Imagine watching ski patrollers descend a darkened trail with injured skiers on sleds, sometimes hearing their cries of pain. For 9-year-old Gordy Winterrowd, these powerful moments sparked a calling that would lead to 57 years of service with the Mount Hood Ski Patrol. Listen in to learn more about his own and Mt Hood Ski Patrol's History! Click here to see the pictures he is describing while chatting with us! (Part 1:2)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Murphy (00:00):
Okay, so welcome everybody.
We have got a special guesttoday.
Why don't you introduceyourself, so that we know who
we're talking to?
Gordy Winterrowd (00:11):
Hi, good afternoon.
This is Gordy Winterrowd,Mounted Ski Patrol, 57 years 57
years.
Murphy (00:19):
Okay, Gordy, what's your NSP number?
Gordy Winterrowd (00:22):
It is 147647.
Do you your NSP number?
It is 147-647.
Do you have a national number?
Yes, that's 10048.
Jodie (00:31):
Darn.
Murphy (00:32):
Darn.
You know we ask everybody.
We've only gotten one drink outof this whole thing, but you
know it's worth an effort everytime, every time.
So what year did you join theSki Patrol?
Let's see what did you join theSki Patrol?
Let's see what did you say 54?
.
Gordy Winterrowd (00:48):
My apprentice year was 1968.
1968.
Jodie (00:53):
1968.
How long was your apprenticeyear?
A year and a half.
Wow, that's awesome yeah.
Murphy (01:00):
So when you say apprentice year, I have never
heard in all of our chatsanybody use apprentice year when
describing their first year ofthe ski patrol.
So is there something that Hooddid?
Oh, by the way, tell me whatarea you patrolled at.
If you patrolled at more thanone, what areas were they?
Gordy Winterrowd (01:19):
Yeah, the Mount Hood Ski Patrol has
covered a total of five areas.
A couple of those areas havenow merged, but Mount Hood,
meadows, mount Hood Ski Bowl andTimberline.
Murphy (01:38):
And that's where you patrolled at those three.
Gordy Winterrowd (01:41):
Still do, oh, still do you start when you were
10 well, we, we, uh, themounted ski patrol covers those,
all three of those areas, right?
So, um, although we have teams,we in instructors move around
and work from area to area.
So previously there was fiveareas, which was a summit ski
(02:04):
area that was acquired severalyears ago by Timberline Ski Area
.
It's now merged so you can skiin an area from Timberline down
to Gepard Camp and then CooperSpurs on the east side, over by
Hood River and that has beenacquired by Mount Hood Meadows.
Murphy (02:22):
Oh, interesting.
So there's now three officialski areas at Hood Correct?
Gordy Winterrowd (02:27):
yeah, all right, and in addition to that
we have a Nordic program as well, and of course, the host
program has been merged into theMt Hood Ski Patrol as well.
Murphy (02:39):
Yeah, our brothers on the Nordic side.
Yeah, that's far too muchcardio for me, but we do
recognize them, embrace them,bring them into our fold.
Yep ski, keep going.
It's like too much running,okay.
So what areas were you at?
Did you patrol at all fiveareas originally and then you
(03:02):
now patrol at three, or are youjust staying at those?
Gordy Winterrowd (03:06):
So when I joined Mount Hood Meadows wasn't
in complete operation yet, andso I didn't start patrolling
there until probably 1969.
Timberline Ski Area was, youknow, started in the late 30s
(03:28):
and so I was there and thenmounted Ski Bowl and then Summit
Ski Area, which is a smallbeginner area in government camp
.
So primarily those four Meadows, Timberline, Ski Bowl and
Summit.
Murphy (03:43):
So is it true that you can actually ski from Timberline
all the way down to thatbeginner area to get to
government camp?
I have been with my brother andwe've skied there, because
that's his ski area, and I'veskied down, but I have never
found that way.
I've found the back way whereyou can get a bunch of cabins
and whatnot that are, you know,right behind that little village
(04:04):
at government camp.
How do you get over to thelittle ski area?
Gordy Winterrowd (04:08):
Oh, okay, so what you skied down was the
Glade Trail.
Oh, okay, the Glade Trail has alot of history to that.
We, when I started, wepatrolled that every Saturday
and Sunday night, and I'll readyou a little statement about why
I joined the patrol.
And the Glade Trail was a keycomponent and the reason I
(04:31):
joined.
But we would patrol that everySaturday and Sunday because in
the old days it was very popularfor families or individuals to
drive to Timberline after theroad began to be plowed and
you'd rotate drivers and ski thetrail rather than buy a ticket.
(04:55):
And in the late 30s, 40s and50s that was in some cases more
popular than skiing atTimberline.
So you came down the GladeTrail that puts you into the
cabins above Government Camp.
There's a different trail,which is an eighth of a mile
(05:17):
further east from where you leftTimberline Ski Area and got on
the Glade.
That takes you down right tothe Summit Ski Area.
Murphy (05:28):
Oh, okay, is it marked or is it like some secret school
passage?
Gordy Winterrowd (05:32):
Yeah, previously it was, I would say,
marked, but today it's actuallygroomed, because that is now
part of the Timberline Ski Area.
Oh, okay, and they've widenedthe trail, and my grandson, um,
prefers to to do that type ofthing rather than ride
chairlifts.
He, he likes long runs and and,uh, a three mile run is uh,
(05:56):
right, right up his alley.
Murphy (05:58):
So is that three miles, starting at the top of Palmer,
skiing all the way down, andthen no, no, three Palmer skiing
all the way down and then no,no, three miles from the bottom
of Timberline.
Gordy Winterrowd (06:06):
Oh really, yeah.
Jodie (06:09):
Oh my goodness, so from Magic Mile, or, I guess.
Actually, if you went fromPalmer all the way down, how
long is that?
Gordy Winterrowd (06:15):
That would be five miles.
That's a decent run yeah.
Murphy (06:21):
I'd have to stop once or twice.
Okay, so you started patrollingin 1968.
So why did you join the skipatrol?
What happened?
Or why did you just decide togo start patrolling?
Gordy Winterrowd (06:35):
Well, when I was nine years old I would sit
in the cabin in government campand through the window watch
skiers passing by on the gladetrail.
The last ones to pass each day,many times in the dark, were
members of the Mounted SkiPatrol, and sometimes their
sleds were empty and sometimesthey were full, and it was the
(06:56):
latter that meant that there wasan injured skier getting a ride
back to civilization and propermedical care.
I always wondered what theinjury was and what the
patient's outcome would be.
Sometimes I could hear thepatient screaming or moaning.
Watching that every Saturdayand Sunday left memories I can't
(07:18):
forget and with a Boy Scoutbackground, I knew I wanted to
get involved, help and make themost of my interest in skiing.
So in high school a group of 14of us decided we wanted to join
the ski patrol.
When I started as an apprenticeI had no thought that I would
be part of the organization 55,57 years later.
Jodie (07:41):
Oh, my goodness, Wow.
When you said in high schoolhow old were you 16.
Murphy (07:48):
So you joined at 16.
Gordy Winterrowd (07:51):
Well, that was the apprentice year.
You had to be 18 to be a member, right?
Murphy (07:55):
So that was like the.
What do they call them now?
The?
We call them the spy program,but the youth ski patrol.
Yeah, oh, okay, and so you gotyour first aid out of the way.
What was first aid called backin 1968?
Gordy Winterrowd (08:11):
It was part of the American Red Cross, so it
was advanced first aid.
Murphy (08:15):
Okay, and then you I don't want to say get promoted,
but your designation changed twoyears later, 1970.
You became a full-fledgedpatroller, correct.
Gordy Winterrowd (08:28):
Okay.
Murphy (08:29):
So then you wound up being an Alpine patroller I'm
assuming, correct.
Okay, so tell me a little bitabout your first year as a full
patroller.
You're now 18 years old.
You've got all thisresponsibility.
What's it like?
You're now 18 years old.
