Step back in time with Shirley and Gary Cummings, with this extraordinary couple whose experiences bridge skiing's wooden ski era to today's modern mountain operations of ski patrol service at Hyak (now Summit East). They offer a fascinating glimpse into skiing's transformation since the mid-1960s. Note: Recorded at a previous convention, please disregard background noises. (2023)
The PNWD History Project: Shirley Cummings, the official history project coordinator (& all around fabulous lady), has been on a mission: Collect and assemble an archive of stories and pictures from the different ski patrols within the Pacific Northwest Division. Hence Patroller Chats was born!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:32):
I'm Shirley Cummings.
Murphy (00:34):
Shirley Cummings.
So, shirley, what is your NSPnumber?
4852.
4852.
Do you have a national number?
Shirley (00:45):
That's my national number, 4852.
Do you have a national number?
That's my national number 4852.
Murphy (00:48):
What's your NSP number?
Shirley (00:50):
Oh, 146513.
Murphy (00:52):
All right.
Well, I have got a few beersoff people already who didn't
know their national number, soI'm happy about that.
So we're going to go back,we're going in the Wayback
Machine.
What year did you join the SkiPatrol?
Shirley (01:06):
1966.
Thank you 1966.
Murphy (01:14):
I'm going to do some quick math.
I think that's about 57 yearsago.
Jodie (01:19):
Yes, Holy cow, you don't want to know what year I was
born?
I?
Murphy (01:25):
was apparently just a gleam in my father's eye.
Well, no, actually 19.
Shirley (01:31):
You're making me feel good, you guys.
Murphy (01:34):
So why did you want to become a patroller?
What started that journey solong ago?
Shirley (01:39):
Well, gary was managing the Hyak ski shop for REI and
we had a little boy that was ayear old at the time.
There were no bathroomfacilities, we were sleeping on
a table and the floor was wet atnight and they promised us that
there would be sleepingarrangements and there were none
(02:01):
.
But the nice people at the skipatrol said we have beds, why
don't you come over and sleepwith us?
So we went over and slept withthem.
Gary took the ski test, I thinkthe next weekend, and I did it
the next year and we were on andyou guys were on, and that's
(02:21):
HIAC.
Murphy (02:23):
So HIAC has gone through a couple of names or name
changes, hasn't it?
So it's now East Summit East.
I think it's been Hyak seventimes, anyway it's gone through
(02:53):
multiple name changes yeah,multiple iterations.
I do like Hyak, though when yousay Hyak, people know where
you're talking about if you'veskied for any number of years.
Shirley (03:04):
And Hyak means fast running.
Oh, in Native American talk.
I remember when I took mysenior exam we had to write the
history and I learned that Hyakin the Native American meant
fast running creek.
And you know, we have all thoselittle things that run down at
(03:27):
the end of the season.
Oh yeah.
Murphy (03:31):
I fell into one of those .
Yeah, I know all about them Alltoo well.
So what positions do you holdat the Ski Patrol?
I know they're numerous, butlet's just start off with the
one you currently have.
Shirley (03:43):
That's it.
That's the one and that isHistorian and Special Projects,
but let's just start off withthe one you currently have.
That's it.
Murphy (03:48):
That's the one, and that is, historian and Special
Projects.
Historian and Special Projectsand I know you've done history
for the last three or four years.
Jodie (03:56):
Three to four, yeah, and we're going to times it by how
many years?
Murphy (04:00):
Yeah, with your history project.
I know we've been gathering allkinds of documents and pictures
and there's that table outthere today which has just
history from the ski patrolaround here, which is fabulous.
I took several pictures while.
Shirley (04:16):
I proposed them.
Murphy (04:18):
Good, and I'll have to walk through some of those with
you so that you can point outwhat they are.
We'll do that at a littleseparate time, but before the
convention ends You've got tonsof free time.
Jodie (04:34):
But, shirley, you were history for Nationals.
Weren't you a representativefor the National?
Shirley (04:41):
Well, when National had their 75th anniversary, mike
Gooderham put us on a committeeactually both Gary and I and we
went back to Denver and we werethe information booth.
So when people came by andasked, they dressed up some
(05:02):
mannequins to look like the 10thMountain Division and other
mannequins to look like thefirst Ski Patrol uniform, and
they had tables and stuff andoodles of vendors and we had a
fun time.
Murphy (05:12):
How long ago was that 75 ?
It's 85.
Gary (05:16):
This is the 85th season, right yeah, so it was 2013.
Murphy (05:21):
Okay, 2013.
Oh, and see, now that we haveGary on here.
So go ahead, gary, introduceyourself, because I'm getting to
you next.
Gary (05:28):
I'm Gary Cummings, the proud husband of Shirley.
She possesses me.
Murphy (05:40):
Wow, I saw those eyebrows raise over there.
So what is your NSP number?
Gary (05:49):
104.
Wow, I saw those eyebrows raiseover there.
So what is your NSP number?
104 are the last three numbers009104.
Oh wow.
