Ski Patrol Questions

[crgildart]

I don't recall seeing a patrol shack forum area. Please move this if there is such a venue that I just missed.

Dumb question here. Do ski patrol often, or even just occasionally give a sled ride to a skier or rider that got in to a trail way over their head? I mean, the person isn't hurt but is afraid to ski because the terrain turned out to be more difficult than they expected after they were too far down or it is too icy to walk back up. I once had a patrol take turns with me carrying my kid down a steeper blue toddler style. But, had I not been able to to that, if the kid was bigger or an adult, would they bring down a sled even if the person wasn't physically injured, just stuck due to lack of ability??

I never really thought about this because I never found myself or friends in a situation that was too severe to work our way down, albeit it slowly and falling a lot hahaha. I'd like an answer to give my beginner and intermediate kids should they follow more advanced friends in to the danger zone and hit panic mode when skiing without me around.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Yes. Definitely.

 

[crgildart]

Yes. Definitely.

Thanks, I figured it was as common as a kid pretending to be hurt when they are scared... but just wanted to see if other folks had seen patrol offering a sled ride to prevent an injury instead of just when cleaning carnage hahaha..

I'll make sure to include that aspect when reviewing the code and other stuff with my kids this season. I'll also make sure that they get the name of any patrols that help them out with anything at all be it an injury or other problem like dropped gear off lift or whatever so I can drop by and thank them properly at the end of the day

 

[KevinF]

@epic and I were skiing together last year on a bulletproof blue groomer (Perry Merril for those who know Stow) and came across two skiers who asked us to get patrol because they had taken about 45 minutes to get half way down and realized that it was safer for them to ask for a ride then to continue.

For the record, I thought it was pretty insane that Perry Merrill was open that day; it was solid and covered in frozen groomer chunks. I was glad to see the bottom. We took exactly one run on Perry that day.

Different circumstances..I was skiing at Loveland off of Chair 9 (i.e., the top) and two skiers waved me over to them. they indicated that they were in way over their heads and asked me to fetch patrol. (Snow conditions were fine that day; it's just s-t-e-e-p up there). So I skied down, found a patroller and explained the situation. His reaction was a curse word followed by "tourists...". I clarified that that meant he'd get them which was answered by a gruff "yes".

So yes, they'll fetch you.. After the Loveland experience, I always figured they might not be happy about it, and you probably aren't their first priority though.

 

[Jilly]

I'm not sure if they would call patrol at Tremblant. More likely one of the ambassadors/security people would help them down. Or as the poor lady that found herself in the middle of Grand Prix in a big wedge, got a free lesson from 6 ski instructors taking a clinic. Good practice for us.

 

[crgildart]

One of the most horrible things I ever saw and heard was a kid going in to the trees under a lift, steep, sleet covered.. either trying to get gear or had fallen and lost gear.. They were butt scooting then lost the bite of their heel lugs and slid straight down, fast smacking some trees. I heard CRACK! then screaming crying. Told the liftee at the top there was a terrible accident down a couple towers to send help ASAP.. I should probably make sure my kids know NOT to attempt stuff like that or keep skiing if they are in really nasty stuff WAY WAY beyond their ability.. sit down, preferably not in a blind spot, and ask other skiers to go find a patrol for you.

 

[AmyPJ]

Part of my job this winter at Snowbasin will be to ski around, and if I see someone struggling mightily, ask if they would like a ride down. So, yes.

 

[crgildart]

Well, up til now we've skied places where it was easy for me to give the kids easy to follow instructions.. like don't ski to the right past X and they are always with a trusted adult or kids their age that know their abilities and stay within them. But, now that they will be spending more time solo or chasing kids that are better skiers I do need to go over the more advanced rules and protocols before sending them out to the whole mountain on their own. I've got one that can solidly handle anything except the most extreme bumped up double blacks around here. If it is groomed or even icy he can power plow it and traverse well enough. It's the less experienced little sister that worries me. She's a little more daring and willing to throw caution in to the wind to try to impress her friends and she's only been skiing easy blues for about three or four days. Not good at getting her skis back on on yet either. I do worry a bit sending her out with friends or solo at a new place where she doesn't know the trail map or terrain that well.