You've got all thisresponsibility.
Gordy Winterrowd (08:46):
What's it?
Like you know, one word wouldprobably sum it up.
Murphy (08:50):
Girls oh fun.
Gordy Winterrowd (08:56):
Okay, you know what has kept me, you know what
made it great was the peoplethat were involved with the
patrol back then and then theservice to.
You know, of course, theinjured as well, but the people
(09:24):
we had, many of which wereclimbers the patrol had, you
know, a large, large percentageof the patrol was climbers and
we had members of the 10thMountain Division also.
So we, in addition to skiing,we would also climb Mount Hood,
Wow, Different locations andstuff.
And so, spending that much timewith people, you really get to
know them and learn a lot.
That much time with people, youreally get to know them and
(09:46):
learn a lot.
Murphy (09:52):
And as a you know 18, 16 , 18, you know young adult, it
had a major impact.
So any like rescues youremember from back in 1970?
Gordy Winterrowd (10:03):
Anything that sticks out as, like your first
response Specific years probablynot, but I remember one we
would patrol at night at acouple of the areas, including,
well, at Moldepeur and Skibullused to be two different areas,
so if you separate those,actually the total number of
(10:23):
areas was six, but both areashad night skiing.
And one time at Skeeble Iremember patrolling there at
night and a young lady wasinjured about well, maybe a mile
up the hill and her mother thatwas waiting at the base could
(10:46):
hear her.
Oh you know, it was and itwasn't anything major, but uh,
she was, uh in pain.
Jodie (10:56):
Just a tad bit.
And you rescued her and broughther to mom down the uh, down
the bottom of the hill, yeah,yeah, no, I mean yeah it was
mainly because of yes, yes, yesso some of the names that you
were talking about back thenthat were doing the climbing was
(11:18):
that, like the Petrie brothersand Dave Nelson and some of
those guys Well, not thePetrie's, but, Dave, certainly I
can.
Gordy Winterrowd (11:27):
If, if you can , I'll put up some of them, if
that would be helpful.
Jodie (11:32):
Do you want to do that now, murph, or?
Gordy Winterrowd (11:34):
what's that?
Jodie (11:34):
you want to do.
He was going to show some ofthe pictures and stuff of the
climbers.
Oh yeah, sure, okay, let memake this shareable for you,
should be, you should be all setthere, gordy.
Gordy Winterrowd (11:45):
Okay.
Jodie (11:49):
Let me know if not.
Gordy Winterrowd (11:51):
Okay.
Jodie (11:56):
Well, I remember, I mean I've met.
I was able to have the honor ofmeeting the Petrie brothers and
I did work with Dave Nelson,amazing guy.
Honor of meeting the Petriebrothers and I did work with
Dave Nelson, amazing guy, andDave was one of the when I was a
candidate apprentice, causethat's, that's a Mount Hood ski
patrol term is apprentice,that's what they were called,
and um, but it was, uh, mountNelson where we were learned the
(12:19):
chair of act, cause he had achair in his backyard amongst
all these trees and everything,and uh, that's where we
practiced, versus before we wereallowed to go to the chairlift
and and figure that out.
Gordy Winterrowd (12:32):
but now, uh, when dave moved from, uh, when
dave moved from his, uh, hishome, um, he gave that chair to
Bob Smith, dr Smith.
And Bob was going to turn itinto a swing.
And then he didn't.
(12:53):
And then this summer he soldhis home and asked me if I'd
like the chair.
So the chair that we practicedwith in what do you think that
would have been Jody in the 80sand 90s?
Jodie (13:05):
Well, I joined in 2002, so it was a full swing then.
So definitely before I mean,that's the impression I got.
Gordy Winterrowd (13:14):
Probably 90s and 2000s.
That swing is now mountedbehind the cabin in Government
Camp.
Jodie (13:22):
Oh, it is.
Oh, that's awesome.
I didn't realize that If you'reever up there?
Gordy Winterrowd (13:25):
Yeah, sure, so can you see this light here?
Jodie (13:30):
Nope.
Gordy Winterrowd (13:30):
Okay.
Jodie (13:37):
And the other thing if you can't get it up, it's fine,
we can always add it in laterand we can talk to you.
I mean, you can explain itwhile you're going through it
too.
Gordy Winterrowd (13:47):
Yeah, I've got it here now.
There we go.
Jodie (13:55):
So it just takes a second .
Gordy Winterrowd (13:57):
There we go.
Yeah, so the first 50 membersof the Mounted Ski Patrol were
drawn from bottle caps.
Murphy (14:07):
Wait a minute you got to explain that.
Gordy Winterrowd (14:12):
So when the patrol was formed, it was
actually the climbers that cameup with the idea, because they
were helping injured skiers andthey convinced the Forest
Service to hire.
To hire, a person in the ForestService selected Hank Lewis,
(14:35):
and Hank was the first paidpatroller.
He was paid a very small amountfor working Saturdays and
Sundays and then he recruitedclose to 50 people to help him
on weekends, and those 50 peoplethey really didn't know if
(14:58):
Ralph came before Joe, becamebefore Russ or whatever.
So they took bottle caps, putnumbers on them and then each
picked a bottle cap number.
And that's the first peoplewere picked, just randomly like
that.
After that it was based on dateof entry date of entry.
(15:23):
But, um, so here's some of theearly people Ralph, joe and and,
uh and and Russ that you see inthe center picture there, and
then, um, the I have yet anotherone here.
So this is Hank.
Jodie (15:41):
Oh my goodness, he started the Mountain.
Gordy Winterrowd (15:42):
Ski Patrol in the center picture there, and
then, of course, at age eight.
And then the bottle caps that Iwas talking about are in the
right slide there, you guysstill have the bottle caps.
Yes.
Jodie (15:59):
They're in the.
Gordy Winterrowd (16:00):
Mount Hood Museum and Government Camp,
thanks to Dave Winterling, who'snow the executive director
there and president of the MountHood Ski Patrol.
The United States ForestService logo.
The Mount Hood Ski Patrol isthe only organization in the
United States that is allowed touse that, and that's the later
(16:24):
on of.
Hank.
We skied with Hank.
The last time he skied was on aSki, the Glade Day about I'll
(16:52):
give you the exact date and hepassed away about two years
after that.
Jodie (16:59):
I remember that, and so the Ski the Glade Day is an
event that is held every Marchby the government museum and
government camp, and that's toraise funds for the museum.
Is that correct?
Gordy Winterrowd (17:14):
Correct, yeah, and because it uses the Glade
Trail, the Forest Servicerequires that the museum involve
the Mounted Ski Patrol.
Jodie (17:26):
That is cool.
Gordy Winterrowd (17:27):
That is cool, yeah, so I was going to go back
a little further, so here's oh,we did that one already.
You can see, back in a longtime ago there was Amas 1890s.
Jodie (17:51):
Yeah.
Gordy Winterrowd (17:52):
So, okay, next question.
Murphy (18:00):
I still have a question about the bottle caps.
So what were the bottle capsfor?
Again, you were saying thatthere were 50 people that could
be patrollers on a weekend andthey would go and pick bottle
caps to see who got to bepatrollers.
Gordy Winterrowd (18:15):
No, no, no, no Hank.
After Hank was hired by theforest service, he started
recruiting other climbers rightto to be involved with the ski
patrol and they decided theyshould have.
They should have numbers.
So they came up with the ideaof just a random drawing to
determine their number, andthose are the bottle caps that
(18:38):
were used to determine.
In fact, on that picture Ishowed you, one of those bottle
caps was Hank Lewis's number andthe other one I think was Joe
Leuthold's number.
Murphy (18:51):
Okay, so they wrote their name and number of their
name.
Jodie (18:54):
They pulled it out and you were number 10.
Murphy (18:58):
Right, right Okay name.
Gordy Winterrowd (18:59):
They pulled it out and you were number 10,
right, right.
