In dog we trust

After a 20 minute hike to the top of the Showcase Chute there was no going back. I had it relatively easy, no heavy explosives to carry, no ropes, no bulky extensive first aid kits, radios or spare batteries. It was shortly after 8am (2½ hours into the work day) one morning in early March and I was standing atop a peak as the sun struggled to assert its dominance over the chilly spring morning. However unlike the peaks, for whom it was another notch on the geological timeclock, in the endless battle between the elements of ice and fire, I was a mere pawn – expendable with a movement of snow, or gust of wind.

We had cleared most of the mountain, the slopes were safe to use. Jack and Veronica were just checking that I was OK skiing into a Permanently Closed area of the mountain: forbidden to members of the public at all times. Thousands of eager skiers waited at the foot of the mountain, a vertical mile and three chairlift rides away, to catch that first lift after a storm had left us a foot of fresh dry powder. Families would be tucking into waffles, pancakes and freshly roasted coffee as they plotted the day's fun and games. Others would be looking forward to their first ski lesson, my talented colleagues would be their passport to the sport this time for I was a Whistler-Blackcomb Patroller wannabe… for a day.

Jack, the designated route leader that morning with six years experience and a level 3 (of 4) patroller, was a thirty-something living a half hour north of Whistler, with a 'real job' during the summer months as a fire-fighter. Veronica completed the pairing. Together they reported into Senior Patroller Richard Wyne who with 17 years patrolling experience is a Training Consultant in the summer.

"The day starts early, let's meet at 5.30am" Richard had warned me. Nora, Richards 3 year old Labrador avalanche dog, was hot in pursuit of the skidoo as we sped up the mountain. During the winter a half dozen or so fully trained avalanche dogs are taken up the mountain each day and put into the day kennels - “…several thousand dollars over two seasons” - and Nora was fully accredited by the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dogs Association (CARDA), Richard revealed. Although avalanche avoidance training should keep us safe(r), we could one day owe our life to these canine heroes; there is always a risk.

"This is Chainsaw Ridge…move only where and when they tell you" Richard explained as the red uniforms of Jack and Veronica approached. "Nora is still a little shaken up from January so needs her rest" continued Richard. CARDA dogs can drastically cut the search time for buried avalanche victims (who foolishly and selfishly aren't wearing avalanche transceivers) by picking up human scents. This is much quicker than random probing by 20 patrollers. Every second counts in an avalanche; 80% human survival rate if dug out from a slide within 20 minutes! "…that's why an individual must learn self rescue techniques with transceivers et al., so their backcountry (off-piste) partners can save their lives rather than having to sacrifice vital time whilst the pro's and dogs (us) come in" Richard explained plus "…a lucky few owe their lives to the dogs". Nora was still emotionally shaken up after being buried by a large category 3 avalanche in Golden, B.C., in January whilst training; another CARDA dog sniffed her out!

Nora settled down for her breakfast in the world's best positioned dog kennel; many a man would wish for such an office window view: "It's a dogs life".

I knew I was in the hands of true professionals (Jack and Veronica): risking their lives and facing arctic conditions daily; no one could argue that they earn every cent of their £80 (CAD$200) a day. Their workdays are unlike most, four days a week (5.30am - 6.30pm); and they take their jobs very seriously.

Many in the valley would be unaware of the work going on for them, long before they skied it.

Tony Sitlinger in the high alpine hut acted as 'forecaster' for the day, assimilating, updating and broadcasting the ever-changing weather and avalanches forecasts. Our role, Jack states is "quite simply risk management". Daily and first thing there is avalanche clearance, then erecting all signage and during the bulk of the day patrollers deal with accidents before finally clearing / shutting down the mountains as the sun sets. Jack explained "I liked the freedom of off-piste skiing and wanted to become a ski guide but it involved being away from home too much." Mountain guides and patrollers have similar skill sets; good mountain knowledge, avalanche awareness, route-finding, weather forecasting and an enhanced mountain first aid certification - "the regular hours of a patroller with the life-style akin to that of a guide won me over."

"One drop" the call comes through on the radio. There was a heli-bombing mission, which with the explosive fumes in the chopper is not as glamorous as it sounds, out in the "7th Heaven" zone. 30cm of fresh snow was being checked efficiently for instability by hand charges dropped from the chopper. Our team was observing the drops in case any failed to detonate. The two-minute fuse seemed like an age but then "boom" echoed around the bowl. From our safe viewing position we saw a puff of snow reach towards the red glowing morning sky. "No result" Jack confirms into the radio for Tony to record. Despite repeating the process a couple more times the fresh snow did not seem to be moving.