Murphy (05:56):
What's your national number?
4585.
Wow, I'm not getting any morebeer.
I don't like this.
Shirley (06:02):
See, he's ahead of me by One year, isn't it?
Gary (06:06):
No, I think it's more.
Shirley (06:06):
I think it's two years.
Gary (06:08):
It's about three, it's 300 numbers.
Murphy (06:10):
Okay, yep, so you joined in 1960.
65.
1965.
Wow, At Hyak there was ShirleyStory Right.
Have you patrolled anywhereelse?
Gary (06:28):
No, really no.
Murphy (06:30):
Shirley, have you patrolled anywhere else?
No, you are longtime Hyakpatrollers.
Shirley (06:35):
Well, I have been at other areas in patrol guard, but
we've never signed on withanybody else.
That's amazing.
Murphy (06:44):
Is that a record?
No, I don't think so.
Gary (06:47):
We have one patroller, Bill Brockway.
He's been on the Hyak Patrolone year longer than we have.
Shirley (06:56):
No, he and Gary were in the same candidate class one
year longer than me.
Yeah, and he's still seniorpatroller, just like us.
Murphy (07:04):
Wow, that is amazing.
Yeah, the only guy that I knowthat's patrolled kind of that
same length as steve verkovichyeah, because steve has been
around.
I hate to say it.
You know it's now.
I'm at crystal and steve uh at.
He just had his 80th birthday,so he's gonna got, I think, 81.
That guy outworks me.
(07:24):
I think it's impossible.
He's incredible.
Shirley (07:27):
That's the difference between the Furkoviches and
Charlene too, I mean.
But that's the differencebetween us.
We only ski safe and sane,almost flat now, and Charlene
and Furt just they're reallygreat.
I mean, you don't know thatthere's any age decrease in
(07:47):
their activity at all.
Murphy (07:48):
Oh no, he starts at the top of the mountain and, yeah,
blistering to get down there onhis favorite runs that are named
after him.
Normally on a mountain youdon't want anything named after
you, no, because it's usuallyyou died, you got injured or
they're making fun of you.
Steve winds up having the runtop to bottom because that was
his favorite run.
Shirley (08:09):
I had a run named after me for a long time, but with
the new map it's been erased.
Who do we need to talk to?
Some of that still call me.
Murphy (08:20):
So what run is it?
What do they call it now?
Shirley (08:24):
They don't call it.
It has no name.
It's very sad.
Wait a minute.
It was called Shirley's Chuteand I got that name because
there was an accident in aparticular location on our
mountain and Eric Lindstrom tookthe first toboggan and he went
(08:44):
down blowdown.
Somebody else took the secondtoboggan and they went down
Kendall and I went downChickaman through this little
chute and that's where thepatient was.
So for years we called itShirley Chute and then we have
(09:07):
now.
Murphy (09:07):
And so they came up with a new map and Shirley's Chute
is no more.
Jodie (09:11):
It's just like eliminated .
We're going to have to talk tomanagement about that.
Shirley (09:16):
But I mean it's only a stretch of space, like from here
to the I don't know a littlebit further than the front door,
so it's not very long, andassigning somebody to sweep it
was we were getting a littlethin.
Murphy (09:30):
Yeah, I guess you do have to.
You know, you have to sendpatrollers down for final sweep
when you're I hope you're goingto cut oh yeah we'll have to
edit some of that.
Gary (09:40):
We're not really.
Jodie (09:42):
But that's the same distance, like at Mount Hood,
for Buzz Bowman, his section,the buzz cut was a very narrower
one.
Like you said distance, itwasn't that long.
Murphy (09:59):
No, you're good.
Okay, we have some morequestions for you.
Have you got any national?
This is a very long question,so I'm going to start with.
Shirley Received local, region,division national awards.
Jodie (10:14):
Other than your national number, the rolling roll.
Shirley (10:20):
Don't think I.
Well, I've gotten theDistinguished Service Award,
meritorious Service Award.
I got two of those.
Liz says it's impossible, butsomebody must have made a
mistake and I got two.
Murphy (10:33):
It could be Liz that made a mistake.
Shirley (10:37):
No, I don't think so.
What else did I get?
Murphy (10:40):
What's the region award the Miller?
Yes, did you get that?
Shirley (10:42):
I got the Miller, that's very prestigious award.
The Miller, yes, did you getthat?
I got the Miller, that's veryprestigious.
Yes, 1980.
Murphy (10:50):
Northwest region.
Wow, gary, how about you?
Awards?
Gary (10:58):
I just am very proud to be an Alpine skier, senior Senior.
Shirley (11:02):
He also got the Outstanding National Patroller
in the Nation Alpine Patroller,alpine Patroller.
Murphy (11:08):
Oh, do tell, how long ago was that 2003.
Gary (11:14):
Oh, that's not that long ago, no.
Murphy (11:17):
Wow.
Gary (11:18):
Well, what happened was I broke my heel and couldn't ski,
but we still came up everyweekend so I would do patrol
room duty.
