Appendix S: Patrol Recruiting

Tahoe Backcountry Ski Patrol Manual

What is a SkiAlong?

TBSP Patroller rips the powder on the East slope of Castle.

SkiAlongs are the best way to get to know the Tahoe Backcountry Ski Patrol. TBSP invites members of the public who may be interested in becoming candidates to join the patrol for "Ski-Along" days (held during regular Castle Peak patrol days) or the Introduction to Ski Patrol Day (held on the last patrol day, in mid-April).

Ski Along requests are subject to the discretion of the Mountain Manager. We are able to provide Ski Alongs to prospective patrol candidates on most days when we patrol, but request at least 5 days notice for prospective ski along candidates.

How to arrange for a Ski Along

Contact recruiter@tbsp.org at least 5 days in advance to schedule your ski-along!

• Guests are required to sign a liability waiver prior to patrolling with TBSP NSP Event Release Form from the NSP Document Library. Blank copies are also found in the Ops trailer black box.
• The guest must supply address and phone number(s) to the Mountain Manager by the Thursday prior to the ski-along day.  The Mountain Manager (or as an alternate, the Operations Officer or Patrol Director) must send an email alert by Friday morning at the latest, with the contact info to the TNFS contact (currently Hank Hennessy at hhennessy@fs.fed.us). On the email copy recruiter@tbsp.org and operations@tbsp.org.
• No more than two guests may visit with TBSP on any Ski-Along day, except for the Introduction to Ski Patrol Day.

Ski-Along Procedure

• Guests will patrol at Castle Peak, and only with a regular patrol team (not training, instruction, or “Challenging Terrain”).
• A guest may not bring or invite any other person (or dog) on patrol with TBSP, the only exception being for avalanche rescue dogs which are owned and have been trained by the guest.
• On the assigned patrol day, a guest shall meet TBSP at its Equipment Shed at 8:30 AM.
• A guest shall be expected to ski the same distance, duration, and terrain as the TBSP team, which may on occasion exceed six miles, 2000 feet of climbing, and 2000 feet of descent, with up to black-diamond difficulty, and any snow conditions, for a full day. It is the responsibility of the guest to be familiar with, and prepared for, such an effort.
• A guest will be accompanied by a radio-carrying TBSP patroller (to be assigned by the Team Leader) at all times while on patrol.
• Guests are not allowed to provide medical assistance, regardless of guest experience. TBSP patrollers shall take leadership of all incidents.
• Time (typically 30 – 60 minutes) will be provided as a lunch break.
• Return to the equipment shed typically occurs by shortly after sunset, but this is not guaranteed.
• Upon return to the TBSP Patrol Operations Center, all loaned equipment must be returned to TBSP in as good a condition as it was loaned out. Equipment to be returned may include avalanche transceivers, probe poles, ensolite foam pads, shovels, pack crosses, and Sno-Park permits. Report any lost or damaged equipment immediately to the Patrol Leader.
• TBSP’s patrolling season is roughly mid-December to third week of April, weekends only.

Required Personal Equipment

Guests on Ski Alongs are required to bring the personal equipment defined in the Patrol Manual Appendix A: Required Personal Equipment.

The following types of equipment can be used for ski-alongs:

• Metal-edge skis with fitted skins and either a sturdy freeheel binding, randonee binding, or alpine binding and freeheel adapter (e.g. “alpine trekker”)
  • NNN-BC bindings and/or fishscale skis are strongly discouraged
• Snowboarders must bring snowshoes, short x/c skis, or “Split-Decision” type snowboards in conjunction with ski poles for moving while on flats or uphills. No walking or postholing in snowboard boots alone is allowed.
• Poles, preferably adjustable-length, ideally convertible to a probe; required for both skiers and snowboarders