Alta Ski
Patrol

The Alta Ski Patrol provides emergency first aid response and evacuation from the Alta Ski Area.

For emergency purposes during the winter, contact Alta Ski Patrol at 385.449.8633 from 8am–4:30pm.

The Alta Ski Patrol is a professional staff that can be contacted from the bottom and top of every lift.

The Alta Ski Patrol provides emergency first aid response and evacuation from the Alta Ski Area. It has also become known as the birthplace of avalanche research in North America and home to one of the most respected snow safety departments in the industry. Alta Ski Patrol consists of over 80 men and women, with 20–30 working on most days. On mornings with significant overnight snowfall, that number can double.

For emergency purposes during the winter, contact Alta Ski Patrol at 385.449.8633 from 8am–4:30pm.

Advanced medical services are provided by the Alta Medical Clinic and Salt Lake City area hospitals.

Alta Ski Patrol History

In 1941, three years after the formation of Alta Ski Area and the creation of the National Ski Patrol in Stowe, Vermont, the Alta Ski Patrol was formed. Its first patrol consisted of Harold Goodro, Dave Shelton, Tom Foley and Gordy Allcott.

Jim Shane joined the Alta Ski Patrol shortly thereafter and soon became chairman of the National Ski Patrol System for the intermountain area. Shane would go on to build the Goldminer's Daughter Lodge in 1962.

Alta Ski Patrol's Avalanche Office History

The first ski lift in Utah carried skiers up Collins Gulch on January 15th, 1939. Less than a month later, the first use of explosives in avalanche control took place on Mt. Superior. Alta's first snow and avalanche observer, C.D. Wadsworth, and ski school director Karl Fahrner used explosives attempting to produce a slide across the road from Alta Ski Area. The very first attempt failed to produce an avalanche, However, the following morning, an avalanche occurred on a continuous fracture line that stretched from Mount Superior to Patsey Marley—burying 2,000 feet of road under 14 feet of snow.

In 1938, Sverre Engen—brother of Alta’s founding father, Alf Engen—was appointed the first Snow Ranger of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Sverre and his wife Louis developed ski cutting and snow pit analysis, techniques still used in avalanche mitigation and research to this day.

A veteran of the 10th Mountain Division, Monty Atwater took over Sverre Engen's role as Snow Ranger for the Forest Service in 1946. Within a couple of seasons, Atwater began using hand charges and artillery to trigger avalanches in and around Alta Ski Area. In 1952, Atwater received permission to fire a World War I-era 75mm Howitzer for avalanche control work.

Monty Atwater was later joined by fellow Snow Ranger, Edward LaChapelle, who had studied at the Avalanche Institute in Davos, Switzerland. LaChapelle studied snowpits and set up a European-style snow study plot at Alta. Together, LaChapelle and Atwater began digging snow pits and analyzing snowpacks while pioneering many of the snow safety techniques that are used today.

In 1969, Snow Ranger Bengts Sandahl installed the first remote weather station on top of Cardiff Peak, across the street from Alta Ski Area. Weather and snowfall have become an obsession ever since. The Alta Avalanche Office maintains some of the longest-running snowfall records in North America. The Alta Guard House study plot has snowfall records dating back to 1945. The recording of accurate snow data is one of the most important duties of the Alta Avalanche Center.

The early days of avalanche research were directed by the US Forest Service. By the late 1960s, avalanche mitigation and research shifted to the direction of individual ski areas. Alta Ski Patrol worked closely with the Snow Rangers and adopted the knowledge and experience that came from decades of research in Alta. The Avalanche Office of Alta Ski Patrol now oversees avalanche mitigation around the ski area. The Utah Department of Transportation manages mitigation above Highway 210.

With the introduction of computers, the internet, and other technological advances, snow study data has been expanded. The Collins study plot has tracked snowfall, water, wind, temperatures and base depth for the past forty years.

Today’s Alta Ski Patrol carries on the tradition of keeping meticulous snow study data, some of the most reliable snow data in the world. Each day, thousands of skiers rely on Alta's study plots for hourly weather and snow information.

Steeped In Tradition Episode 6 - Patrol >

Alta Ski Patrol and Wasatch Backcountry Rescue

In addition to avalanche research and mitigation, Alta was home to the first avalanche rescue dog in the United States. In the winter of 1952, Monty Atwater and Ed LaChapelle employed Cola, a German Shepherd, with the job of locating avalanche victims.

Wasatch Backcountry Rescue (WBR) was incorporated in 1977 to provide life-saving rescue and recovery services to the general public. Alta Ski Patroller and WBR founder Dan O’Connor—otherwise known as “OC”—became the ski area’s first dog handler. He was instrumental in building Alta’s avalanche dog program into what it is today. Dan started the program in 1980 with his dog Je Yu (pronounced Hey You), which is derived from the native word meaning treasure. Je Yu was a German shepherd mix, bred with Snowbird’s first dog, Nico, and a local Alta dog.

Dan was at the forefront of shaping avalanche dog training guidelines in North America. Since then, avalanche dog training has spread far and wide through North America with dog schools in Idaho, Utah, Washington, Colorado and throughout Canada. Most Level A avalanche resorts have multiple search dogs.

From Wasatch Backcountry Rescue:

Alta recognized early on that avalanche dogs would be an integral part of the ski area’s Avalanche Rescue Plan; as a result, Alta was one of the first areas to own its own dogs and provide full support to the ski patrollers who train them.

Alta was also an early convert to the multi-handler system; each dog has several handlers who can work with the dog in emergency situations, allowing for the rapid deployment necessary to potentially save a life.