I also made myself busy aroundour kitchen and day room and I
(11:47):
did a few things like gettingthe kids patrol brats involved
in cleaning, and for some reasonI was able to talk them into
having a star next to their nameput up their name and put a
(12:11):
star if they did their dutyAwesome.
And throughout the seasondifferent kids would take
responsibility until we got allthe kids.
The other thing I did I made aboard on the height of all the
kids and that is still there nowand they come back to look at
(12:33):
themselves.
And of course, they started outat three feet tall and now
they're six foot eight a few ofthem.
And now, they're six foot eight,a few of them and those little
things that I got involved within 2003, actually, surely
(12:53):
because she is such a goodwriter.
Shirley (12:56):
I didn't do that, didn't you?
Gary (12:59):
Gary Rayburn did it.
No, Okay.
Well, Gary Rayberg, a greatwriter, also wrote up, and so I
became the Outstanding National,which is a great honor for me.
Murphy (13:16):
Oh yeah.
Gary (13:17):
And the beauty of it is that really, shirley works three
times as hard as I do.
Really, shirley works threetimes as hard as I do.
But when we went back for the75th and they had the awards up
on the walls, my name is there,but Shirley's isn't.
Jodie (13:37):
Would you mind with me?
Gary (13:40):
So we got to get Shirley up there.
Jodie (13:45):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, Anyway, and it was perfect for
me because I'm very proud tojust be an Alpine patroller.
I think it's great because italso brings in to the whole
factor.
As I told Murph earlier, I'm alousy skier.
I always have I did progress.
(14:06):
It got a little bit better.
But, with that being said, Iknow that I would never be an
expert skier and I think there'smerit in saying, hey, ski
patrol is not just for thosethat are on expert skiers, et
cetera.
Gary (14:22):
It's a family and a team.
Shirley (14:25):
Besides, it's not your fault.
Your mother should have startedyou at age three.
Murphy (14:30):
So, shirley, how old were you when you started skiing
?
Shirley (14:33):
I was 14 and I got a.
I had a friend who worked up atsnoqualmie and her father and
her two brothers and she saidwhy don't you try and get a job?
They're hiring.
So I went up with them on theweekend and I went in and talked
(14:54):
in that big Quonset hut thingthat they had that long army hut
.
And I went in and talked toWebb and he said how old are you
?
And I said I'm 14, but I'd likea job.
And he said what can you do?
And I said what do you needdone?
You're hired.
So, he put me cashiering at thetop of the Thunderbird and we
(15:22):
the restaurant that's now closedat the top on East oh it was
the place to go.
Murphy (15:27):
Oh, I'm sure.
Shirley (15:28):
And it was quite expensive.
We all had to sign a statementthat we would not say what any
of the recipes were made.
And the Moffats had justreturned from Switzerland where
she learned how to make bouffantdoux.
What was that Bouffant doux?
(15:49):
You know the fondue pot whereyou well, she had learned how to
make that and nobody in SeattleI mean no restaurants had it.
So it was very secret andthat's what we served to these,
and it was not cheap.
Oh, I'm sure and that's what weserved to these.
(16:09):
And it was not cheap, oh, I'msure.
Murphy (16:11):
So I would get a ride down the mountain a lot of the
time with the ski patrol in thetoboggans oh how convenient, it
was dinner and a show I'mgetting in the toboggan and
taking down.
Wow, I'm still can't.
I can't get past the fact youwere 14 and they gave you a job.
Now you know you gotta be like18.
You gotta do whatever, but see,it just proves 14-year-olds.
Shirley (16:31):
Well, there were the laws, weren't there?
Murphy (16:34):
Yeah, that's true.
Shirley (16:35):
And I don't know if Webb would have cared.
Murphy (16:39):
How funny.
So when did you start skiing,Gary?
Gary (16:42):
I went up to the same area uh summit, uh snow qualmy uh on
a bus from my high school,seattle Prep, and there was one
person who couldn't go skiingone weekend.
So I went up with them and wehad a.
I remember very well skiing theBunny Hill or whatever the
(17:10):
first hill was, and when I fellI fell face forward downhill,
swearing a streak in my underunder uh tones, and this cute
girl comes up and says can Ihelp you?
Now?
She didn't have a ski patroluniform on, but she should have,
(17:32):
but anyway, that was it.
And then I uh, when I was 17, Iskied a lot up at the
mountaineers in uh stevens passand that's where I learned to
ski on my own.
I never had a lesson in my lifewhich shows in my skiing,
(17:53):
unfortunately, unfortunately.
Murphy (17:54):
Oh, I did that same thing.
I learned on myself and then Ijoined the ski patrol and I had
to break all those bad habits.
And that is worse than you knowwhen you first start out.
Gary (18:08):
That's true.
And then a friend of Shirley'shad gotten married and started
working and managing the skishop up at Hyak.
We were juniors in college andat that time we had a
one-year-old and so he couldn'tstay up there for some reason,
(18:34):
and we went up on New Year's in1983.
