to the Heavenly Ski Patrol; especially patrollers Chase, Andrew, and Branden for allowing and encouraging me to shadow. I have admired the ski patrol from a distance for a while, so this experience was very important to me.

I met patroller Chase on the ski lift as I was returning to home. Almost immediately he struck up a friendly conversation, and we talked about patrolling which led to an offering of a shadow. The charismatic nature of Chase reflects the personalities of almost all of the patrollers I ended up meeting in Heavenly; all of them were welcoming and very kind. While this isn't a defined qualification for the job, a patroller should have this kind of personality, a personality that is fit for serving the public.

Public service is dirty and not very glorious. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of moments of glory, but many times it's dealing with the unhappy population. A happy population is needed to counterbalance!

This comes to reflect, in my view, that ski patrolling holds very similar values to firefighting. Appear your best for the public, help others with the right attitude, but most importantly, you yourself are the number one priority. As Chase said,

"You are not the emergency on the mountain, don't become one by putting yourself in danger"

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Prevention

Speaking of similarities with firefighting, one of my favorite parallels I've discovered is controlled avalanches.

 Patrollers will use explosives and various skiing techniques to create manmade avalanches. Because these avalanches are carefully planned, they pose little to no hazard if executed correctly. The advantage is that these manmade avalanches replace the possibility of real avalanches, which are set off by the buildup of weak snow, tiny actions, the list goes on. Explosives guarantee a response than can be monitored and prevent further buildup of snow. 

Patrollers have also described to me a technique known as "ski cutting", where skiers will cut across a line while stomping with their ski. In turn, the snow would begin to fall down the mountain, possibly triggering an avalanche.   

The use of explosives for avalanche control bears a close resemblance to controlled burns (aka prescribed burns). In the fire service, controlled burns are commonly used in wildland to burn highly flammable fuels which pose a severe fire risk. By burning them in a controlled manner, this drastically reduces the chances of a rampaging wildfire (but, nothing is ever guaranteed...)

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Gear

Ski Patrol toboggan

Since ski patrollers are limited with what they can carry, I wasn't surprised to see that the patrollers had pockets neatly stuffed to the brim with all kinds of medical equipment. Any kind of basic first aid equipment you can think of, they've likely got it on them. 

However, the most defining equipment of the patrollers is the classic toboggan (aka sled). Toboggans are the resource necessary for patient transport; Heavenly toboggan's typically contained comfortable positioning for a patient and additional equipment inside (splints, backboards, etc.)

In addition to the toboggan, I was shown a diverse collection of backboards at one of the patroller lodges (backboards are used in EMS to provide rigid spinal immobilization for trauma patients). Some backboards are capable of splitting into two and "scoop" the patient; commonly used around obstacles such as trees. 

Lastly, I was shown various other medical equipment, often compact versions of what I have seen on ambulances/fire engines. Oxygen packs, trauma packs, splints, KEDs, and likewise; all the same in function, but because of the nature of the patroller profession, their shape was much more unique

Medical equipment within a ski patrol lodge (left to right: splints, gloves, air pack, backboards)

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That's all I have so far, but by no means am I done researching this profession, nor should you be done. Do not let my article define all of ski patrolling for you; it is an incredibly diverse profession, and Heavenly is my first close look. I will be documenting any further research on here, but for now...

Thank you for reading!