Ski Patroller Eric Granning

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. – Volunteer ski patrollers Eric and Kim Granning had no idea they’d be using their ski patrol medical skills to help save lives as they drove back from Central Oregon on Highway 26 near Warm Springs. But in a flash of twisted metal and broken glass their day changed. A car had rolled over on the highway and the two ski patrollers were the first people on scene. The Grannings reacted quickly and in moments they were 5 people who had been hurt in the crash.

And the Grannings weren’t the only patrollers using their skills to help citizens this off season.

During one week in June, volunteer ski patrollers from the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol used their medical training to help treat injuries in 4 separate incidents across the Northwest.

Mt. Hood Ski Patrol volunteers take part in extensive emergency medical care training for their work on the snow. Often, though, they find themselves assisting others when they’re off duty as well.

“I’m just glad I’ve been fortunate enough to have been at the right place and time to help those in need,” said Granning, who works as a production supervisor during the week and volunteers as a ski patroller on the weekends, “It is amazing to know those I’ve helped will live another day to spend time with their family.”

The Mt. Hood Ski Patrol is a non-profit organization composed of nearly 300 volunteers, all dedicated to providing quality rescue and emergency care to participants in seasonal activities on Mt. Hood. Our patrol serves alpine and nordic skiers, and snowboarders at Mt. Hood Skibowl, Mt. Hood Meadows, Timberline, and Summit Ski Area.

“Ski patrollers supply and pay for all of their own first aid gear,” says Granning, “this year, we’re having a great fundraiser that helps us provide outstanding emergency medical care to skier and riders on the mountain. It’s called the Mount Hood SnoSports Swap.”

The patrol’s biggest fundraiser, the Mount Hood SnoSports Swap, is October 14th and 15th at West Linn High School. The swap is an opportunity for skiers and riders to find great deals on new and used ski and snowboard gear. The Mount Hood Ski Patrol has teamed up with the West Linn Ski and Snowboard Team to present the annual event, which has been the talk of the snow-sports community since its inception.

There will be great bargains on ski and snowboard gear. Season passes to ski areas on Mount Hood and Mount Bachelor will be for sale and people will be able to buy and sell used ski and snowboard gear. There will also be hourly giveaways of lift tickets and gear.

“16 Years as a member of the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol has been the most rewarding passion I could ever hope for,” Eric Granning said.

The car accident to which the Grannings responded was one of four incidents in just 7 days where Mt. Hood Ski Patrollers helped injured citizens. On Saturday the week before, another ski patroller helped stabilize an injured person at a car accident in Welches. Hours before that wreck, 6 off duty ski patrollers helped rescue 2 people who’d been thrown from their car in Government Camp. The next day, Mt. Hood Ski Patroller Cliff Leighton spent hours helping to care for and stabilize two injured hikers in Clark County, Washington.

“It was abundantly clear how well the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol training program had prepared me for this incident, and similar incidents I have responded to outside of ski areas,” Granning said, “events like the SnoSport swap will help equip and train our patrollers for future emergencies both on and off the mountain.

The Mount Hood Snosport Swap, presented by the Mount Hood Ski Patrol and the West Linn High School Snowboard Team, is the one of the region’s largest ski and snowboard gear events. Visitors will find thousands of new and used winter sports items being sold by both individuals and area sports stores. Equipment, clothing and accessories for all winter sports will be available, including nordic and alpine skiing, and snowboarding for beginners and experts.

What: The Mount Hood Snosport Swap
Where: West Linn High School, 5464 West A Street, West Linn, Oregon
When: Friday, October 14th , 5pm – 9pm
Saturday, October 15th, 9am – 8pm

Drop off gear: Friday Noon – 9pm, Saturday 9am – Noon
Pick up unsold gear: Sunday 10:00am -2:00pm

Online: http://mhsss.com

More Details:

Bring your equipment to sell to West Linn High School between 8 AM and 9 PM on Friday, October 9th, or 8 AM and 10 AM Saturday, October 10th. Volunteers from the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol and the West Linn Snowboard Team will be on hand as you register your equipment and can provide you with valuation guidance.