63.
What?
60.
63.
And so he said I can't do this,gary, you want to do it?
And so I said maybe.
And so Jim Whitaker, who waswith REI and that was one of his
(18:58):
projects, the ski area at HIACBecause you're probably most
people are aware that HIAC wasone of the first was the first
ski area on the mountain in theform of the Milwaukee Railroad.
In the form of the MilwaukeeRailroad, they would haul people
up there and that's whereAmerican ski jumpers practiced
(19:22):
at Hyak.
Jodie (19:23):
Really.
Gary (19:25):
Long ago, long ago in the 1930s and 1920s and 1930s.
Shirley (19:33):
And the ski jump hill is still there if you were to go
out on the cross country trail.
So theoretically, hyak couldadvertise themselves as an
Olympic venue because that skijump was used as a qualifying
for the Olympics.
Now I have talked to them aboutthat, but they don't think it's
a particularly good marketingploy.
Gary (19:56):
So that was.
We managed the ski shop Duringthe day.
I rented out skis and of courseat that time ski patrollers
were all on wooden skis but themajority a few of them could
afford the heads and the heartsthat were metal skis out.
But invariably I'd have atleast two or three patrollers
(20:21):
come in during the weekend andsay I broke my ski and Jim
Whitaker's policy, which is anREI said if ski patrol needs
skis we can give them the skisfree for the day, and so I'd get
them into skis.
(20:42):
So therefore, two years later,when we had the circumstance
where a new manager came, theydecided to hire a full-time
manager and we had a conflictwith them as far as sleeping
accommodations because we had achild and they didn't want they
were newlyweds.
So that ended up being aconflict.
(21:05):
But then we joined the skipatrol and of course maybe they
were I think maybe that's how Igot on the patrol they were just
indebted to us for all thoseski frees.
Murphy (21:17):
Well, yeah, what is it Rental?
Jodie (21:21):
Equipment Inc.
Definitely.
Murphy (21:24):
Yeah that's why they had to return or change their
return policy.
Shirley (21:28):
When he gave them the metal skis, they were all
breaking skis.
Murphy (21:32):
Yeah, oh.
Shirley (21:33):
I can see where that happened.
I got a question.
Murphy (21:35):
that happened All right, so I got a question for you.
So this is Jody's question, andI love this thing.
What does the phrase service orsafety and service since 1938
mean to you?
Jodie (21:50):
Service and safety.
Murphy (21:51):
Yeah.
What does the phrase safety andservice since 1938 mean to you?
Shirley (21:58):
Well, that is the mission that the Ski Patrol was
founded on at the very beginning.
Safety and service was themission, and it's been our
mission ever since.
Jodie (22:15):
So if you were to go current time.
What does it mean to you?
Has it changed at all yourthoughts about what you think it
is or how it's approached?
Shirley (22:29):
Well, I think most recently there's been a bigger
emphasis on safety, which wehaven't paid much attention to
for years and years, which isgood both physical and mental
safety.
So that's good.
Jodie (22:50):
Just your thoughts.
I mean seeing that when theystarted it off and, like I said
here, you have how nationalbecame and whether it's the West
Coast, east Coast, et cetera.
You have the whole part of whydid we even come into play
because they needed help gettingpeople that were injured down
(23:10):
and the fact of also trying tohelp explain how you might be a
little bit more safer by doing X, y, z.
So it's just sort ofinteresting to see.
You know, we look at here.
You talked about skis, the longwooden skis, right, and how
that's changed, and so just sortof curious for people that have
seen that progressionthroughout National how it's
(23:32):
changed at all throughoutNational and how it's changed at
all.
Shirley (23:38):
I think at the very beginning it must have been at
least a little bit frighteningto realize that when you were up
there on the mountain there wasno way to get down and then a
few ski patrol people or a fewpeople interested in service
were there to maybe help you.
But you didn't know when youclimbed up a mountain in 1938 or
(23:59):
1940 that they were going to bethere that day.
Now the standard across theworld for the most part is that
if you buy a lift ticket you'regoing to get safety and service.
A lift ticket you're going toget safety and service, and in
(24:21):
Europe they build it into yourski lift ticket, so you have to
pay for it, but you still have away of getting down off the
mountain Right, the choice oflast resort in the toboggan.
Murphy (24:28):
Yeah, yeah, so you know, in the 50 years that you have
been patrolling, you two, whatdo you think, gary?
I'll start with you what do youthink has been the biggest
change overall?
Gary (24:51):
What have you seen over at HIAC?
Well, first of all, I don'tthink the people have changed a
lot.
The people are still there.
Those that go out on patrolvery quickly, considering the
amount of time they have to putin to get certified properly to
(25:15):
meet the standard that we nowhave created, are there giving
of their time to other people.
So that is the same.
The thing that's different isif you look out on the table,
the manuals were 40 pages long.