Jodie (19:00):
Okay, they may have been actually, you know the second
person, but yeah, they ended upbeing number 10 or number four
technically, hank was the firstperson and then he gathered up,
but no one could remember when,their exact start dates or
whatever, so just a luck of thedraw correct.
Murphy (19:17):
So that was the Hood Patrol from 1937, 38, up until
you joined in 1969.
, tell me a little bit about howdo I phrase this.
So when Mount Hood left the SkiPatrol and wound up going alone
(19:43):
, let's just say you know theywere ski patrol, but not ski
patrol.
What happened?
What precipitated that change?
Why did they do that?
And then why did they come back?
Gordy Winterrowd (19:55):
Okay, okay, the Mounted Ski Patrol was part
(20:15):
of the National Ski.
Patrol and in 1961, the MountedSki Patrol won National Patrol
of the Year, the Large Alpineaward, yep, and then the, the
national ski patrol imposed amandatory insurance premium on
every patroller nationally, andmembers of the, the mounted ski
patrol, didn't want toparticipate in that and, um,
(20:39):
that wasn't an option.
So, um, the mounted ski patroland I think the, the, it was
like a dollar a year orsomething for the insurance
policy, a dollar per patroller,or a dollar yeah, per patroller
and uh, so the the um nationalor the Mounted Ski Patrol left
(21:00):
the National Patrol in 1962, theyear after winning the
Outstanding Alpine Ski Patrol,it was $2 per person.
Jodie (21:11):
And, if I recall correctly, mount Hood had an
insurance program alreadyestablished is the way that I
heard through the grapevine.
I don't know if it's true, buthad something already.
And then it wasn't accepted byNational and they didn't want to
lose what they had alreadyestablished.
(21:32):
And then it was sort of like,ok, it wasn't really the best
because it was a really gooddeal, and then they already had
it, but it wasn't accepted.
Gordy Winterrowd (21:42):
And so then yeah, I know I'm not sure about
the insurance on our part atthat time, but in Oregon with
the good Samaritan laws, I thinkmost of the people weren't
concerned laws.
Murphy (21:58):
I think most of the people weren't concerned, so
insurance was the sole reason.
I mean, was there anything elseor it was just insurance?
We don't want to pay and we'releaving Taxation without
representation.
Gordy Winterrowd (22:27):
We're leaving.
That's part of it too.
Murphy (22:30):
Yeah, the group was a pretty independent group having
you and distaste for authority.
Jodie (22:40):
Isn't that like a psychological thing?
Okay, I'm just checking, justchecking.
Murphy (22:45):
Okay, so what brought them back into the patrol?
Gordy Winterrowd (22:52):
I mean, first of all, how many years were they
gone?
We rejoined in 1988, roughly 87, 88, and uh, the we had gone,
uh had started using the uh oecmanual and um, so the the
feeling was that just forstandardization and quality of
(23:19):
the medical training it would bebetter to rejoin.
Murphy (23:24):
Okay, so was that like a group decision?
Was that a patrol directordecision?
Do you guys have a board ofgovernors that run the mountain?
Gordy Winterrowd (23:38):
Yeah, we do.
We have president, vicepresident, a patrol chief,
treasurer, secretary.
We have three trustees and itwas a vote of the entire patrol.
Murphy (23:57):
Oh, so the board of directors kicked it down for a
vote to the patrol and patrolsaid yes, we want to go back.
Gordy Winterrowd (24:04):
Yeah, the council agreed to it and then
put it up to a vote.
Oh, OK.
Murphy (24:08):
Yeah, so what was that first?
And you were obviously deepinto patrol You're about 36
years old in 1988.
And you were OK, so we're goingback into the ski patrol.
What was like?
What was that for you?
Gordy Winterrowd (24:24):
we, I would say we weren't going back to the
ski patrol, we were justjoining national ski patrol.
We were, we, the amount of skipatrol, um had kind of led the
nation in a number of areas.
We had a I'll call it a minihospital back years ago in
(24:49):
government camp and thephysician there had trained a
number of the patrollers.
We on the ski patrol.
Of course it's as all patrolsare.
It's made up of a lot ofdifferent occupations and we had
a number of people that hadserved in, certainly in World
(25:09):
War II and then in the VietnamWar, that were medics, and one
of the things that came out ofDr Johnson, who was on the ski
patrol, was the Johnson splintwhich is now used by every ski
patrol in the nation.
Murphy (25:27):
Okay, hold on a second Back up.
Gordy Winterrowd (25:29):
What was that?
Again?
The Johnson splint was one ofthe I can put a picture of um
that's harold johnson rightcorrect right, okay you've heard
it as the quick splint and alot of different places have
(25:49):
modified it, etc.
Murphy (25:51):
But yeah, so there's uh, I just want to butt in here, so
I keep hearing it called a DJ,right, and nobody can.
Well, I've heard variousreasons why it's called a DJ and
Johnson the last nameconstantly gets brought up, but
his first name wasn't D, unlessit's Dr Johnson.
Jodie (26:14):
I think, also Gordian, correct me if I'm wrong a lot of
places took a modification ofit and then termed it whatever
different names I mean.
I've heard it many differentnames.
Quick Splint was one, I mean,but the DJ and different things
that but based on sort of whatDr Johnson was doing.
Gordy Winterrowd (26:35):
Yeah, there are a number of um different, um
different versions of it.
Um, I have a, a picture here ofI don't know if that's
necessary, if you want to goahead?
Jodie (26:49):
no, ahead, pull it up and we'll describe.
Murphy (26:51):
Let's see how much it's uh changed or got back.
Is this the pre-Velcro days?
Gordy Winterrowd (26:58):
This particular picture is with
straps, but I apologize.
I'm looking for the sharebutton here.
Jodie (27:12):
It's okay.
Well, they're doing that.
Part of that was we have itfrom 1949, dr Johnson Harold
Johnson, who joined the patrolbefore World War II and he's the
one that had the idea for thesplint would be easily applied
do a better job than the oldboard and blanket splints and he
had developed it part of thatfrom the World War II, put some
(27:36):
of his own improvements and thenit really expanded from there
on the west side of the US withthe ski patrols.
But just the two pieces ofplywood and then the holes.
What am I missing here?
Gordy Winterrowd (27:53):
So no, jody, I think you did an excellent job
of describing it.
There it is in the lowerleft-hand corner and then the
other thing that the Mounted SkiPatrol introduced to the United
States was the Accia.
The Accia, as you may know, ismade in Austria and still made
(28:18):
there.
A number of the Austrian skipatrols still use the Accia and
this is the first one that wasdelivered to the United States
in 1958.
Jody, earlier you'd mentionedPetrie.
This is Craig Petrie's uncle,keith Petrie.
He's mounted ski Patrol number109.
(28:40):
And then Al Monner, wow Climber, and he was the patrol chief
number 30, greeted the ship andthat's one of the ship's
captains or employees in thesled itself.
But that first one became verypopular versus the dog sled
(29:03):
splint this particular Bakia isnow in Eastern Oregon and
Anthony Lakes, keith Petrie,after he managed the opening to
Mount Hood Meadows to anthonylakes and he bought that from
the mounted ski patrol I didn'trealize keith went over to
(29:25):
anthony lakes.
Yeah, yeah, he was over therefor a number of years and it
that that particular um sled wasa significant improvement over
the dog sled which you see here,the.
It was basically a sledmodified for use to carry people
(29:49):
, and and so the, the Accia wasa vast improvement because you
could actually pick up thepatient on flat areas and very
maneuverable.
Jodie (30:01):
So, Gordy, did you ever operate the dog sled?
Gordy Winterrowd (30:05):
No, I did not.
I was in the Acquia era.
Jodie (30:11):
Well now, if I remember, right on the 75th anniversary,
someone pulled the dog sled out,if I'm correct, and when it
went down the glade trail.
But if, if I'm correct on that,but it's at sort of, uh, yeah,
we'll have to show pictures.
It's hard to describe on theradio right, right.
