Association of Professional Patrollers Spring 2016 Summary of Venues
Sierra At Tahoe Mid-Winter Clinic – Tuesday through Thursday, January 26 to 28, 2016
Tuesday – Training Day – Mock Avalanche Rescue and Dog Demonstration
Wednesday and Thursday – Practical Testing, As it turned out we tested in all nine categories
Written Tests Given – 67
Practical Tests Given – 54
Audits – 5
Clinic Participation including Judges: 42
Judges Participation: 20Sierra At Tahoe:
Shannon Maguire – APP Board – Avalanche Rescue and Medical
Zak Johnston – Assistant Judge Toboggans - Toboggans
Dan Little – Rope Rescue
Tim Owen – Hill Safety
Zach McAllister – Skiing and Snowboarding
Greg Lolli – Medical and Toboggans
Justin Slaight – Rope Rescue
Mt. Rose
Devin Hiemstra – Head Rope Rescue Judge – Rope Rescue
Scott Sutter – Assistant Judge Hill Safety – Hill Safety and Toboggans
Charlie Tabano – Head Judge Medical - Medical
Blue Eisele – Rope Rescue
Sugar Bowl
Bo Yule – APP Committee Member – Head Judge Skiing, Snowboarding and Telemarking – Skiing, Snowboarding and Telemarking and Avalanche Rescue
David Galson – APP Committee Member and Webmaster, Assistant Judge Risk Management – Hill Safety
Northstar
Keith Tatsukawa – APP Board and Assistant Judge in Rope Rescue – Rope Rescue and Avalanche Rescue
Mt. Bachelor
Curtis Norsen – Patrol Director/Risk Manager – Skiing, Snowboarding and Telemarking
Jon Erickson - Toboggans
China Peak
David Hornor – Medical and Rope Rescue
Bear Valley
Chris “Guy” Catlin – Head Judge Explosives (used in Avalanche Control) – Avalanche Science and Evaluation, Explosives (used in Avalanche Control)
Bear Mountain Resorts
David Moore – Medical and Risk Management
APP Board/Criteria
Michael Nolen – Risk Management and Explosives (used in Avalanche Control)
Ski Areas Represented:
Sierra At Tahoe:20
Mt. Rose: 5
Bear Mountain Resorts – 5
Mt. Bachelor – 4
Bear Valley – 2
Sugar Bowl – 2
Northstar – 1
China Peak – 2
APP - 1
APP Board: 3
Committee Members: 2
Mt. Shasta Ski Park Mid-Winter – Tuesday through Thursday, February 16 to 18, 2016
Michael Nolen Lead
Special thanks to Patrol Director at Mt. Shasta Ski Park, Dave Brown. Robert Walters deserves a special acknowledgement too. He contributed a lot to the Practical Testing. In addition he has helped us understand the need to update the Medical and Avalanche Science and Evaluation Practical Tests.
Tuesday – Training Day – Mountain Medics (Chad McCall - http://mountainmedics.us/) and “Fire What” (Sam Lanier - http://www.firewhat.com/ ). These two presentations were excellent. In addition there are potential off season employment opportunities for Ski Patrol experienced individuals. I have tentatively invited both Chad and Sam to put on presentations at our Spring Clinic.
