Winters 1965 – 1971

With the sun setting in the west and the distant peaks holding on to the last bit of sunlight, the mountain was nearly empty of its skiers, except for a few lift operators, restaurant employees and a contingent of Ski Patrol.  It was time to clear the mountain. 

This process is repeated every afternoon as it has been from the start.  The Patrol would each pick a run to ski down, watching for any stragglers still on the hill.  Calling out at the top of their lungs, “Clear” as they went along, followed by the required silence to hear if anyone responded.  This would seem like an ordinary process unworthy of discussion but that is where the expected became the unexpected.

In the mid sixties and early seventies I was often asked to join in the mountain “clearing.”  Well the truth-be-known, I often asked.  I was not yet a teenager and one of my “buddies” whose father was a patrolman would hang out all day on Aspen Mountain, taking a few runs here and there and spending the rest of the time in “Little Siberia” as the patrol hut was often called or over in the Sun Deck.  We entertained the patrol by asking more questions than humanly possible, rarely waiting for the answer.  I think back to how helpful we were, our mere presence in the cabin encouraged the patrol to take more runs throughout the day, spend more time fixing fences, repairing toboggans and a lot less time playing cards.  Could it be, “we may have overstayed our welcome at times?”  Either way, these were great men and women who always treated us well.

I remember well when a new piece of technology entered the scene that would forever change the way to find a person buried in an avalanche.  Aspen Mountain was one of the first places to get them.  They were called Skadies and with their arrival, the use of the long rods to find buried skiers and patrolmen was made easier.  These devices were worn by each person when going out on Avalanche Patrol. Everyone would set them to transmit and if anyone was buried or lost the remaining patrol would set theirs to receive and they would proceed to search for their missing crew member.  Once again, the resourceful patrol in an effort to keep us busy and out of the cabin would go and bury one of these devices and my friend and I would spend the next hour searching for it.  Over time we got very good at finding them.  I still have three of these devices in working condition today, and every so often I take them out and let my kids search for the hidden one.

Back to the main topic of this adventure, “Clear!”  The intent of the daily clearing was not only to look for stragglers but to watch for those individuals who would hide out hoping to be the “last” ones off the mountain.  Although many clearings were normally no more than a last run down, there were occasions where we came upon injured skiers or people walking down due to broken gear.  They were the beneficiaries of a “Free Ride” down on a snowmobile or in a toboggan.   As a little boy growing up in Aspen, these opportunities made lifetime memories.

 I remember the names and faces of so many of these great people, some of which are still up there clearing the mountain each day.  Some have gone on to other great adventures and a few have passed away.  I remember them all and appreciate the impact they have had on my life.

Clear!