7 Things You Didn’t Know About Lake Tahoe Ski Patrols

By: Aaron Robbins

There is a lot more to Lake Tahoe Ski Patrols than red jackets and white crosses.

This dedicated group of individuals make up an important organization charged with protecting, serving and caring for a large portion of Lake Tahoe’s winter sports enthusiasts. Ski patrollers get up early and leave late. They are constantly looking to improve their duel craft of skiing and emergency care. They can ski any run on the hill, frontwards, backwards and with toboggan in tow. The Ski Patrol is a vital organization to Lake Tahoe and one that deserves all of our respect. Here is Blog Tahoe’s list of seven things you didn’t know about Lake Tahoe Ski Patrols:

1. Almost all Ski Patrollers are part of the National Ski Patrol, an organization founded in 1938 by Charles Minnie Dole. The organization received a fedaral charter from the US Congress in 1980 placing it in the same league as the American Red Cross and YMCA.

2. Lake Tahoe ski patrol members typically go through a three phase “Candidate Program”. Phase 1 usually involves technical proficiency on skis and is designed to test the candidate’s ability to ski the whole mountain under complete control. Phase 2 puts prospective ski patrollers through roughly 80 hours of Outdoor Emergency Care Courses and is designed to teach the basics of emergency care while focusing on mountain and weather related trauma. Phase 3 consists of “on the hill” training where candidates put their skills to use while learning patrol specific skills such as skiing with a toboggan, area sweeps and run closures. If the candidate passes all three of these phases he or she may be awarded the level of “basic patroller”.

3. While you’re still warm and cozy in your bed the average ski patroller has already checked in, been assigned an area to patrol and made several runs checking for safe snow conditions and setting up their areas with the necessary equipment. I think only the Army does more by 9am

4. Some resorts allow patrollers to go through candidate training on skis, snowboards or telemark skis while other resorts ,such as Squaw Valley, require all patrollers to pass advanced level ski evaluations before applying to patrol by snowboard or telemark.

5.While most resorts have both paid and volunteer ski patrollers almost all patrollers have paid out of pocket expenses for dues, uniforms, additional equipment, lodging, gas and sunscreen.

6. Heavenly has enough ski patrollers to break them down into 4 different patrol groups. The groups are based on the patrollers residence and are refereed to as: Carson, Golden Gate, Heavenly Valley and Skyline

7. Tahoe Ski Patrols are not limited to ski resorts. The Lake Tahoe Back Country Ski Patrol is an organized service of the Tahoe National Forest and Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest. The Back Country patrollers usually only patrol on weekends and only in certain areas: Castle Peak, Pole Creek, Martis Peak, Mt. Judah and Tahoe Meadows.

Lake Tahoe Ski Patrollers are a dedicated bunch individuals committed to serving skiers across the Tahoe area. They spend countless hours training both on skis and off. For most patrollers their love for skiing is second only to their love for helping others. Next time you see a ski patroller or ride up with on on a lift tell um Blog Tahoe says “Thanks.”

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