Gordy Winterrowd (30:34):
Um, yeah, I know that.
Um, I've got a video of BuzzBowman and Murph.
Buzz Bowman is the was the longhe's still living, but he was
the longest serving patroller inthe nation.
He was part of the Mounted SkiPatrol oh really, how long was
that?
On his 75th anniversary on thepatrol, we renamed our building
(30:59):
and government camp the BuzzBowman Rescue Center.
Jodie (31:03):
Oh, yep.
And he has a name up onTimberline a run.
The Buzz Cut was named afterhim.
Murphy (31:12):
Oh, well, okay, so he was patrolling for 75 years.
Gordy Winterrowd (31:20):
73 or 73 years , but on the but it remained a
member.
And on his 75th yeah, wow,that's amazing.
Murphy (31:31):
How old was he when he was?
Well, he was 20.
He must have been in his 90s.
Gordy Winterrowd (31:36):
Well, he stopped when he was 89.
He's 95 now.
Murphy (31:42):
Oh, he's still around.
Gordy Winterrowd (31:44):
Yes, yes yeah, oh, we got to Jody, we got to
call him.
Jodie (31:49):
And Gordy, if you can help work with me.
I talked to Buzz once aboutdoing this, but we really would
like to do a chat with him.
But I have a feeling if we canget your help and assistance in
getting that set up and have youjoin in with us while we talk
to him, I think it would beawesome.
Gordy Winterrowd (32:09):
Yeah, yeah, I can show you some pictures of
him here, murph, if you want to.
Yeah, okay, you want to yeah,okay.
Jodie (32:16):
So fuzz bowman, if, if I remember him telling me this
correctly when I because, uh,starting off is he joined when
he was 16 or 17, I believe yeah,he, um, I'll uh look up the
exact uh year it was 1940.
Gordy Winterrowd (32:34):
Year it was 1940.
Jodie (32:41):
He's an amazing guy and there is this one picture, that
and his statement, and it waswith Brian Barker.
They were going up thechairlift and it was at
Timberline.
We made sure we had that, Ithink on his 70th or something
that we made sure we had that.
I think on his 70th orsomething that we made sure we
displayed because he he was, hewas talking to Brian Barker as
(33:02):
they were going up and I thinkit was the Magic Mile, because I
remember the picture.
But and he just happened to say, you know, he just sort of they
were quiet and he sort of wassaying that you know that she
just keeps looking prettier andprettier or something to that
extent.
And I just can't get over howit makes me feel after all these
(33:23):
years, you know.
And Brian was saying he saysgosh, you almost got emotional
at it.
He says here's this guy, that'sthis amazing long timer then
and everything.
Gordy Winterrowd (33:34):
But yeah, yeah , that was a video from one of
the tv station interviews of himand uh that, that is, you can
still access that.
There's been three or four ofthose.
Oh yeah, um, here I've gotanother slide here.
Um, that shows sorry for thedelay here.
Jodie (34:00):
Oh, you're fine.
You're fine.
He was a hill captain.
I mean, he was an alpinepatroller and he pulled sleds
until he was.
I can't even think of how, yeah.
Gordy Winterrowd (34:13):
So there he is in 1948 on the left.
Murphy (34:18):
And he started.
Gordy Winterrowd (34:20):
His patrol number is 134, and he started in
1946.
So that was two years after hejoined the patrol.
If you look at his left arm theupper left arm he has an
armband on and that armband wasthe uniform of the Mount Hood
(34:44):
Ski Patrol back in the 30s and40s.
Murphy (34:49):
Interesting.
Gordy Winterrowd (34:50):
Then you can see him at the center picture is
at the Portland Marathon.
I think the ski patrol hassupported that over the years.
And then the lower picture onthe left there is Buzz and his
wife, dolores Dolores.
(35:12):
Thank you, yeah, early on.
And then that picture lowercenter of Buzz pulling an Accia.
That's from the 75thanniversary of the Mounted Ski
Patrol and that's Buzz pullingit.
And then Jody had mentioned.
(35:32):
Buzz cut a run at Timberlinewhen the Jeff Flood chairlift
was opened.
That's a picture of Buzzstanding in front of the sign
and another longtime patrollerthat died three months ago, four
months ago, john Wilberding isleft of him, jody.
Jodie (35:53):
Yes, and John Wilberding was known as the Rev, but that's
a whole other conversation.
The Rev, the Rev.
Gordy Winterrowd (36:02):
Okay, okay.
Murphy (36:04):
Back to the questions.
Back to questions.
All right, so what jobs haveyou had with the Ski Patrol?
So since 1968, you started outas the rookie and as apprentice.
Where'd you go from there?
1968, you started out as therookie and as apprentice.
Gordy Winterrowd (36:18):
Where'd you go from there.
I'm past president of theMounted Ski Patrol, a past
trustee of the National SkiPatrol.
I'm an OET instructor and OETIT.
We have hill captains on thepatrol that are responsible for
the area on a particular day.
(36:39):
I'm a senior hill captainMentioned the national
appointment and then a seniorNSP senior patroller as well.
Good for you.
When were you president?
1970, 19.
Let me get you the exact dates1990.
Jodie (37:05):
In the 90s there.
Gordy Winterrowd (37:07):
I think it was 76 and, I'm sorry, 96 and 97.
Wow.
Jodie (37:16):
That's awesome.
And then you had a couple ofawards in the 90s from Mount
Hood Ski Patrol.
Gordy Winterrowd (37:27):
Yeah, A little prior to that we received one
from President Reagan for savinga life.
That's probably the one Iremember.
Jodie (37:42):
Tell us about that.
Gordy Winterrowd (37:45):
It was just a certificate of merit for saving
life that I received fromPresident Reagan Back then.
That was part of the AmericanRed Cross system.
Murphy (37:59):
So you received it or the patrol received it.
Gordy Winterrowd (38:04):
I received it along with one other patrol, or
two of us were on the case.
Oh, wow, yeah.
And then Jerry Edgar Award,which is Hill Captain of the
Year, Outstanding Alpine Coachof the Year and Emmis Mounted
Ski Patrol Recognition for years, of course years of service.
(38:26):
Prior to that, the Rod MorrisonApprentice of the Year Award.
Murphy (38:35):
All right.
So you got to tell us who isRod Morrison.
Why was an award named afterhim?
Gordy Winterrowd (38:40):
in a patroller , in terms of judgment, in terms
of attitude, in terms ofwillingness to help, and he was
(39:05):
a great example.
So he was killed and so theaward was named after him.
Murphy (39:15):
He was killed or he died .
Gordy Winterrowd (39:18):
Well, he died in an accident.
Oh, okay, I'd have to look upthe exact details.
Murphy (39:25):
So was it on the mountain.
Gordy Winterrowd (39:27):
He died versus killed.
Jodie (39:30):
I can look up the details , but he wasn't patrolling at
the time.
If I remember right, it was acar accident, but I could be
wrong.
Gordy Winterrowd (39:39):
Yeah, I don't think I have it handy, but I
think it may have been a caraccident on the way to the
mountain.
Jody, yeah, oh that's too bad.
Jodie (39:51):
And then tell us about Jerry Edgar, because he's the
one that's named after the hillcaptain.
Gordy Winterrowd (39:55):
Yeah, jerry Edward also was an outstanding
individual and very, very activeon the patrol.
He started in the early 60s andhe was, you know, the type of
(40:18):
person that would be up everyweekend and very, very engaged
and did a lot of great thingsfor the patrol.
So the Hill Captain Award wasnamed after him.
I can follow up, Murph, and getyou more details on both of
those individuals.
Follow up, murph, and get youmore details on both of those
(40:40):
individuals.
But the one thing I rememberabout Jerry was one time we used
to after hours go up and skifrom Timberline to government
camp in the dark and I rememberriding up with Jerry up the
(41:02):
Timberline Road, going about 80miles an hour.
He was a race car driver alsoand 80 miles an hour, okay, is
on a straightaway but he wouldslow down for the curves, but it
was also on snow.
