KETCHUM, Idaho — Nicole Jorgenson is an accomplished mountain biker, backcountry skier and mountaineer, for the past seven years she has worked as a member of the Sun Valley Ski Patrol.
"I love my job, sometimes it is really hard work when we are in a storm cycle or during a busy part of the season like the holidays, but also we get to ski every day, be outside every day and our office is right here, said Jorgenson. "So it is pretty amazing."
Ski patrollers have to wake up early, they get to the mountain well before the guests and work to ensure the slopes are safe for skiers and snowboarders.
They start with a plan and decide where there could be hazardous areas on the vast 2,400 skiable acres of terrain at Sun Valley, after that they check out the conditions, test the slopes and perform mitigation efforts if need be.
"If we test them and they need explosives or ski cuts we will go out and do that," said Jorgenson. "We work really hard at Sun Valley, just like all of the other mountains to make it safe before the public comes up."
People often ask me if I go out in the backcountry and my answer is not very often, avalanche country is dangerous, it takes a lot of training with the right equipment to be out there safely and it could still go wrong, I rely on the expertise of ski patrol and their efforts to enjoy the mountains in the winter.
Sun Valley Ski Patrol also adds another layer of protection by training with dogs in the unlikely case that something happens and they have to find someone buried in the snow.
"A dog could be the best bet to find a person underneath the snow, they are trained to find human scent," said Jorgenson.
Sun Valley Ski Patrol works hard to make the mountain safe for guests. They buried me in a snow cave so we could see if their avalanche dogs were up to the task. @idahonews pic.twitter.com/U8w21VwGly
— Steve Dent (@idahodent) January 15, 2023
Nicole trains with her dog Diesel, a two-year-old blue healer who is working in his first year as an avalanche dog, we decided to test out his skills as the team buried me in a snow cave to see if Diesel could find me, he found me in like two seconds.
"Dogs are so cool and so smart," said Jorgenson. "It’s also cool to train with a dog and see him develop and learn new skills, I learn how he works, I progress on my own and we really work as a team."
Sun Valley has several dog avalanche teams who train on the top of Bald Mountain, we also watched Tim East and his border collie, Ollie, find someone buried in the snow.
But for the canines, this training is play time and the dogs get rewarded when they find a person, it was really fun to watch Diesel and Nicole interact with each other.
"He loves getting on the chairlift, he knows what he’s about to do every time he is up here," said Jorgenson. "His breed really loves to work and have a job so coming up here this season was the best thing we could have done for him."
The avalanche dogs are one piece to a much larger puzzle of all the ski patrol does on the mountain to keep people safe and help those who get hurt on the slopes.
"I also love being able to help people it is a good feeling," said Jorgenson.
