Hello to friends far and near. I wanted to throw together a blog post from this past winter, as I am already a couple weeks away from being done with work up here on Ski Patrol at Sugarbowl. The past year and a half have been tough, actually shit. I want to throw-up on almost a daily basis thinking about what my parents are going through and how selfishly childish my mother is acting. Life has been both chaotic and hectic ever since leaving Chico coming up on 2 years ago. The pursuit of a career in the fire service is taking everything I have mentally, physically, socially, and monetarily, but there is still no doubt it is worth the effort. It has been more common than uncommom for me to have months like this past March where I will go 30-40 days with 2 or 3 full days off as even days not "working" will be spent in classrooms, training, volunteering, or filling out applications and studying for tests.

The good news though, is that through all of this exhausting chaotic mess of a life I am currently leading, is that I get to do some pretty awesome stuff! Yes I am broke, bouncing between housing situations, and frequently unemployed due to the seasonal nature of my work. But I still have good credit, feel healthy, and know that there is light at the end of this tunnel. Most of my time is spent at the firehouse or on the ski hill, both of which I love, so life could be worse. I feel lucky every morning I wake up and get to head to the hill in these amazing mountains, whether they are buried in snow or not, I have it good.

Here are some of the high points from this "winter" we have had up here in Tahoe and on Donner Summit.

Even though this post is about this winter, it didnt snow much in November (or December or January or February for that matter but we'll get to that later), so I went to meet my good Canadian friend in Las Vegas for some rock climbing in Red Rocks.

We managed to get a multipitch in on the last day

There was no lack of good rock to get on

And I was even able to make a stop in Bishop on the drive home

Now back to winter, the thing about the ski patrol job is that when it gets good, it gets really good. I have liked the job throughout the season, even when the snow was low, crowds were scarce, and hours were hard to come by.

With a few good storms, however, the job takes on a whole new element. More snow means more hours, more people, more powder, and more bombs. The following are from some days when all the stars aligned and I felt like the richest person in the world.

The morning starts with a snowcat ride around 7AM. We grab the bomb packs and head on up.

Then its into the patrol shack to arm the explosives.

Every double gets something written on it. Today was St Patricks day so we adjusted accordingly.

The day before this, someone got their feelings hurt...

After the dynomite is armed and reloaded into our packs, we head out onto an empty mountain with 2 feet of fresh 8% powder under bluebird skies in pairs. This day, we were shooting crows, which meant we even got to lay a skin track up to Crows Peak to throw our first charge.

Its on days like this, that I have to force myself to appreciate what I am doing in that moment; standing on the top of a mountain, lobbing a stick of dynomite off it to trigger an avalanche, and then skiing down to another spot to do it again. This is why myself and the other guys on patrol have taken a vow of poverty for this job, it doesnt get any better to run around the hills and play with explosives.

To put what we do into perspective, here is my good friend Aaron, 3 days ago when myself and him were out in the backcountry skiing behind Sugarbowl while snowcat skiing. It was NOT cool standing at the bottom, watching him get pulled closer and closer to that group of trees below him. Explosives = Good, Avalanches = Bad

Lets not end this on a sour note though. Here is what we get before we even open the lift to the public.

And here is one last blast to wrap this post up

Winter is wrapping up here in the next few weeks. I am finishing my HazMat Specialist next month, testing with FDNY the middle of April, testing with a consortium of departments here in California after that, testing with Salt Lake City Fire in May, and hopefully returning to my Seasonal Fire job in Marin come June. Beyond that, i'm just working to pay for all those expenses and sure i'll find some time to get some mountain biking, climbing, and anything else to keep me occupied and sane!

Here are some closing philosophical enlightening realizations that have struck my mind in the past couple years... A fellow firefighter told me that whatever happens to you in life (a bad thing in the case of our discussion) to grow from it and learn, thus, here is what I have learned:

-Cherish the times you have with family because on any day at any time, it can change in a heartbeat. For better, or for worse.

-Be thankful for every second of work you get even if it’s the last thing you feel like doing.

-Treat every patient, every time, like you would your mom/grandma/sister/father/etc

-If you’re not afraid or uneasy (in certain situations), then you may not be appreciating the situation fully.

-The word “experienced” often refers to someone who’s gotten away with doing the wrong thing more frequently than you have.

-Exhibit boldness with humility

-Communicate everything; easier said than done

-Focus on the amazing things in your life and remember that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting things you don't have, but recognizing and appreciating the things you do have. This one is tough.

-Shit happens, and if we just want to restrict ourselves to things where shit cant happen…we’re not going to do anything very interesting.

-Be humble

-Be stoked
-Be happy, be healthy, and above all be thankful for the health and happiness

One more thing, who is interested in climbing and skiing Shasta in May?

I hope this post finds everyone healthy and happy and that we can catch up soon!

Cheers~

.

Unofficial Photo Contest

Touring the Savoie Alps

Contrasting Mountains

Shred pow

Taking the high route

The real thing