The bandaging involved in theclass that I took in 1965 was
(25:42):
the standard first aid and the,and then I came back after eight
weeks of the instructor sittingat each of the class reading to
me out of the book and went tothe advanced.
The bandaging, for instance,was roller bandages.
(26:05):
That was it and we actuallylearned, you know, with certain
kind of boards for splinting abreak, but that was the extent
of it.
There was, I do not recall, oneitem regarding back injuries.
I don't regard or recall takingall the various methods of
(26:31):
testing and checking oncirculation and all the other
aspects.
It was either visible or itdidn't exist, and that isn't to
say that we weren't aware thatother things can happen, but the
amount of training involved wasminimal.
(26:53):
Today, of course, instead of a40-page book, we have a
1,600-page book.
Everybody chuckles at that one Iguess I'll have to jump in here
and say it and it's a sign ofmy age.
I feel very sad for new peoplecoming in and also I wonder if
(27:19):
we've lost the opportunity toget some very good people that
maybe just aren't thatacademically proficient to excel
or appreciate that that couldstill do a great job.
Anyway, but talk about thechanges in skiing.
(27:42):
We used to deal with anklebreaks almost exclusively and
now we then we migrated thething about it.
There are very few injuries onthe hill in comparison when you
consider the amount of skiingand the speed of skiing that
(28:03):
goes on today and the acrobaticsthat people young people
especially are doing.
They didn't do that back 50years ago.
Jumping was the big thing butit was a straight line jump.
They didn't do 23 somersaultsin the air.
Jodie (28:27):
Do you think that the ankles were more to the type of
boots that were being worn atthat time?
Gary (28:32):
Absolutely.
Type of boots, type of skis.
Shirley (28:38):
Speed.
Murphy (28:39):
Yeah, speed probably had a little to do with that.
Gary (28:41):
Yeah and so, yes, definitely.
So there's a lot of differences.
Murphy (28:48):
Shirley, what do you, you know in the 50 years of
looking at what's been going onin the ski patrol.
What do you think's changed?
Shirley (28:56):
Well at HIAC I know for us the benefits were a big draw
.
We had a place to sleep, we gotseason lift passes for our one
and four-year-old kids, but allthrough high school we got
season passes for our kids.
But all through high school wegot season passes for our kids
(29:17):
and the area even gave us dinneron Saturday night.
So it was a very family areaand benefits were big.
That changed when largercorporations bought it.
As far as the main organization, I think one of the big things
that happened that our divisiondoes not get maybe credit for
(29:43):
the ski patrol used to run themountain.
We would decide when we weregoing to open, when we were
going to close, what time if itwas, the light would dictate
when we called.
When the mountain would close.
We would say when an areawasn't safe to ski, we would
(30:04):
slide, slip the hill to pack it,but our patrol leaders would
tell us where we went next to doit.
The area management did not.
They would say thank you at theend of the year but for the
most part the ski patrol ran themountain and after the Ski Area
(30:27):
Operators Association becamemore communicative with each
other in probably the 80s, theysaid you know we're the ones
holding the risk here.
We want to make the rules.
So henceforth we will be incharge and you will follow those
things.
(30:47):
Well, in certain areas skiresorts that message did not go
across at all well and I givemost of the credit to Gary Burke
who was our division directorand had George Whitman who was
also a division director, butGeorge was the police chief of
(31:11):
Bellevue Police and George got atask force together and said if
we do not patrol ourselves andput a damper on this, we're in
charge, not the people that ownus.
They're going to kick us out.
And it was, and I was secretaryat the time.
(31:32):
So I would hear all of theseclosed-door meetings that the
rest of the patrol has no ideahow close we came to probably
losing patrols, and not just inour division.
But I mean Ski Area Operatorsis a national organization and
so that was one of the firstcritical times that came through
(31:55):
and I think the reason that thenew first aid with its huge
Gary calls it 1,600 pages.
But they had to compete withEMT.
And they had to compete way backwhen, not just because of the
standard or first aid or whatthey thought was happening on
(32:16):
the hill, but who was going tobe in charge, and that having A
good educational program thatwas almost comparable to the EMT
was their selling point.
And I really respect theleaders that were in position at
the time to recognize what athreat it was to tamp it down
(32:40):
and to put something in itsplace.
I wasn't fond of the new WECeither when it came through, but
knowing the background it's alot easier for me to accept.
But they didn't want to tellthe membership you know you came
this close.
Jodie (32:57):
What did they think would happen if they had told the
membership?
Shirley (33:00):
Well, they did tell.
I mean, like at a conventionlike this, they would tell the
patrol directors in a small.
They did small closed sessionsso that people would get the
idea that it wasn't to blast out.
But this is what's happeningand when you go to speak with
your area manager, make sureyou're respectful, make sure you
(33:22):
know you're like an employeethat's about to get the boot.
Jodie (33:26):
Absolutely.
And what time frame are wetalking about?
What year?
I think it's in the 80s.
Shirley (33:33):
But in that stack of stuff it's right when Gary Burke
leaves and George Whitman takesover as an assistant and George
wrote it up and of course therewas no mimeograph, I mean
there's not multiple copies.