 

[Monique]

Not good at getting her skis back on on yet either.

This part makes me wonder if she's not quite ready to be set loose, anyway. That could be a real issue with lots of tears.

 

[crgildart]

This part makes me wonder if she's not quite ready to be set loose, anyway. That could be a real issue with lots of tears.

Well I'm assuming the other girls her age she will be skiing with will help her along. They're all 13 years old, not toddlers. Plus, we'll have a couple of days skiing together and probably another couple lessons before we go bigger. But, on a steep section of an otherwise easy blue there could be tears if her "friends" aren't helping..

I will monitor things and be prepared to ski with her if the other girls are just too much more advanced to have fun skiing together. Planning on bringing a set of tele gear to try some free heeling. Been 30 years since I tried free heelers. I could do that on the greens and easier blues and have fun with her while she builds up her chops more.. But, ideal situation would be for the girls to have a blast all weekend without dads killing their vibe.

 

[SkiNurse]

Years ago, I had a friend (who worked as an ambassador at Copper) who took her out-of-state dad skiing. He had been skiing before, but nothing with the elevation of Copper. It was his second run on High Point (green run under American Flyer) and he was exhausted. So, Deena called for patrol to give her dad a "taxi" ride down the hill. (That's what they called a non-emergency ride).

Years ago (this time it was me!), came out of a ski, April 1st, 2008, on powder day at Vail. (Looking back, they had received 26" in 48 hours) It was back in Blue Sky Basin on Lover's Leap. I spent (with three friends) a wasted 45 minutes looking for it. *Sigh* I wasn't injured, so I decided to continue to ski out of Lover's Leap to Pete's Express on one ski and asked my friends to see if patrol would take me out from there. I traversed (yes, on one ski) , back & forth down the bowl, through the trees and then a bump run before I finally came to the road that would get me to Pete's Express. Probably took me a good 90 minutes....even though it felt like hours!!!! Nice, awesome, heroic patroller was waiting for me on a snowmobile at the lift. He did laugh at me and said "We would've come up to get you".

 

[Monique]

Well I'm assuming the other girls her age she will be skiing with will help her along. They're all 13 years old, not toddlers.

Ah! My mental picture has been updated.

 

[Dwight]

Heck we do this even in Wisconsin. Especially Friday night when we have 800+ kids on the hill.

 

[pais alto]

Late answer to the OP: All the time. And so do our safety team/ambassadors. Called 'taxi rides' like @SkiNurse said.

My first sled ride given as a rookie was kind of funny...in retrospect. I walked into the patrol shack at the top of a lift and there were four seasoned patrollers looking directly at me with wicked grins. I said 'What?' and they parted to reveal a guy that clearly weighed over 300 lbs wearing an O2 mask hooked up to a tank. My job was clear - take him down to the aid room in a sled. No injury, just shortness of breath and over-terrained. It was Christmas break and the runs down were over-crowded. Nice intro for me to customer service.

 

[crgildart]

Late answer to the OP: All the time. And so do our safety team/ambassadors. Called 'taxi rides' like @SkiNurse said.

My first sled ride given as a rookie was kind of funny...in retrospect. I walked into the patrol shack at the top of a lift and there were four seasoned patrollers looking directly at me with wicked grins. I said 'What?' and they parted to reveal a guy that clearly weighed over 300 lbs wearing an O2 mask hooked up to a tank. My job was clear - take him down to the aid room in a sled. No injury, just shortness of breath and over-terrained. It was Christmas break and the runs down were over-crowded. Nice intro for me to customer service.

I'm sorry I forgot to thank you for that..
I'm in much better shape now than I was then.