All winter sports items are welcome: skis, snowboards, boots, clothing, etc. Please put clothing on plastic hangers. While all SnoSport Swap items are sold “as is” all items received for consignment are expected to be clean and in fully operational condition.

The Rules:

Skis & Snowboards: No equipment that is bent, delaminated, broken or has missing edge segments will be accepted.

No straight skis: This generally means nothing produced before 1998 or over 200 cm in length, with the exception of Nordic touring skis.

Bindings: Must be fully functional, conforming to current DIN/ISO standards for releasable & non-releasable (tele, nordic & snowboard) bindings, with no missing or damaged parts.

Boots: Must conform to current DIN/ISO standards for sole dimensions (must not be excessively worn). Buckle/lace systems should be entirely operational.

Clothing and Accessories: Should be in serviceable condition, with no broken zippers, tears, blown seams, missing closures, cracked lenses, etc.

Mt Hood Snosport Swap Management will have sole authority to determine whether items are acceptable for consignment.

Fees: $1.00 per item, plus 20% of the sale price when it sells. Outright donations are also accepted at no charge!

http://mhsss.com or like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mthoodsnosportsswap

Central Oregon – Firefighters continue make progress on several wildfires burning in Central Oregon and continue to watch for any lightning holdover fires from last week’s storms. Cooler daytime temperatures have helped firefighters successfully hold and improve fire containment lines. Normal to above normal temperatures are still expected to return to Central Oregon over Labor Day weekend and continue through the middle of September.

Firefighters continued to work on a lightning-caused wildfire burning within the Mt. Washington Wilderness 15 miles northwest of Sisters and seven miles west of Black Butte Ranch. The Shadow Lake Fire experienced minimal fire activity today, with some fire backing to the west and south. Fire behavior included a mix of creeping and smoldering with spots of single tree torching. The fire is now 504 acres and has no estimate of containment. A National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) Team is in command of the Shadow Lake Fire burning in the Mt. Washington Wilderness.  Firefighters worked to improve containment line along the edge of the wilderness and will continue working along the east side of the fire, on Santiam Wagon Road and around the Willamette National Forest’s Big Lake Resort area.

A fire closure remains in effect for the area that very generally extends from Deschutes FS Roads 1028 and 1030 west to the edge of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The order closes a portion of the Dry Creek Trail; however, the PCT remains open. A map of the closure and the specific roads involved are located at www.inciweb.org on the Shadow Lake Fire page.

Firefighters continue to work on the Hancock Fire Complex burning in the Clarno area in the north-central part of the state. The acreage for the Complex was mapped yesterday at 57,597 acres and is 90 percent contained. The fire will be turned back over to the Prineville District tomorrow morning, and full containment of the Complex is now expected tomorrow at 1800. The phone line for information for this incident will return to (541) 416-6811 tomorrow morning as the fire camp in Fossil is demobilized.

Firefighters made good progress on fires burning east of Twickenham and north of Mitchell and the two Incidents (#615 and #614) are contained. 

The High Cascades Complex is being managed cooperatively by the Oregon and California (ORCA) Interagency Incident Management Team (IMT), Blue Mountains IMT, and the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s (OSFM) Red Team, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

The Razorback Fire is estimated at 51,015 acres today, and remains under command of the ORCA IMT. Based on an assessment of current fire behavior and activity from the Razorback Fire along the river, fire officials have decided to re-open Segment 1 of the Lower Deschutes River.

As of 12:01, September 1, 2011 Segment 1 of the Lower Deschutes River will re-open to all public use including camping, day use, launching and rafting. Segment 1 extends from the Warm Springs launch site at River Mile (RM) 97.5 north to Harpham Flat (RM 56).

Rafters should use caution while recreating in this area. The Razorback Fire is not contained and there are still areas with active fire behavior on both sides of the river canyon. The safety of vehicles left unattended cannot be guaranteed. Boaters should use extreme caution when pulling off for breaks or overnight camping. Areas that recently burned may still have hot spots, dangerous stump holes or rolling rocks. Dispersed campsites that have burned will also have ash-buildup and may be unusable or undesirable.