So I remember typing it andthen they hand-carried it,
because everything had to behand-carried back to National.
(33:56):
Oh really yeah.
Murphy (33:59):
Oh, interesting.
And why is that?
Jodie (34:01):
I mean hand versus I mean we did have good mail.
Shirley (34:05):
I have a copy of the HIAC, I have a copy of the Hyak.
They were trying to be theoutstanding patrol in the nation
, so you put together a folder.
And then that had to becauseyou only had one of a kind you
(34:26):
didn't have.
You couldn't make multiplecopies.
Mimeo, I think, did come in inthe late 80s, right 70s, it must
have been.
Murphy (34:33):
It was yeah, 70s.
Shirley (34:36):
Whenever I was teaching , I remember.
Murphy (34:41):
That's right, because I remember sitting in class and
sniffing the test when they cameout.
Shirley (34:44):
I remember looking in the mirror at recess.
Jodie (34:49):
Little streaks across your face.
Murphy (34:51):
What was that blue?
Yeah, it was like purple-blue.
Shirley (34:55):
When did you join?
Murphy (34:58):
Let's see here I joined.
It's going to be my 10-yearanniversary this season.
Gary (35:05):
Really so 10 years ago.
Murphy (35:06):
All right.
Gary (35:07):
Big one for you.
Murphy (35:08):
Yeah, it is actually Cause I uh went and uh I did my
ski test early um at Snoqualmieand I had just gotten back from
New Zealand and I was on skinnyskis, no shape skis, it wasn't
like Nordic but yeah, they hadno shape to them and I skied so
(35:29):
badly.
And I remember going up andtalking to Michael James after
my test and I said, hey, I knowI sucked.
If you will want to cut me, Icompletely understand, I'll go
practice and come back.
And he said, well, that shows alot of maturity that you would
actually say that.
So, uh, you are going to workvery hard this year improving
(35:49):
those skills.
Shirley (35:50):
See, there you go, you do not have to be an expert
skier to start.
How did you get connected tothe ski patrol then?
Jodie (36:00):
So my background with being in EMS and as an ER nurse
when I worked EMS back inMichigan it was a definite
family sort of everybody wasclose, close to each other.
I had started nursing.
Nursing has its ups and downsand sometimes in some places
(36:22):
it's sort of eat your youngattitude, and so I missed that.
And when I moved out I was bornand raised in Michigan moved
out to the northwest and Imissed that whole environment
and so I thought, well, I canbarely get down.
Probably I mean my Michiganthey built that hill of a couple
hundred feet right and I didn'tski that often.
(36:46):
But I thought, well, maybe Ican do something else.
And that's how I got started.
I had heard that people back inMontana that's when I was
working in Montana I had donesome of the OEC classes and
helped instruct that and Ithought, oh, look at how close
everybody is, this is awesome.
And so I looked for it.
And that's when I started atMount Hood back in 2002.
(37:07):
You know your math Murph is alittle off.
And so I looked for it andthat's when I started at Mount
Hood back in 2002.
You know, your math Murph is alittle off.
You guys said you joined in 65?
Okay, let's do the math here.
Murphy (37:16):
Oh, that's 60, 59 years, okay.
Shirley (37:21):
Well, gary's at 58.
You know the other thing backwhen we did it national, they
didn't always take your moneywhen you joined.
I mean they might get it byjune 1st, that might be, but so
blaine would have had a heartattack every year, so you're
right I mean so national onlycredits when you know, the money
(37:44):
comes in.
And now, they take it up front.
So right, I tried to explainthat to some of the people on
our patrol.
Well, some of you, yeah, butother people get an extra year.
Murphy (37:56):
That's funny.
Well, thanks you two forspending some time with us.
Like I said, I do want to goover.
You know through that displaythat you guys provided.
That was fantastic and you know, I'd hopefully like to be able
to follow up with you on some ofthese other questions that we
have about HIAC and get some ofthose old stories, because the
(38:18):
train service was there and youguys know and have a lot of
history of Snoqualmie Pass andEl Patel.
Jodie (38:27):
This is true, yeah, so it's good To wrap it up, though,
what would you if you hadanything to say for anybody
coming in new?
Do you have any words of wisdomor anything you would want to
pass on?
Of course I hit you this Boom.
You haven't had any time tothink about it while we're here
at the hotel.
Gary (38:47):
Boom, you haven't had any time to think about it.
While we're here at the hotel,I'd say do you like being part
of a team?
Okay, good.
Do you like helping people?
Jodie (38:59):
Mm-hmm.
Gary (39:02):
Do you like a change of climate?
Oh, like the change of climate.
Ah and do you like beingathletic?
And if you like all thosethings, then Ski Patrol can give
(39:26):
all of those things to you, aswell as the ability to take care
medically to some extent ofyourself, your family and your
friends and community.
Jodie (39:47):
Very well put and I think , get involved.