Wednesday and Thursday – Practical Testing, We tested in all categories other than Skiing, Snowboarding and Telemarking and Toboggans
Written Tests Given – 24
Practical Tests Given – 18
Audits – 3
Clinic Participation including Judges: 26
Judges Participation: 10Homewood
Hal Bechtle – Written Tests
Sierra At Tahoe:
Alex Vaught – Hill Safety and Medical
Mt. Ashland
Robert Walter (APP Board) – Rope Rescue (Phase I ), Medical and Avalanche Science and Evaluation
Bruce Meek – Hill Safety and Medical
Sugar Bowl
Bo Yule (APP Board) – Risk Management and Avalanche Rescue
Bear Valley
Guy Catlin – Explosives (used in Avalanche Control)
Mt. Shasta
Randy Boyd –Avalanche Rescue and Avalanche Science and Evaluation
Aaron Beverly –Hill Safety and Avalanche Rescue
Dave Brown – Rope Rescue (Phase I)
APP Board/Criteria
Michael Nolen – Rope Rescue (Phase I), Risk Management and Hill Safety
Ski Areas Represented:
Mt. Shasta Ski Park: 16
Sierra At Tahoe: 3
Mt. Ashland – 2
Alyeska - 1
Homewood - 1
Bear Valley – 1
Sugar Bowl – 1
APP - 1
APP Board: 3
Committee Members: 1
Alpine Meadows/Squaw Valley Blasting Seminar – Wednesday and Thursday, February 24 and 25, 2016
Angel Fire Mid-Winter – Wednesday and Thursday, March 2 and 3, 2016Michael Nolen Lead
Special Thanks To: Brian Slusser, Director of Avalanche Control at Alpine Meadows, Ken Bokelund, Patrol Director at Alpine Meadows, Gene Urie, Avalanche Forecaster at Alpine Meadows, Steve Hurt, Assistant Patrol Director at Squaw Valley and Will Padon, Avalanche Forecaster at Squaw Valley. Larry Heywood deserves tremendous appreciation as an outside contributor as an Avalanche Consultant. This was Larry’s third Blasting Seminar as a presenter.
Number of Participants: 7 (another eight Squaw Valley Patrollers attended Larry Heywood’s presentation)
Dave Brown, Patrol Director at Mt. Shasta Ski Park, John Talbot, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, Dennis Griffiths and Katherine Rieger, Diamond Peak and David Moore, Bear Mountain Resorts
APP Board: Michael Nolen and CJ Svela
Bob Heflin Lead and Walt Foley (past APP Board Member) Co-Lead. Walt really came through on this clinic along with Patrol Director from Angel Fire, Hawk Ferenczy to help pull it all together. Bob delivered two Explosives (used in Avalanche Control) Practical Tests to help Hawk Ferenczy, Patrol Director at Angel Fire and Jack Dant, Patrol Director at Santa Fe get through this test.
The APP Clinic at Angel Fire NM was held under sunny skies and unseasonably warm conditions. Ski Patrollers from Angel Fire, Red River. Santa Fe and Pajarito attended with one Patroller coming from as far away as Big Bear Mountain Resorts (Jack Pierce took the Skiing Practical Test). Fourteen written tests were taken, and twenty practical exams were given. Fifteen tests received Certified scores with three Associate scores and one Sustaining. Testing was done in Skiing, Medical, and Rope Rescue as well as Hill Safety and two Explosive tests. On Wednesday night a dinner/social was held with lively discussion of current topics in Ski Patrolling. Many thanks are due to Ski Patrol Director Hawk Ferenczy as well as Angel Fire Resort for hosting this clinic and making their facilities available to us. A shout out is due to Michelle Kirkhoff who traveled far to help us judge and score tests. Also helping judge at this clinic were, Mike Bosbonis, Roman Gallegos, Walt Foley and BOD members Ed Gassman and Bob Heflin.
Bear Mountain Resorts Mid-Winter – Friday through Sunday, March 11 to 13, 2016
Michael Nolen Lead and Eric Diem Co-Lead
A Special and Huge Thanks to Mark and Patty Giebel for ALL their work at Bear Mountain Resorts in support of Certified Patrolling and the Association of Professional Patrollers (APP). This group of Ski Patrollers leads the National Ski Patrol (NSP) in the Far West Division (FWD) in pursuit of growing their knowledge and skills through certified training and testing. They not only lead the FWD they lead the NSP as a whole. There is no other group that is close! Mark and Patty have led this charge for the last five years. We are always well represented at our Spring Clinics with Patrollers from Southern California Ski Resorts. It was great to have the Paid Staff from Bear Mountain Resorts represented at two of our clinics this season too. Those two clinics were Sierra At Tahoe and Bear Mountain Resorts Mid-Winters. My sincere personal thanks go to Mark and Patty for their combined, superior efforts in Certified Patrolling.