Murphy (41:12):
That's crazy.
I bet on that road.
I don't know if I'd drive thatroad at 80 miles an hour.
Yeah, oh, my goodness.
Okay, so welcome everybody.
We have got a special guesttoday.
Why don't you introduceyourself, so that we know who
we're talking to?
Gordy Winterrowd (00:11):
Hi, good afternoon.
This is Gordy Winterrowd,Mounted Ski Patrol, 57 years 57
years.
Murphy (00:19):
Okay, Gordy, what's your NSP number?
Gordy Winterrowd (00:22):
It is 147647.
Do you your NSP number?
It is 147-647.
Do you have a national number?
Yes, that's 10048.
Jodie (00:31):
Darn.
Murphy (00:32):
Darn.
You know we ask everybody.
We've only gotten one drink outof this whole thing, but you
know it's worth an effort everytime, every time.
So what year did you join theSki Patrol?
Let's see what did you join theSki Patrol?
Let's see what did you say 54?
.
Gordy Winterrowd (00:48):
My apprentice year was 1968.
1968.
Jodie (00:53):
1968.
How long was your apprenticeyear?
A year and a half.
Wow, that's awesome yeah.
Murphy (01:00):
So when you say apprentice year, I have never
heard in all of our chatsanybody use apprentice year when
describing their first year ofthe ski patrol.
So is there something that Hooddid?
Oh, by the way, tell me whatarea you patrolled at.
If you patrolled at more thanone, what areas were they?
Gordy Winterrowd (01:19):
Yeah, the Mount Hood Ski Patrol has
covered a total of five areas.
A couple of those areas havenow merged, but Mount Hood,
meadows, mount Hood Ski Bowl andTimberline.
Murphy (01:38):
And that's where you patrolled at those three.
Gordy Winterrowd (01:41):
Still do, oh, still do you start when you were
10 well, we, we, uh, themounted ski patrol covers those,
all three of those areas, right?
So, um, although we have teams,we in instructors move around
and work from area to area.
So previously there was fiveareas, which was a summit ski
(02:04):
area that was acquired severalyears ago by Timberline Ski Area
.
It's now merged so you can skiin an area from Timberline down
to Gepard Camp and then CooperSpurs on the east side, over by
Hood River and that has beenacquired by Mount Hood Meadows.
Murphy (02:22):
Oh, interesting.
So there's now three officialski areas at Hood Correct?
Gordy Winterrowd (02:27):
yeah, all right, and in addition to that
we have a Nordic program as well, and of course, the host
program has been merged into theMt Hood Ski Patrol as well.
Murphy (02:39):
Yeah, our brothers on the Nordic side.
Yeah, that's far too muchcardio for me, but we do
recognize them, embrace them,bring them into our fold.
Yep ski, keep going.
It's like too much running,okay.
So what areas were you at?
Did you patrol at all fiveareas originally and then you
(03:02):
now patrol at three, or are youjust staying at those?
Gordy Winterrowd (03:06):
So when I joined Mount Hood Meadows wasn't
in complete operation yet, andso I didn't start patrolling
there until probably 1969.
Timberline Ski Area was, youknow, started in the late 30s
(03:28):
and so I was there and thenmounted Ski Bowl and then Summit
Ski Area, which is a smallbeginner area in government camp
.
So primarily those four Meadows, Timberline, Ski Bowl and
Summit.
Murphy (03:43):
So is it true that you can actually ski from Timberline
all the way down to thatbeginner area to get to
government camp?
I have been with my brother andwe've skied there, because
that's his ski area, and I'veskied down, but I have never
found that way.
I've found the back way whereyou can get a bunch of cabins
and whatnot that are, you know,right behind that little village
(04:04):
at government camp.
How do you get over to thelittle ski area?
Gordy Winterrowd (04:08):
Oh, okay, so what you skied down was the
Glade Trail.
Oh, okay, the Glade Trail has alot of history to that.
We, when I started, wepatrolled that every Saturday
and Sunday night, and I'll readyou a little statement about why
I joined the patrol.
And the Glade Trail was a keycomponent and the reason I
(04:31):
joined.
But we would patrol that everySaturday and Sunday because in
the old days it was very popularfor families or individuals to
drive to Timberline after theroad began to be plowed and
you'd rotate drivers and ski thetrail rather than buy a ticket.
(04:55):
And in the late 30s, 40s and50s that was in some cases more
popular than skiing atTimberline.
So you came down the GladeTrail that puts you into the
cabins above Government Camp.
There's a different trail,which is an eighth of a mile
(05:17):
further east from where you leftTimberline Ski Area and got on
the Glade.
That takes you down right tothe Summit Ski Area.
Murphy (05:28):
Oh, okay, is it marked or is it like some secret school
passage?
Gordy Winterrowd (05:32):
Yeah, previously it was, I would say,
marked, but today it's actuallygroomed, because that is now
part of the Timberline Ski Area.
Oh, okay, and they've widenedthe trail, and my grandson, um,
prefers to to do that type ofthing rather than ride
chairlifts.
He, he likes long runs and and,uh, a three mile run is uh,
(05:56):
right, right up his alley.
Murphy (05:58):
So is that three miles, starting at the top of Palmer,
skiing all the way down, andthen no, no, three Palmer skiing
all the way down and then no,no, three miles from the bottom
of Timberline.
Gordy Winterrowd (06:06):
Oh really, yeah.
Jodie (06:09):
Oh my goodness, so from Magic Mile, or, I guess.
Actually, if you went fromPalmer all the way down, how
long is that?
Gordy Winterrowd (06:15):
That would be five miles.
That's a decent run yeah.
Murphy (06:21):
I'd have to stop once or twice.
Okay, so you started patrollingin 1968.
So why did you join the skipatrol?
What happened?
Or why did you just decide togo start patrolling?
Gordy Winterrowd (06:35):
Well, when I was nine years old I would sit
in the cabin in government campand through the window watch
skiers passing by on the gladetrail.
The last ones to pass each day,many times in the dark, were
members of the Mounted SkiPatrol, and sometimes their
sleds were empty and sometimesthey were full, and it was the
(06:56):
latter that meant that there wasan injured skier getting a ride
back to civilization and propermedical care.
I always wondered what theinjury was and what the
patient's outcome would be.
Sometimes I could hear thepatient screaming or moaning.
Watching that every Saturdayand Sunday left memories I can't
(07:18):
forget and with a Boy Scoutbackground, I knew I wanted to
get involved, help and make themost of my interest in skiing.
So in high school a group of 14of us decided we wanted to join
the ski patrol.
When I started as an apprenticeI had no thought that I would
be part of the organization 55,57 years later.
Jodie (07:41):
Oh, my goodness, Wow.
When you said in high schoolhow old were you 16.
Murphy (07:48):
So you joined at 16.
Gordy Winterrowd (07:51):
Well, that was the apprentice year.
You had to be 18 to be a member, right?
Murphy (07:55):
So that was like the.
What do they call them now?
The?
We call them the spy program,but the youth ski patrol.
Yeah, oh, okay, and so you gotyour first aid out of the way.
What was first aid called backin 1968?
Gordy Winterrowd (08:11):
It was part of the American Red Cross, so it
was advanced first aid.
Murphy (08:15):
Okay, and then you I don't want to say get promoted,
but your designation changed twoyears later, 1970.
You became a full-fledgedpatroller, correct.
Gordy Winterrowd (08:28):
Okay.
Murphy (08:29):
So then you wound up being an Alpine patroller I'm
assuming, correct.
Okay, so tell me a little bitabout your first year as a full
patroller.
You're now 18 years old.
You've got all thisresponsibility.
What's it like?
You're now 18 years old.
You've got all thisresponsibility.
Gordy Winterrowd (08:46):
What's it?
Like you know, one word wouldprobably sum it up.
Murphy (08:50):
Girls oh fun.