River access information will continue to be posted on the boater pass website (www.boaterpass.com) and on the High Cascades Complex Fire information website (www.inciweb.org) and will inform river users of any additional changes.

Highways 197 and 97 remain open, while Highway 26 has intermittent closures; travelers should continue check www.tripcheck.com for the latest road information before driving through the area.

PRESS RELEASE FROM NSAA

LAKEWOOD, Colo.– The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) announced today that U.S. ski areas set a new all-time record of 60.54 million skier/snowboarder visits during the 2010/11 season, according to the final Kottke End of Season Survey. The association announced preliminary figures in May projecting that, at an estimated 60.1 million skier/snowboarder visits, the 2010/11 season was the second-best on record. However, an unprecedented turn of events that saw many ski areas operating late into the spring, and even summer, helped fuel the industry toward setting the new visitation record. As an illustration of the late-season surge in visits, it’s estimated that nearly 50,000 skier/snowboarder visits occurred over the July Fourth holiday alone, in which nearly a dozen ski areas were either still in operation, or had reopened. This marks the second time that the ski industry has broken the 60 million visit threshold, representing a 0.6 percent increase from last season’s 59.8 million visits, and a .1 percent increase from the industry’s previous record of 60.5 million visits set in 2007/08.

Nationally, snowfall at resorts was up 29 percent this season, and was the highest recorded in 20 years of Kottke research. As a result, the average season operating length increased, and some resorts opened early and/or remained open beyond normal closing dates. Most regions experienced significant increases in snowfall, including the Pacific Southwest (up 43 percent), Northeast (up 35 percent), Rocky Mountains (up 33 percent), Midwest (up 27 percent), and Pacific Northwest (up 19 percent). Gains in visits occurred in most regions of the country, and the industry as a whole exceeded its 10-season average by 4.7 percent, a pattern echoed by all regions. The final Kottke report will be published in August. To order a copy or for more information visit nsaa.org.

The United States Senate is considering legislation that could open up more National Forest land to mountain biking. US Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) worked to pass out of committee bipartisan legislation designed to help ski area communities attract year-round business.

“Enabling our ski areas to attract visitors year-round will help boost Washington state’s tourism economy,” Cantwell said in a news release. “This bipartisan bill will help ski area communities attract business during the summer offseason. I will continue to advocate for this bill and push for Senate passage so our ski area communities have expanded economic opportunities year-round.”

The Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act would help ski areas across the United States develop mountain biking concessions by eliminating old legalize that only authorizes “alpine and nordic skiing” at ski areas on National Forest land.

Wenatchee native and pro cyclist Tyler Farrar is making headlines and putting up impressive results racing for team Garmin-Cervelo in this year’s Tour de France. The 27 year old cyclist won State 3 of the world’s most prominent bicycle race on July 4th and has benefitted from sprint leadouts delivered by team mate and world champion Thor Hushovd.

Farrar told ESPN that he dedicated his  Tour de France stage win to his friend Wouter Weylandt, who died after crashing at the Giro d’Italia. Farrar and Weylandt had become close friends and trained together in Weylandt’s home town of Ghent, Belgium.

Farrar, Thor Hushovd, David Millar, Tom Danielson, Julian Dean have teamed up to provide solid results for the 2011 Garmin-Cervelo team. Although Farrar sits near the bottom of the race’s general classification, team-mate Tom Danielson is in 9th place.

Deschutes-Ochoco National Forest Press Release

Central Oregon —Fire Officials for the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and the Prineville District BLM want to urge people visiting public lands in Central Oregon to use caution this time of year. In the past two weeks, firefighters have responded to almost 30 human-caused wildfires on Forest Service or BLM-administered lands. The number jumps to 90 incidents when the statistics include private land wildfires and other assists with rural fire departments, Warm Springs and the Oregon Department of Forestry, as well as other types of incidents. “Many of these fires are the result of fireworks and abandoned campfires,” said Craig Letz, Fire Staff Officer for Central Oregon Fire Management, “which means that people are being careless. They’ve been fooled by the cooler temperatures, but the vegetation is really dry.”