Patty has not only supported certified training and testing within Bear Mountain Resorts she has supported the APP in Risk Management Testing. She was recommended by Ray Irvin, past Head Judge for Risk Management, to be an Assistant Judge. Ray did this because she has always given of her time and services in any testing area but showed off her committed at the Spring Clinic at Mt. Bachelor in 2012 to him. Patty became an Assistant Judge in Risk Management approved by the APP Board after the Spring Clinic at Mt. Bachelor in 2012. Her position proved to be very important as both Doug Parker, Patrol Director/Risk Manager at Dodge Ridge and Ray Irvin, Risk Manager at Mt. Bachelor, stepped down from their judging positions.
I personally have always been able to count on their help in any area at all the clinics that we have worked together. They are the epitome of “Father and Mother Hen” for their group of Certified Patroller Candidates.
They both have made Tom Battenberg extremely proud. I have only extended a short summary of the last five years. Their support of the Far West Professional Ski Patrol Association (FWPSPA) and the Association of Professional Patrollers has been a career. Their tireless energy, effort and support of the FWPSPA and APP leave me with enormous admiration and respect.
We had a preseason meeting in November. I was able to speak to (42) Certified Patroller Candidates. Within this group was Bear Mountain Resorts Patrol Manager, Jake Huxman, Bear Mountain Resorts Assistant Patrol Director, Josh Endsley, Bear Mountain Patrol Supervisor, Chris O’Connell and Bear Mountain Resorts Lead Patroller, Jeff Hamer. All four of these Paid Staff came to check out the APP and test at the Sierra At Tahoe Mid-Winter Clinic.
Number of Participants: 33 (6 Paid Staff from Bear Mountain Resorts)
Written Tests: 72
Practical Tests: 47
Audits: 4
Judging Total: 15APP Board:
Ed Gassman
Keith Tatsukawa
Eric Diem
Michael Nolen
Other Judges:
Mark Giebel – Bear Mountain Resorts
Patty Giebel – Bear Mountain Resorts
Richard Roth – Bear Mountain Resorts
Rob Breit – Bear Mountain Resorts
Tom Rejzek – Bear Mountain Resorts
Jim Murphy – Bear Mountain Resorts
David Moore – Bear Mountain Resorts
Steve Thorsted – Bear Mountain Resorts
Stanley Arai – Bear Mountain Resorts
Keith Church – Mt. Baldy
David Hornor – China Peak
Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe Spring Clinic – Wednesday through Sunday, April 20 to 24, 2016
Michael Nolen Lead and Paulette Schneider Co-Lead
A Massive Thanks to Paulette Schneider, Mike Ferrari, Patrol Director at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe and Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe.
Candidate of the Clinic: Garrett Martin – Snow Valley, First APP clinic, took four tests and certified in all of them (Hill Safety, Medical, Snowboarding and Rope Rescue).
First Runner Up: Meri Broderic – Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe Three for three certified scores (Hill Safety, Medical and Explosives (used in Avalanche Control). She had the“Best ever” score stated by Head Judge, Chris “Guy” Catlin in Explosives (used in Avalanche Control).
Second Runner Up: Debi Huber – Big Bear, Certified in Hill Safety and Medical and had the top score in Risk Management.
Honorable Mention: Rene Perez – Big Bear, Top score in Toboggans and certified in Medical and Snowboarding.
Reached Fully Certified:
Mike Ferrari, Patrol Director, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, C-614
Dave Stromswold – Homewood, C-615
Zach McAllister – Sierra At Tahoe, C- 616
Michael Seban – Sierra At Tahoe, C-617
Practical Tests Given:
Risk Management 3
Hill Safety 7
Medical 11
Skiing, Snowboarding and Telemarking 8
Toboggans 2
Rope Rescue 8
Avalanche Rescue 3
Avalanche Science and Evaluation 3
Explosives (used in Avalanche Control) 2
Total: 52