Shirley (39:51):
I mean, Hyak is known as a family area.
I always encourage new peopleto bring their family members
and our roster will show thename of your significant other
or your spouse.
Bring your kids, they'rewelcome.
Come to our potlucks.
If your family is happy here,you will stay here.
(40:13):
Chances are if you're going tobe up here two days every
weekend, there's a lot of thingsthat aren't getting done at
home that are going to pile upAbsolutely.
Murphy (40:25):
Truer words were never spoken.
That's true.
All right, true, alrighty.
Thanks you two.
Jodie (40:32):
Thank you so much, god, you guys.
I'm Shirley Cummings.
Murphy (00:34):
Shirley Cummings.
So, shirley, what is your NSPnumber?
4852.
4852.
Do you have a national number?
Shirley (00:45):
That's my national number, 4852.
Do you have a national number?
That's my national number 4852.
Murphy (00:48):
What's your NSP number?
Shirley (00:50):
Oh, 146513.
Murphy (00:52):
All right.
Well, I have got a few beersoff people already who didn't
know their national number, soI'm happy about that.
So we're going to go back,we're going in the Wayback
Machine.
What year did you join the SkiPatrol?
Shirley (01:06):
1966.
Thank you 1966.
Murphy (01:14):
I'm going to do some quick math.
I think that's about 57 yearsago.
Jodie (01:19):
Yes, Holy cow, you don't want to know what year I was
born?
I?
Murphy (01:25):
was apparently just a gleam in my father's eye.
Well, no, actually 19.
Shirley (01:31):
You're making me feel good, you guys.
Murphy (01:34):
So why did you want to become a patroller?
What started that journey solong ago?
Shirley (01:39):
Well, gary was managing the Hyak ski shop for REI and
we had a little boy that was ayear old at the time.
There were no bathroomfacilities, we were sleeping on
a table and the floor was wet atnight and they promised us that
there would be sleepingarrangements and there were none
(02:01):
.
But the nice people at the skipatrol said we have beds, why
don't you come over and sleepwith us?
So we went over and slept withthem.
Gary took the ski test, I thinkthe next weekend, and I did it
the next year and we were on andyou guys were on, and that's
(02:21):
HIAC.
Murphy (02:23):
So HIAC has gone through a couple of names or name
changes, hasn't it?
So it's now East Summit East.
I think it's been Hyak seventimes, anyway it's gone through
(02:53):
multiple name changes yeah,multiple iterations.
I do like Hyak, though when yousay Hyak, people know where
you're talking about if you'veskied for any number of years.
Shirley (03:04):
And Hyak means fast running.
Oh, in Native American talk.
I remember when I took mysenior exam we had to write the
history and I learned that Hyakin the Native American meant
fast running creek.
And you know, we have all thoselittle things that run down at
(03:27):
the end of the season.
Oh yeah.
Murphy (03:31):
I fell into one of those .
Yeah, I know all about them Alltoo well.
So what positions do you holdat the Ski Patrol?
I know they're numerous, butlet's just start off with the
one you currently have.
Shirley (03:43):
That's it.
That's the one and that isHistorian and Special Projects,
but let's just start off withthe one you currently have.
That's it.
Murphy (03:48):
That's the one, and that is, historian and Special
Projects.
Historian and Special Projectsand I know you've done history
for the last three or four years.
Jodie (03:56):
Three to four, yeah, and we're going to times it by how
many years?
Murphy (04:00):
Yeah, with your history project.
I know we've been gathering allkinds of documents and pictures
and there's that table outthere today which has just
history from the ski patrolaround here, which is fabulous.
I took several pictures while.
Shirley (04:16):
I proposed them.
Murphy (04:18):
Good, and I'll have to walk through some of those with
you so that you can point outwhat they are.
We'll do that at a littleseparate time, but before the
convention ends You've got tonsof free time.
Jodie (04:34):
But, shirley, you were history for Nationals.
Weren't you a representativefor the National?
Shirley (04:41):
Well, when National had their 75th anniversary, mike
Gooderham put us on a committeeactually both Gary and I and we
went back to Denver and we werethe information booth.
So when people came by andasked, they dressed up some
(05:02):
mannequins to look like the 10thMountain Division and other
mannequins to look like thefirst Ski Patrol uniform, and
they had tables and stuff andoodles of vendors and we had a
fun time.
Murphy (05:12):
How long ago was that 75 ?
It's 85.
Gary (05:16):
This is the 85th season, right yeah, so it was 2013.
Murphy (05:21):
Okay, 2013.
Oh, and see, now that we haveGary on here.
So go ahead, gary, introduceyourself, because I'm getting to
you next.
Gary (05:28):
I'm Gary Cummings, the proud husband of Shirley.
She possesses me.
Murphy (05:40):
Wow, I saw those eyebrows raise over there.
So what is your NSP number?
Gary (05:49):
104.
Wow, I saw those eyebrows raiseover there.
So what is your NSP number?
104 are the last three numbers009104.
Oh wow.