Firefighters have contained all of these new starts quickly, with the largest growing to almost 70 acres. In addition to fireworks and abandoned campfires, other human causes this summer include a variety of roadside starts and several fires where the specific cause was not identified. On average, over the course of a year the two forests and the BLM have about 140 human-caused wildfires – this year they reached a fifth of that number in just two weeks.

With the following tips, many human-caused wildfires are preventable:

• People recreating on public lands should check with the local land management agency before they go to find out if campfires are allowed. If they are, they need to be properly constructed in a fire ring, small enough to easily control, and extinguished completely every time someone is not present to watch it.
• Once conditions are dry, people should avoid driving down dirt roads with a line of vegetation down the middle. This material can get trapped under the hot-underside of a vehicle and ignite a wildfire.
• Fireworks are always illegal on public lands, and the user may be fined, face jail time and/or have to pay the cost of suppressing a fire started by fireworks.
• Throwing away burning material like cigarettes is always illegal. Cigarettes should always be properly extinguished in an ash tray and soaked in water before being disposed of in a trash can. Along some of our Central Oregon rivers smoking is only allowed in vehicles or on the water.

Summer is a fun time in Central Oregon and many people come for the recreation opportunities. Taking extra precautions to prevent a wildfire can stop a vacation from taking an unfortunate turn.

BEND, Ore – Forest Service law enforcement officials have apprehended suspects in the recent damage to a popular and culturally significant cave on the Deschutes National Forest.

This week, Forest Service law enforcement officials identified and interviewed five suspects in the vandalism of historic Hidden Forest Cave. The case has been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice. The suspects may face misdemeanor, felony, or civil action in the matter.

The Forest Service wants to thank members of the High Desert Grotto, Bend Police Department and Crimestoppers for their assistance in this investigation.

Background

In late April, Hidden Forest Cave in the China Hat area of the Bend-Ft. Rock Ranger District was heavily vandalized. Graffiti was sprayed on nearby trees and on many of the cave features, trees and rocks were damaged, and fires destroyed many of the cave’s cultural and ecological resources.

In an effort to help with the investigation, Oregon High Desert Grotto members, a local caving group, raised funds for a reward.

Anderson planned to camp near Lyman Lakes Saturday night

UPDATE:  Daniel Anderson was found alive in the Miner’s Creek area shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday.

WENATCHEE, Wash. – Search teams from Chelan and Snohomish counties are racing to rescue an off-duty Washington State Patrol trooper who apparently got into trouble hiking across the Cascades. 46 year old Daniel Anderson was snow-shoeing from Granite Falls on the west side of the Cascades to Holden Village above Lake Chelan.

Anderson began the hike with friends, but eventually split up with them. He told his friends he planned to camp at Lyman Lakes Saturday and then hike down into Holden.

Sunday evening, dispatchers at the SPOT GPS Messenger headquarters in Houston notified Chelan county that an emergency message had been sent from the area of Miners Creek above Holden.

A helicopter spotted foot-prints near Miners Creek Monday but did not locate Anderson. Crews plan to return today (Tuesday) to continue searching.

SPOT devices are becoming a common accessory among international travelers and backpackers. The devices cost about $120 and require an annual fee for the monitoring service.

Most major ski areas across the Northwest have shut down for the season, even as snow continues to pile up. Mount Hood Meadows closed yesterday (Sunday) after receiving 52 feet of snow for the season.

“In total Meadows will operate 167 days this season, including the four bonus days in May,” SkiHood.com reported. The area closed with a 132 inch base and stayed open for two weeks longer than it did during the 2009-2010 season. Mount Hood Meadows received 4 feet of snow during the first week of April and, for several weeks, so much snow dumped on the mountain that resort managers had to keep the Heather Canyon area closed.

Oregon’s Mount Bachelor is still open with a 133 inch base and has received 53 feet of snow this season.

Mount Hood’s Timberline Ski area remains open as well. The resort has received a staggering 60 feet of snow.

Other mountains including Washington’s Mission Ridge and White Pass and Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain Resort had huge years.