The exploding fertiliser hand charges are made of a combination of ammonium nitrate, fuel oil and diesel (for ignition purposes). They had failed to set off any sort of a slide down Showcase Chute which although in a permanently closed area of the mountain, leads into the "open" Ruby, Sapphire and Diamond double black diamond bowls on Blackcomb. These bowls are extensively skied most days and we needed to make sure that although there was no result with the charges, that the weight of a skier would not tip the balance.

Champagne powder plumes parted to my left and right, as I followed Jack and Veronica down through the beautiful but very steep chute; the 10 foot cliff drop mid-way was fun. Continuing into the "Surf's Up Chute" below Showcase and finally past the "Double Rubble Chute" – 400 vertical and magical metres; the greatest perk of a patrollers job. "…clear and safe" Jack reports in.

By 10am several patrol teams had run all lower, mid and high mountain overlapping routes, the whole mountain is deemed safe and open for the public. The public in turn fan up the mountain like rats up a sewer as chairlift after chairlift and zone after zone is cleared.

"…it was like Vietnam as the chopper landed, blood haemorrhaging everywhere; the 5 year old screamed incessantly with pain" Jack continued as the sometimes harsh reflections of the job came to light, "…poor thing had only broken the same leg on the same mountain a year earlier".

Even on an exceptionally busy day, with about 30,000 slope users in the resort; there are only about 150 incidents called in – many of them minor, that's 1 in every 200 slope users needing attention. The attention required is often independent of the activity at hand (skier/snowboarder specific) and is often things such as food poisoning.

The basic route into patrolling is via an 80-hour intensive first aid course; everything in depth from fractures to frostbite and everything in-between. It's all about "packaging the patient up for treatment elsewhere" Veronica explains. "However we never like to hear the dreaded radio call '10-40'" she iterates, "… the call for a wreck (injury) being reported in".

It came as no surprise to me when I learnt that most injuries occur to people in the congested learner and early intermediate areas and of course 'the park and pipe is a recipe for disaster' Jack confirmed. People often try to take on more than they are capable off. Most injuries occur to people not in lessons it was explained. Snowboarders have the classic wrist injury and skiers the classic knee injuries.

I accompanied Jack and Veronica to a number of wrecks that day. One person with a broken binding was skidoo'ed to the gondola down, a snowboarder 'classic' broken wrist; they had ignored the calls from their instructor to hire them whilst learning. Assessing and reassuring the patient, keeping them warm then bandaging them up and getting them off the mountain is the usual procedure. Very often the patient is "fully packaged" that is to say put in a sledge and taken down the mountain fully enclosed, akin to a coffin on skis. It could be for a relatively minor issue though but it is simply because it is the easiest and safest way down to the medical clinic. "It can look like a mass funeral procession on some days as sledge after sledge comes down" Jack explains to me.

On a typical day Whistler has about 50 patrollers working. A number are fully trained paramedics and a handful of doctors. With bad accidents there could be several patrollers, paramedics and a doctor on the scene. It could take them an hour or more to clear the incident, involving a helicopter if required. Working as a team they can work like a skiing ambulance until the patient is passed on.

The "final sweep" as sector by sector of the mountain is cleared of lingerers is the patroller's vital and final daily job.

I joined patroller Tracy Morrison on her sweep. "There is a definite attitude of "patrol will look after me"" Tracy suggests. She continues "unlike in Europe where people tend to educate themselves as soon as they venture off-piste they start to read the weather, avalanche conditions etc; such skills are seriously lacking in North America". "So people like to be wrapped in cotton wool in Whistler?" I suggest. "Not just Whistler but everywhere in North America" Tracy retorts.

The 11 hour day draws to a close at 5pm. "I'll never have to answer the question 'what would you do if you weren’t doing this' because I never will do anything else… why would I" concludes Tracy.

Nora took her canine evening meal as I unbuckled my boots. Let's hope that tomorrow if she is needed, all that CARDA dog training will save precious life saving minutes; In dog we do indeed trust.

Resources:
www.whistlerblackcomb.com
www.carda.bc.ca

© Copyright Steve Angus (www.steveangus.com)

• Courses, Europe
• Courses, North America
• Avalanches? A guide

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• Skiing in Whistler-Blackcomb
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Resort shortcuts

Avalanche guide

Some passages in this section are extracted from Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper, Director of the Utah Avalanche Center.
Buy this book...

Safety equipment

• Buy a transceiver (beacon), collapsible probe, and a shovel
• Owing and carry equipment is not good enough - practise with it
• Carry a compass and inclinometer
• Take an avalanche awareness class

Avalanche gear

Away from the marked runs, you depend on your friends and your equipment should anything go wrong.

Make sure you have the best gear, available from Facewest.