Respect for Ski Patrol

J

JamesEarlRay

Member
So I have a couple of friends who are on patrol out here in Tahoe and I was talking with them the other day. One of my buddies has had to be the first responder on the scene to a couple of super gnarly deaths the last couple of seasons and he was talking about how it definitely effects you in a pretty intense way. I also found out that ski patrollers don't really get paid that well ($10/hr average from what I've heard) and that most people just do it for the love of it or they are volunteers.I understand if you are older and are just doing it for the love of it and to help out/volunteer. But imagine being a younger guy/girl in their 20's and seeing these grisly deaths on a somewhat regular basis for not that great of pay? I dunno, I was just amazed by the whole situation and I guess I never really looked that hard into it until I was talking with my buddies on patrol. Let me know what you guys think.

Also, any ski patrollers out here, let me hear your guys perspectives...
 
im a volunteer junior candidate at a new england ski area; have been for about a season and a half now, about to take my paper test. haven't seen any grisly deaths but definitely have seen some people in extreme pain and a deformity here and there. its tough knowing there really isn't anything i can do about it except comfort and transport. but i enjoy it, first chair/no lift lines is sick, and you get a whole different perspective when it comes to how a mountain operates.

definitely wish patrollers got a little more respect from the general public; too often we come across as a police force when everything we do we just have to keep in mind the safety of guests.
 
Because you aren't as good as you think you are and ski too fast for your skill level and out of control and could hurt someone.
 
props to real ski patrol like that.. not to the midwest ones who weave through the park while teaching kiddies ski safety, and then proceed to bitch at you when nearly taking a kid out
 
Sucks dick. Well not too bad right now cause of the 30 inches. Northern New England's not bad, though. Just gotta make the most of it.
 
Yeah they definitely don't do it for the money. They do it for the passion of skiing and being on the mountain. That's the life
 
^hahahahaha

In reality, tahoe patrollers are some of the best/gnarliest patrollers. If you know anything about tahoe snow you'll know we get the most amount of snow in the shortest amount of time aka dumping feet or sunny for days. The pow hounds want at it right away and these guys save lives. Just go to squaw, kirkwood, alpine, sugar bowl or Mt. Rose. Hell even Homewood has some good patrollers. I've got mad respect for those guys.

Heavenly and Northstar patrollers? I'll keep my opinions to myself. Although they probably deal with the gnarliest crashes since most of the gapes go there.
 
I volunteer at PCMR, and this is my second season. At 17, I've already seen a lot of gnarly deaths, seen families torn apart and had to land a heli or five. Everyone that patrols does it because its what they enjoy doing. I don't care who you are, no ski boots are comfortable after 12 hours in them.

The pay isn't great, the hours are miserable, and we don't get nearly as much skiing as you would think.
 
Respect, dude. Thanks for doing all you do. You probably have to deal with a lot of stupid and easily avoidable injuries/accidents with the amount of tourists at PC.
 
Ski Patrol at Kicking Horse just party, crush puss, ski gnarly lines, and allow for the sweet sweet lines to open without killing people. Did I say they get to blow shit up too? All the respect for those that do it at a mountain where they are 'avalanche safety' and not 'slow patrol'. I don't think ski patrol has ever clipped a pass for skiing fast and I thank them for that.

check the vid of them blowing shit up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIcBtbe33c4&list=UUpAqZyv0IxuHkDTY2agld2Q&index=13
 
In summit county and vail I always have the utmost respect for actual ski patrol, I tend to lose respect for the yellow jacket guys who are mediocre skiers that are unable to help anyone with an actual problem or emergency, those yellow jackets are fucking useless.
 
I have never been told to slow down by patrol...ever. I have gone Mach chicken through slow zones with patrollers right there.

You know what the secret is? make a few quick turns to show how in control you are and they wont say anything.

At places with serious terrain the only thing Patrol does is: Avalanche control, transport injured folks efficiently, and generally help keep the stoke up amongst the rippers on the hill.

props and kudos go to them.
 
You nailed it. We get onto people's cases when they're skiing out of control, because they could nail someone else and break their femur, which happened to my buddy's mom. If you're on your edges and making turns, you're in control, just skiing quickly. And thats completely kosher.
 
I have to respect ski patrol... The dude that builds jumps at my mountain sucks at it, and if it wasnt for ski pattrol, when my brother broke his back, theres a good chance he wouldnt be going riding again in the near future. Nah, im just fucking with you, he broke L3- L5 and the dumbass ski patrol kept pushing on it pretty hard, causing him to be out for an extra month. I resoect the real ski patrollers that have their emt liscense and that stuff. But the ones that abuse their power really should be taken off the mountain. Also wear a fucking helmet people. Me, and multiple friends have had tons of points where we wouldnt ever ski again if we werent wearing a helmet. Also if my brother wasnt wearing his helmet the doc said there would be a massive chance he woulda died.
 