Gordy Winterrowd (08:56):
Okay, you know what has kept me, you know what
made it great was the peoplethat were involved with the
patrol back then and then theservice to.
You know, of course, theinjured as well, but the people
(09:24):
we had, many of which wereclimbers the patrol had, you
know, a large, large percentageof the patrol was climbers and
we had members of the 10thMountain Division also.
So we, in addition to skiing,we would also climb Mount Hood,
Wow, Different locations andstuff.
And so, spending that much timewith people, you really get to
know them and learn a lot.
That much time with people, youreally get to know them and
(09:46):
learn a lot.
Murphy (09:52):
And as a you know 18, 16 , 18, you know young adult, it
had a major impact.
So any like rescues youremember from back in 1970?
Gordy Winterrowd (10:03):
Anything that sticks out as, like your first
response Specific years probablynot, but I remember one we
would patrol at night at acouple of the areas, including,
well, at Moldepeur and Skibullused to be two different areas,
so if you separate those,actually the total number of
(10:23):
areas was six, but both areashad night skiing.
And one time at Skeeble Iremember patrolling there at
night and a young lady wasinjured about well, maybe a mile
up the hill and her mother thatwas waiting at the base could
(10:46):
hear her.
Oh you know, it was and itwasn't anything major, but uh,
she was, uh in pain.
Jodie (10:56):
Just a tad bit.
And you rescued her and broughther to mom down the uh, down
the bottom of the hill, yeah,yeah, no, I mean yeah it was
mainly because of yes, yes, yesso some of the names that you
were talking about back thenthat were doing the climbing was
(11:18):
that, like the Petrie brothersand Dave Nelson and some of
those guys Well, not thePetrie's, but, Dave, certainly I
can.
Gordy Winterrowd (11:27):
If, if you can , I'll put up some of them, if
that would be helpful.
Jodie (11:32):
Do you want to do that now, murph, or?
Gordy Winterrowd (11:34):
what's that?
Jodie (11:34):
you want to do.
He was going to show some ofthe pictures and stuff of the
climbers.
Oh yeah, sure, okay, let memake this shareable for you,
should be, you should be all setthere, gordy.
Gordy Winterrowd (11:45):
Okay.
Jodie (11:49):
Let me know if not.
Gordy Winterrowd (11:51):
Okay.
Jodie (11:56):
Well, I remember, I mean I've met.
I was able to have the honor ofmeeting the Petrie brothers and
I did work with Dave Nelson,amazing guy.
Honor of meeting the Petriebrothers and I did work with
Dave Nelson, amazing guy, andDave was one of the when I was a
candidate apprentice, causethat's, that's a Mount Hood ski
patrol term is apprentice,that's what they were called,
and um, but it was, uh, mountNelson where we were learned the
(12:19):
chair of act, cause he had achair in his backyard amongst
all these trees and everything,and uh, that's where we
practiced, versus before we wereallowed to go to the chairlift
and and figure that out.
Gordy Winterrowd (12:32):
but now, uh, when dave moved from, uh, when
dave moved from his, uh, hishome, um, he gave that chair to
Bob Smith, dr Smith.
And Bob was going to turn itinto a swing.
And then he didn't.
(12:53):
And then this summer he soldhis home and asked me if I'd
like the chair.
So the chair that we practicedwith in what do you think that
would have been Jody in the 80sand 90s?
Jodie (13:05):
Well, I joined in 2002, so it was a full swing then.
So definitely before I mean,that's the impression I got.
Gordy Winterrowd (13:14):
Probably 90s and 2000s.
That swing is now mountedbehind the cabin in Government
Camp.
Jodie (13:22):
Oh, it is.
Oh, that's awesome.
I didn't realize that If you'reever up there?
Gordy Winterrowd (13:25):
Yeah, sure, so can you see this light here?
Jodie (13:30):
Nope.
Gordy Winterrowd (13:30):
Okay.
Jodie (13:37):
And the other thing if you can't get it up, it's fine,
we can always add it in laterand we can talk to you.
I mean, you can explain itwhile you're going through it
too.
Gordy Winterrowd (13:47):
Yeah, I've got it here now.
There we go.
Jodie (13:55):
So it just takes a second .
Gordy Winterrowd (13:57):
There we go.
Yeah, so the first 50 membersof the Mounted Ski Patrol were
drawn from bottle caps.
Murphy (14:07):
Wait a minute you got to explain that.
Gordy Winterrowd (14:12):
So when the patrol was formed, it was
actually the climbers that cameup with the idea, because they
were helping injured skiers andthey convinced the Forest
Service to hire.
To hire, a person in the ForestService selected Hank Lewis,
(14:35):
and Hank was the first paidpatroller.
He was paid a very small amountfor working Saturdays and
Sundays and then he recruitedclose to 50 people to help him
on weekends, and those 50 peoplethey really didn't know if
(14:58):
Ralph came before Joe, becamebefore Russ or whatever.
So they took bottle caps, putnumbers on them and then each
picked a bottle cap number.
And that's the first peoplewere picked, just randomly like
that.
After that it was based on dateof entry date of entry.
(15:23):
But, um, so here's some of theearly people Ralph, joe and and,
uh and and Russ that you see inthe center picture there, and
then, um, the I have yet anotherone here.
So this is Hank.
Jodie (15:41):
Oh my goodness, he started the Mountain.
Gordy Winterrowd (15:42):
Ski Patrol in the center picture there, and
then, of course, at age eight.
And then the bottle caps that Iwas talking about are in the
right slide there, you guysstill have the bottle caps.
Yes.
Jodie (15:59):
They're in the.
Gordy Winterrowd (16:00):
Mount Hood Museum and Government Camp,
thanks to Dave Winterling, who'snow the executive director
there and president of the MountHood Ski Patrol.
The United States ForestService logo.
The Mount Hood Ski Patrol isthe only organization in the
United States that is allowed touse that, and that's the later
(16:24):
on of.
Hank.
We skied with Hank.
The last time he skied was on aSki, the Glade Day about I'll
(16:52):
give you the exact date and hepassed away about two years
after that.
Jodie (16:59):
I remember that, and so the Ski the Glade Day is an
event that is held every Marchby the government museum and
government camp, and that's toraise funds for the museum.
Is that correct?
Gordy Winterrowd (17:14):
Correct, yeah, and because it uses the Glade
Trail, the Forest Servicerequires that the museum involve
the Mounted Ski Patrol.
Jodie (17:26):
That is cool.
Gordy Winterrowd (17:27):
That is cool, yeah, so I was going to go back
a little further, so here's oh,we did that one already.
You can see, back in a longtime ago there was Amas 1890s.
Jodie (17:51):
Yeah.
Gordy Winterrowd (17:52):
So, okay, next question.
Murphy (18:00):
I still have a question about the bottle caps.
So what were the bottle capsfor?
Again, you were saying thatthere were 50 people that could
be patrollers on a weekend andthey would go and pick bottle
caps to see who got to bepatrollers.
Gordy Winterrowd (18:15):
No, no, no, no Hank.
After Hank was hired by theforest service, he started
recruiting other climbers rightto to be involved with the ski
patrol and they decided theyshould have.
They should have numbers.
So they came up with the ideaof just a random drawing to
determine their number, andthose are the bottle caps that
(18:38):
were used to determine.
In fact, on that picture Ishowed you, one of those bottle
caps was Hank Lewis's number andthe other one I think was Joe
Leuthold's number.
Murphy (18:51):
Okay, so they wrote their name and number of their
name.
Jodie (18:54):
They pulled it out and you were number 10.
Murphy (18:58):
Right, right Okay name.
Gordy Winterrowd (18:59):
They pulled it out and you were number 10,
right, right.
Jodie (19:00):
Okay, they may have been actually, you know the second
person, but yeah, they ended upbeing number 10 or number four
technically, hank was the firstperson and then he gathered up,
but no one could remember when,their exact start dates or
whatever, so just a luck of thedraw correct.
