Blogs

On April 15th, Chris Monroe from the UOP Patrol tested at Snowbird Ski and Summer resort as second handler to Parley, the UOP's only "A" level avalanche rescue dog.  The test was held in the Mineral Basin area on the south side of the resort.

The test consisted of two live burials with one article in the search area and one outside for a reward.  The first live burial was located in under five minutes and all three were completed in just over twelve minutes.

As the season draws to a close Brighton WBR would like to offer thanks to all the volunteer professionals who make this organization great. Brighton WBR responded to 15 backcountry incidents in the 2009-2010 season. Three avalanche call-outs included. Assistance of a buried avalanche victim recovered by his partner in a heroic beacon search, evacuation of a backcountry skier after losing his equipment in an avalanche, and a precision stabilization and evacuation of a severely injured backcountry avalanche victim with SLC SAR and Airmed personnel. WBR Brighton personnel responded to 12 other backcountry recreation injuries in and around the Brighton Basin including skiers, snowboarders and even a snow mobiler.

The mountains of Utah are filled with countless opportunities to explore new areas and experience the epic terrain up close.  However, as more and more people push farther into the back country, the importance of the professional rescuer being prepared for a back country call out increases dramatically.  The evolution and proliferation of touring equipment has made it easier for the average individual to get out and about.  In the event that you do get called out on a backcountry rescue, make sure your gear is in good working order and that you have the best combination of equipment to get yourself in and out in one piece.

Sundance Ski Patrol hosted the monthly WBR training for March, it was a night drill. The goal was to expose the teams to searching in a low light night time rescue situation. Every team had the opportunity to search three different sites in a rolling scenario.

On February 20th, 2010 WBR Snowbird hosted a Level A dog test for the Canyons Ski Patrol team.  WBR has pioneered the U.S. Standard for avalanche dog testing.  Currently, in all avalanche dog tests, WBR adheres to the current WBR validation rules, levels of verification, and uses a standardized test evaluation form.

VALIDATION RULES

Wow, what a great experience! My adventure started out at 4:30am picking up Andy & Zeke from Park City Ski Patrol, they were going to be my travel partners. Our plans were to fly to Zurich and take a train up to the town of Andermatt where the dog school was set for training. Zeke was great and had no problems traveling by air or ground, we arrived late Friday afternoon with everything set up for us, we were not allowed to go to our room until we had a hot meal prepared for us. This was just the first of many great meals to come over the next week.  

Sundance Ski Patrol would like to welcome John "Woody" and his black lab Angus as the newest level "A" team to the Sundance Ski Patrol. Woody and Angus successfully passed their level "A" testing at Deer Valley and are off to a great start!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

We would like to thank everybody for the donations they gave to helps us make our fundraiser a success!

Nick Vigos- Under Armour

Garret Rose- Smith/Skullcandy

The Lift House

Stoneground Pizza

Kimi's Mountainside Bistro

Silver Fork Lodge

Pete and Lara Rude

Cole Sport Deer Valley

Park City Fire Department

Jamey Liddell

Wanderlust Photography

Black Diamond

Brother's Bikes

Pawhill Pet Spaw

Rossignol

White Pine Touring

Black Diamond

Pieps/ Liberty Mountain

Knead a massage

19 Sports

Backcountry.com

One of the worst scenes a professional rescuer could respond to is a active avalanche burial.  Just finding the victim can be a herculean task.  Once the victim is extricated, the medical treatment of that victim becomes a priority.  WBR Medical Advisor Dr. George Vargyas has reviewed the current guidelines regarding the medical treatment of the avalanche burial victim.