Took the words right out of my mouth. I have respect for patrollers but they often institute themselves as the police force here in the midwest. The other day a kid got injured pretty badly in the park and me being on park crew i went over to see what happened and to block off the jump but the ski patroller yelled at me to "get the hell out of here"
 
i respect them when they arent cutting me off!!! i guess they help more than they hurt. they dont like me going out of bounds..i dont like that..considering i am in the midwest and i want to ski something fun
 
op what mountain do ur buddies work at? today i fron flippen this cat track while patrol was chasing me down then strait line to the lift and my friends told me ski patrol was on my ass til the track then they decided to give up hah
 
boo to my resort ski teachers. fuckers are profiling! I'm not even thugging or anything but they would rather ask some old gaper to watch kids on the lift than to ask me

i wanna get on that express ski school lift line too
 
Ski Patrollers are the homies. They just lay down the law and understand the flow of the mountain. They actually do a service to the mountain and ensure the safety of the crazies

Resort "hosts", guides, "yellow-coats", or what-the-fuck ever they're called are washed up, white collar retiree's who want to re-live their ski instructor glory days and think they're doing what is best for "everybody"

I used to ride copper mtn. and every single time, even after throwing down some pro slalom looking control on my skis, they still give me the slow down wave. Every time they try to pull me over, I go faster past them, even to the point where i've almost got taken the FUCK out by one of them going mach 12 down the slope

If a ski patroller told me to slow down or stop i'd listen but when a host tells me to slow down or stop, I keep going then switch runs.

If its 12:00 noon and the slope is pretty crowded then yeah i'll listen to the yellow bellies, they're point is warranted under the given circumstance, but when its 3:00 pm, i'm the only skiier on the run, everybody has gone home, and i'm STILL getting the hand wave...............FUCK OFF BREW

 
I worked EMS in LA and Orange Counties for several years, I know the feeling. Seen some nuts stuff, some stuff I wish I could un-see. A lot of people get burned out in the field, and others become highly cynical. When I felt horrible coming to work every day is when I quit. I have a lot of cool stories from my experiences, LA was like the wild west of EMS.

I'll probably get involved in patrol at some point in my future, I've been wanting to go it on a volunteer basis for several years now, but am too busy with school.
 
i didnt blame them? haha but i dont really care that im in the midwest. i have a good time on the hill no matter what. plus look at MIke Hornbeck
 
i respect ski patrols west of the Mississippi-- im pretty sure many of the ones on the east coast decide to ski patrol so they could get themselves free lessons.
 
a friend of mine is a volunteer EMT who rides around in the back of an ambulance, and trust me HE sees grisly deaths on a daily basis. i mean bad, like bodies just completely severed in half in accidents
 
I only ever had 1 dismemberment. (GORE WARNING): the guy who got shot in the penis and the dude who shot his head off and it was bubbling where his trachea is (was?) were more gross to me.

Also had a few pediatric calls, those were always difficult. In one case a little girl fell on a glass table and kind of sliced her gut open.
 
As someone who's been a firefighter for almost 10 years now, the exaggeration in this thread is to the point of comical.
 
95% of ski patrollers where I am are chill as fuck and just love to ski. if you get caught doing inverts they're tell you how sick it was then ask you kindly not to do any more. older skipo will sometimes generalize park rats though. one day I was hiking a rail in the park and some old guy came out of his way to make sure I had a pass on me even though I work there.

but like all groups of people there are assholes who just want to run the show. it also seems like the only skipo who have been dicks were young ones who obviously just want the power to tell people whatever the fuck they want.

 
back in the northwest, i have a huge respect for ski patrol. like in a lot of other places, they actually have to do some gnarly stuff and work a lot to make the mountain safe for everybody. and they generally dont care about little things and getting people in trouble.

down in summit county however, fuck patrol, and especially fuck safety patrol. seriously, its not like they actually need to prevent massive slides on the front side of breck when there hasnt been snow in two weeks, and they flip a shit about the smallest things. no respect for them at all
 
The mountain I frequent is pretty small and the majority of the skiers are just locals who ski the same to trails all day. The patrol is made up of locals as well and don't give a damn what you do as long as you aren't reckless. If there is a closed off trail they don't mind if you go on it, as long as you don't break yourself. They're awesome.
 
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