Murphy (19:17):
So that was the Hood Patrol from 1937, 38, up until
you joined in 1969.
, tell me a little bit about howdo I phrase this.
So when Mount Hood left the SkiPatrol and wound up going alone
(19:43):
, let's just say you know theywere ski patrol, but not ski
patrol.
What happened?
What precipitated that change?
Why did they do that?
And then why did they come back?
Gordy Winterrowd (19:55):
Okay, okay, the Mounted Ski Patrol was part
(20:15):
of the National Ski.
Patrol and in 1961, the MountedSki Patrol won National Patrol
of the Year, the Large Alpineaward, yep, and then the, the
national ski patrol imposed amandatory insurance premium on
every patroller nationally, andmembers of the, the mounted ski
patrol, didn't want toparticipate in that and, um,
(20:39):
that wasn't an option.
So, um, the mounted ski patroland I think the, the, it was
like a dollar a year orsomething for the insurance
policy, a dollar per patroller,or a dollar yeah, per patroller
and uh, so the the um nationalor the Mounted Ski Patrol left
(21:00):
the National Patrol in 1962, theyear after winning the
Outstanding Alpine Ski Patrol,it was $2 per person.
Jodie (21:11):
And, if I recall correctly, mount Hood had an
insurance program alreadyestablished is the way that I
heard through the grapevine.
I don't know if it's true, buthad something already.
And then it wasn't accepted byNational and they didn't want to
lose what they had alreadyestablished.
(21:32):
And then it was sort of like,ok, it wasn't really the best
because it was a really gooddeal, and then they already had
it, but it wasn't accepted.
Gordy Winterrowd (21:42):
And so then yeah, I know I'm not sure about
the insurance on our part atthat time, but in Oregon with
the good Samaritan laws, I thinkmost of the people weren't
concerned laws.
Murphy (21:58):
I think most of the people weren't concerned, so
insurance was the sole reason.
I mean, was there anything elseor it was just insurance?
We don't want to pay and we'releaving Taxation without
representation.
Gordy Winterrowd (22:27):
We're leaving.
That's part of it too.
Murphy (22:30):
Yeah, the group was a pretty independent group having
you and distaste for authority.
Jodie (22:40):
Isn't that like a psychological thing?
Okay, I'm just checking, justchecking.
Murphy (22:45):
Okay, so what brought them back into the patrol?
Gordy Winterrowd (22:52):
I mean, first of all, how many years were they
gone?
We rejoined in 1988, roughly 87, 88, and uh, the we had gone,
uh had started using the uh oecmanual and um, so the the
feeling was that just forstandardization and quality of
(23:19):
the medical training it would bebetter to rejoin.
Murphy (23:24):
Okay, so was that like a group decision?
Was that a patrol directordecision?
Do you guys have a board ofgovernors that run the mountain?
Gordy Winterrowd (23:38):
Yeah, we do.
We have president, vicepresident, a patrol chief,
treasurer, secretary.
We have three trustees and itwas a vote of the entire patrol.
Murphy (23:57):
Oh, so the board of directors kicked it down for a
vote to the patrol and patrolsaid yes, we want to go back.
Gordy Winterrowd (24:04):
Yeah, the council agreed to it and then
put it up to a vote.
Oh, OK.
Murphy (24:08):
Yeah, so what was that first?
And you were obviously deepinto patrol You're about 36
years old in 1988.
And you were OK, so we're goingback into the ski patrol.
What was like?
What was that for you?
Gordy Winterrowd (24:24):
we, I would say we weren't going back to the
ski patrol, we were justjoining national ski patrol.
We were, we, the amount of skipatrol, um had kind of led the
nation in a number of areas.
We had a I'll call it a minihospital back years ago in
(24:49):
government camp and thephysician there had trained a
number of the patrollers.
We on the ski patrol.
Of course it's as all patrolsare.
It's made up of a lot ofdifferent occupations and we had
a number of people that hadserved in, certainly in World
(25:09):
War II and then in the VietnamWar, that were medics, and one
of the things that came out ofDr Johnson, who was on the ski
patrol, was the Johnson splintwhich is now used by every ski
patrol in the nation.
Murphy (25:27):
Okay, hold on a second Back up.
Gordy Winterrowd (25:29):
What was that?
Again?
The Johnson splint was one ofthe I can put a picture of um
that's harold johnson rightcorrect right, okay you've heard
it as the quick splint and alot of different places have
(25:49):
modified it, etc.
Murphy (25:51):
But yeah, so there's uh, I just want to butt in here, so
I keep hearing it called a DJ,right, and nobody can.
Well, I've heard variousreasons why it's called a DJ and
Johnson the last nameconstantly gets brought up, but
his first name wasn't D, unlessit's Dr Johnson.
Jodie (26:14):
I think, also Gordian, correct me if I'm wrong a lot of
places took a modification ofit and then termed it whatever
different names I mean.
I've heard it many differentnames.
Quick Splint was one, I mean,but the DJ and different things
that but based on sort of whatDr Johnson was doing.
Gordy Winterrowd (26:35):
Yeah, there are a number of um different, um
different versions of it.
Um, I have a, a picture here ofI don't know if that's
necessary, if you want to goahead?
Jodie (26:49):
no, ahead, pull it up and we'll describe.
Murphy (26:51):
Let's see how much it's uh changed or got back.
Is this the pre-Velcro days?
Gordy Winterrowd (26:58):
This particular picture is with
straps, but I apologize.
I'm looking for the sharebutton here.
Jodie (27:12):
It's okay.
Well, they're doing that.
Part of that was we have itfrom 1949, dr Johnson Harold
Johnson, who joined the patrolbefore World War II and he's the
one that had the idea for thesplint would be easily applied
do a better job than the oldboard and blanket splints and he
had developed it part of thatfrom the World War II, put some
(27:36):
of his own improvements and thenit really expanded from there
on the west side of the US withthe ski patrols.
But just the two pieces ofplywood and then the holes.
What am I missing here?
Gordy Winterrowd (27:53):
So no, jody, I think you did an excellent job
of describing it.
There it is in the lowerleft-hand corner and then the
other thing that the Mounted SkiPatrol introduced to the United
States was the Accia.
The Accia, as you may know, ismade in Austria and still made
(28:18):
there.
A number of the Austrian skipatrols still use the Accia and
this is the first one that wasdelivered to the United States
in 1958.
Jody, earlier you'd mentionedPetrie.
This is Craig Petrie's uncle,keith Petrie.
He's mounted ski Patrol number109.
(28:40):
And then Al Monner, wow Climber, and he was the patrol chief
number 30, greeted the ship andthat's one of the ship's
captains or employees in thesled itself.
But that first one became verypopular versus the dog sled
(29:03):
splint this particular Bakia isnow in Eastern Oregon and
Anthony Lakes, keith Petrie,after he managed the opening to
Mount Hood Meadows to anthonylakes and he bought that from
the mounted ski patrol I didn'trealize keith went over to
(29:25):
anthony lakes.
Yeah, yeah, he was over therefor a number of years and it
that that particular um sled wasa significant improvement over
the dog sled which you see here,the.
It was basically a sledmodified for use to carry people
(29:49):
, and and so the, the Accia wasa vast improvement because you
could actually pick up thepatient on flat areas and very
maneuverable.
Jodie (30:01):
So, Gordy, did you ever operate the dog sled?
Gordy Winterrowd (30:05):
No, I did not.
I was in the Acquia era.
Jodie (30:11):
Well now, if I remember, right on the 75th anniversary,
someone pulled the dog sled out,if I'm correct, and when it
went down the glade trail.
But if, if I'm correct on that,but it's at sort of, uh, yeah,
we'll have to show pictures.
It's hard to describe on theradio right, right.
Gordy Winterrowd (30:34):
Um, yeah, I know that.
Um, I've got a video of BuzzBowman and Murph.
Buzz Bowman is the was the longhe's still living, but he was
the longest serving patroller inthe nation.
