After joining a dozen TAY folks this time last year in the search for Devlin, Kevin and Phillip down in the Crystal backcountry, I decided that it was about time I got involved with search and rescue work again. I did some research on the
King Country Search And Rescue Associaton
and found out that one of the units was a group that drew primarily from ski patrollers (Ski PAtrol Rescue Team - SPART). It was an easy line to connect the SAR opportunities with the
Cascade Backountry Ski Patrol
, a group of NSP patrollers that earn their turns while patrolling in the I-90, US2 and US20 corridors, 8 or 9 months out of the year.
Membership
requires
a number of classes, the most time consuming of which is Outdoor Emergency Care, which is an EMT level advanced first aid course. Sign-ups for this year's course are coming up and the course is in August, hence this post -- if you're interested in giving back to the skiing, hiking and climbing community in Washington, this is a great way to do it.
Other perks:
- Many opportunities for dirt-cheap, high quality education in mountain travel, rescue techniques and avalanche study (including National Avalanche School courses and ISSW attendance)
- Pro-deal prices on a wide range of gear and equipment
- Use of the National Forest Service bunkhouse when patrolling
- Skiing with and getting to know a great group of like-minded folks and their friends/family
The patrol is looking for all sorts of folks, be it AT, Tele, snowboard or nordic/skate skiers. If you're interested don't hesitate to ask questions or get in touch via
the website
.
Thanks to Charles for the great site (and permission for this post).