 

[skibob]

One of the most horrible things I ever saw and heard was a kid going in to the trees under a lift, steep, sleet covered.. either trying to get gear or had fallen and lost gear.. They were butt scooting then lost the bite of their heel lugs and slid straight down, fast smacking some trees. I heard CRACK! then screaming crying. Told the liftee at the top there was a terrible accident down a couple towers to send help ASAP.. I should probably make sure my kids know NOT to attempt stuff like that or keep skiing if they are in really nasty stuff WAY WAY beyond their ability.. sit down, preferably not in a blind spot, and ask other skiers to go find a patrol for you.

Last year, before my son's big leap I've written about, he was one of those skiers, but I got to him before patrol did.

It was icy. By Tahoe standards icy. But no death cookies or anything. I rode up Comstock (Northstar) with wife and kids. I told them to go down Ax Handle or Luggi's (Blue Runs). I was going down The Plunge (Black). We do this sometimes, because the entry and runouts are together, so its a good way for me to ski with the family. Sort of.

Anyway, he got confused (he was only 6) and followed me instead of his mother. Fortunately I heard him screaming "Daddy!!!" from where he panicked and sat down (right response) about 20 feet down into the run. Right where it was wind scoured and at its iciest. Problem was, I was a good 50' to 70' below him. I tried to coax him down at sharp cross hill angles, but nothing doing. Did I mention this is steep and icy? Had to dig the poles into the slope and brace my skis against them. And then climb. Digging my toes into a little place I chipped out of the ice every step. And climb. Holy shit that's a hard climb.

Finally got up to him. Only one way to get down now. I put him on my lap. Put his skis on my lap. Slipped, inches at a time, down. Got going a little too fast. Dug the heels in. OMG, I coulda made a snow cone with all the shaved ice! Got to the bottom of the steep part and put him there. Now I've gotta climb up and get my skis which are half way back up the steep icy slope! Now I've got to slide down on my ass again, because I've tried getting my skis on for 5 minutes and I am afraid I'm going to lose one downhill.

Get back down to the kid. Damn, I'm exhausted!!!! And covered in shaved ice. "Are you guys alright? Need any help?" Ah, the guys in the red jackets with the sled are here. No thanks, I think we've got it from here. But its damn good knowing they are around if I hadn't been able to rescue him.

EDIT: Since then, he is real good about asking questions about which way we are going!

EDIT2: That's him in my profile pic. The one w/o facial hair.

 

[Ken_R]

@epic
Different circumstances..I was skiing at Loveland off of Chair 9 (i.e., the top) and two skiers waved me over to them. they indicated that they were in way over their heads and asked me to fetch patrol. (Snow conditions were fine that day; it's just s-t-e-e-p up there). So I skied down, found a patroller and explained the situation. His reaction was a curse word followed by "tourists...". I clarified that that meant he'd get them which was answered by a gruff "yes".

Surprised that they did not take the much easier route skiers left of the steeper Patrol Bowl area (which is steep but pretty short). Snow is usually quite grippy up there and easy mid-winter.

 

[ZionPow]

We call them courtesy rides at the mountain where I patrol. We do not mind providing a courtesy ride if we are not too busy assisting injured quests and we have enough staff at the patrol shack. Courtesy rides are good training for less experienced patrollers. Most patrollers would rather give a courtesy ride vs. pulling out an injured quest and having to complete all the required paperwork associated with an accident/injury.

 

[Mendieta]

I don't recall seeing a patrol shack forum area. Please move this if there is such a venue that I just missed.

We just created one. Yeah!

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I wish I'd known that patrol does this. In December at Killlington I was taken out by the hit n run snowboarder on a black. I wasn't injured but my nerves were so toast and my confidence obliterated from what I considered a very traumatic experience that I would have loved a ride down the rest of the trail. I layed there for a good 15 minutes getting my wits about me before getting up and skiing down the rest of the trail I had countless people ski by me asking me if I was ok. I hope this never happens again but I was secretly wishing a patroller with a sled just happened by.