He was part of the Mounted SkiPatrol oh really, how long was
that?
On his 75th anniversary on thepatrol, we renamed our building
(30:59):
and government camp the BuzzBowman Rescue Center.
Jodie (31:03):
Oh, yep.
And he has a name up onTimberline a run.
The Buzz Cut was named afterhim.
Murphy (31:12):
Oh, well, okay, so he was patrolling for 75 years.
Gordy Winterrowd (31:20):
73 or 73 years , but on the but it remained a
member.
And on his 75th yeah, wow,that's amazing.
Murphy (31:31):
How old was he when he was?
Well, he was 20.
He must have been in his 90s.
Gordy Winterrowd (31:36):
Well, he stopped when he was 89.
He's 95 now.
Murphy (31:42):
Oh, he's still around.
Gordy Winterrowd (31:44):
Yes, yes yeah, oh, we got to Jody, we got to
call him.
Jodie (31:49):
And Gordy, if you can help work with me.
I talked to Buzz once aboutdoing this, but we really would
like to do a chat with him.
But I have a feeling if we canget your help and assistance in
getting that set up and have youjoin in with us while we talk
to him, I think it would beawesome.
Gordy Winterrowd (32:09):
Yeah, yeah, I can show you some pictures of
him here, murph, if you want to.
Yeah, okay, you want to yeah,okay.
Jodie (32:16):
So fuzz bowman, if, if I remember him telling me this
correctly when I because, uh,starting off is he joined when
he was 16 or 17, I believe yeah,he, um, I'll uh look up the
exact uh year it was 1940.
Gordy Winterrowd (32:34):
Year it was 1940.
Jodie (32:41):
He's an amazing guy and there is this one picture, that
and his statement, and it waswith Brian Barker.
They were going up thechairlift and it was at
Timberline.
We made sure we had that, Ithink on his 70th or something
that we made sure we had that.
I think on his 70th orsomething that we made sure we
displayed because he he was, hewas talking to Brian Barker as
(33:02):
they were going up and I thinkit was the Magic Mile, because I
remember the picture.
But and he just happened to say, you know, he just sort of they
were quiet and he sort of wassaying that you know that she
just keeps looking prettier andprettier or something to that
extent.
And I just can't get over howit makes me feel after all these
(33:23):
years, you know.
And Brian was saying he saysgosh, you almost got emotional
at it.
He says here's this guy, that'sthis amazing long timer then
and everything.
Gordy Winterrowd (33:34):
But yeah, yeah , that was a video from one of
the tv station interviews of himand uh that, that is, you can
still access that.
There's been three or four ofthose.
Oh yeah, um, here I've gotanother slide here.
Um, that shows sorry for thedelay here.
Jodie (34:00):
Oh, you're fine.
You're fine.
He was a hill captain.
I mean, he was an alpinepatroller and he pulled sleds
until he was.
I can't even think of how, yeah.
Gordy Winterrowd (34:13):
So there he is in 1948 on the left.
Murphy (34:18):
And he started.
Gordy Winterrowd (34:20):
His patrol number is 134, and he started in
1946.
So that was two years after hejoined the patrol.
If you look at his left arm theupper left arm he has an
armband on and that armband wasthe uniform of the Mount Hood
(34:44):
Ski Patrol back in the 30s and40s.
Murphy (34:49):
Interesting.
Gordy Winterrowd (34:50):
Then you can see him at the center picture is
at the Portland Marathon.
I think the ski patrol hassupported that over the years.
And then the lower picture onthe left there is Buzz and his
wife, dolores Dolores.
(35:12):
Thank you, yeah, early on.
And then that picture lowercenter of Buzz pulling an Accia.
That's from the 75thanniversary of the Mounted Ski
Patrol and that's Buzz pullingit.
And then Jody had mentioned.
(35:32):
Buzz cut a run at Timberlinewhen the Jeff Flood chairlift
was opened.
That's a picture of Buzzstanding in front of the sign
and another longtime patrollerthat died three months ago, four
months ago, john Wilberding isleft of him, jody.
Jodie (35:53):
Yes, and John Wilberding was known as the Rev, but that's
a whole other conversation.
The Rev, the Rev.
Gordy Winterrowd (36:02):
Okay, okay.
Murphy (36:04):
Back to the questions.
Back to questions.
All right, so what jobs haveyou had with the Ski Patrol?
So since 1968, you started outas the rookie and as apprentice.
Where'd you go from there?
1968, you started out as therookie and as apprentice.
Gordy Winterrowd (36:18):
Where'd you go from there.
I'm past president of theMounted Ski Patrol, a past
trustee of the National SkiPatrol.
I'm an OET instructor and OETIT.
We have hill captains on thepatrol that are responsible for
the area on a particular day.
(36:39):
I'm a senior hill captainMentioned the national
appointment and then a seniorNSP senior patroller as well.
Good for you.
When were you president?
1970, 19.
Let me get you the exact dates1990.
Jodie (37:05):
In the 90s there.
Gordy Winterrowd (37:07):
I think it was 76 and, I'm sorry, 96 and 97.
Wow.
Jodie (37:16):
That's awesome.
And then you had a couple ofawards in the 90s from Mount
Hood Ski Patrol.
Gordy Winterrowd (37:27):
Yeah, A little prior to that we received one
from President Reagan for savinga life.
That's probably the one Iremember.
Jodie (37:42):
Tell us about that.
Gordy Winterrowd (37:45):
It was just a certificate of merit for saving
life that I received fromPresident Reagan Back then.
That was part of the AmericanRed Cross system.
Murphy (37:59):
So you received it or the patrol received it.
Gordy Winterrowd (38:04):
I received it along with one other patrol, or
two of us were on the case.
Oh, wow, yeah.
And then Jerry Edgar Award,which is Hill Captain of the
Year, Outstanding Alpine Coachof the Year and Emmis Mounted
Ski Patrol Recognition for years, of course years of service.
(38:26):
Prior to that, the Rod MorrisonApprentice of the Year Award.
Murphy (38:35):
All right.
So you got to tell us who isRod Morrison.
Why was an award named afterhim?
Gordy Winterrowd (38:40):
in a patroller , in terms of judgment, in terms
of attitude, in terms ofwillingness to help, and he was
(39:05):
a great example.
So he was killed and so theaward was named after him.
Murphy (39:15):
He was killed or he died .
Gordy Winterrowd (39:18):
Well, he died in an accident.
Oh, okay, I'd have to look upthe exact details.
Murphy (39:25):
So was it on the mountain.
Gordy Winterrowd (39:27):
He died versus killed.
Jodie (39:30):
I can look up the details , but he wasn't patrolling at
the time.
If I remember right, it was acar accident, but I could be
wrong.
Gordy Winterrowd (39:39):
Yeah, I don't think I have it handy, but I
think it may have been a caraccident on the way to the
mountain.
Jody, yeah, oh that's too bad.
Jodie (39:51):
And then tell us about Jerry Edgar, because he's the
one that's named after the hillcaptain.
Gordy Winterrowd (39:55):
Yeah, jerry Edward also was an outstanding
individual and very, very activeon the patrol.
He started in the early 60s andhe was, you know, the type of
(40:18):
person that would be up everyweekend and very, very engaged
and did a lot of great thingsfor the patrol.
So the Hill Captain Award wasnamed after him.
I can follow up, Murph, and getyou more details on both of
those individuals.
Follow up, murph, and get youmore details on both of those
(40:40):
individuals.
But the one thing I rememberabout Jerry was one time we used
to after hours go up and skifrom Timberline to government
camp in the dark and I rememberriding up with Jerry up the
(41:02):
Timberline Road, going about 80miles an hour.
He was a race car driver alsoand 80 miles an hour, okay, is
on a straightaway but he wouldslow down for the curves, but it
was also on snow.
Murphy (41:12):
That's crazy.
I bet on that road.
I don't know if I'd drive thatroad at 80 miles an hour.
Yeah, oh, my goodness.
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