Murphy (05:56):
What's your national number?
4585.
Wow, I'm not getting any morebeer.
I don't like this.
Shirley (06:02):
See, he's ahead of me by One year, isn't it?
Gary (06:06):
No, I think it's more.
Shirley (06:06):
I think it's two years.
Gary (06:08):
It's about three, it's 300 numbers.
Murphy (06:10):
Okay, yep, so you joined in 1960.
65.
1965.
Wow, At Hyak there was ShirleyStory Right.
Have you patrolled anywhereelse?
Gary (06:28):
No, really no.
Murphy (06:30):
Shirley, have you patrolled anywhere else?
No, you are longtime Hyakpatrollers.
Shirley (06:35):
Well, I have been at other areas in patrol guard, but
we've never signed on withanybody else.
That's amazing.
Murphy (06:44):
Is that a record?
No, I don't think so.
Gary (06:47):
We have one patroller, Bill Brockway.
He's been on the Hyak Patrolone year longer than we have.
Shirley (06:56):
No, he and Gary were in the same candidate class one
year longer than me.
Yeah, and he's still seniorpatroller, just like us.
Murphy (07:04):
Wow, that is amazing.
Yeah, the only guy that I knowthat's patrolled kind of that
same length as steve verkovichyeah, because steve has been
around.
I hate to say it.
You know it's now.
I'm at crystal and steve uh at.
He just had his 80th birthday,so he's gonna got, I think, 81.
That guy outworks me.
(07:24):
I think it's impossible.
He's incredible.
Shirley (07:27):
That's the difference between the Furkoviches and
Charlene too, I mean.
But that's the differencebetween us.
We only ski safe and sane,almost flat now, and Charlene
and Furt just they're reallygreat.
I mean, you don't know thatthere's any age decrease in
(07:47):
their activity at all.
Murphy (07:48):
Oh no, he starts at the top of the mountain and, yeah,
blistering to get down there onhis favorite runs that are named
after him.
Normally on a mountain youdon't want anything named after
you, no, because it's usuallyyou died, you got injured or
they're making fun of you.
Steve winds up having the runtop to bottom because that was
his favorite run.
Shirley (08:09):
I had a run named after me for a long time, but with
the new map it's been erased.
Who do we need to talk to?
Some of that still call me.
Murphy (08:20):
So what run is it?
What do they call it now?
Shirley (08:24):
They don't call it.
It has no name.
It's very sad.
Wait a minute.
It was called Shirley's Chuteand I got that name because
there was an accident in aparticular location on our
mountain and Eric Lindstrom tookthe first toboggan and he went
(08:44):
down blowdown.
Somebody else took the secondtoboggan and they went down
Kendall and I went downChickaman through this little
chute and that's where thepatient was.
So for years we called itShirley Chute and then we have
(09:07):
now.
Murphy (09:07):
And so they came up with a new map and Shirley's Chute
is no more.
Jodie (09:11):
It's just like eliminated .
We're going to have to talk tomanagement about that.
Shirley (09:16):
But I mean it's only a stretch of space, like from here
to the I don't know a littlebit further than the front door,
so it's not very long, andassigning somebody to sweep it
was we were getting a littlethin.
Murphy (09:30):
Yeah, I guess you do have to.
You know, you have to sendpatrollers down for final sweep
when you're I hope you're goingto cut oh yeah we'll have to
edit some of that.
Gary (09:40):
We're not really.
Jodie (09:42):
But that's the same distance, like at Mount Hood,
for Buzz Bowman, his section,the buzz cut was a very narrower
one.
Like you said distance, itwasn't that long.
Murphy (09:59):
No, you're good.
Okay, we have some morequestions for you.
Have you got any national?
This is a very long question,so I'm going to start with.
Shirley Received local, region,division national awards.
Jodie (10:14):
Other than your national number, the rolling roll.
Shirley (10:20):
Don't think I.
Well, I've gotten theDistinguished Service Award,
meritorious Service Award.
I got two of those.
Liz says it's impossible, butsomebody must have made a
mistake and I got two.
Murphy (10:33):
It could be Liz that made a mistake.
Shirley (10:37):
No, I don't think so.
What else did I get?
Murphy (10:40):
What's the region award the Miller?
Yes, did you get that?
Shirley (10:42):
I got the Miller, that's very prestigious award.
The Miller, yes, did you getthat?
I got the Miller, that's veryprestigious.
Yes, 1980.
Murphy (10:50):
Northwest region.
Wow, gary, how about you?
Awards?
Gary (10:58):
I just am very proud to be an Alpine skier, senior Senior.
Shirley (11:02):
He also got the Outstanding National Patroller
in the Nation Alpine Patroller,alpine Patroller.
Murphy (11:08):
Oh, do tell, how long ago was that 2003.
Gary (11:14):
Oh, that's not that long ago, no.
Murphy (11:17):
Wow.
Gary (11:18):
Well, what happened was I broke my heel and couldn't ski,
but we still came up everyweekend so I would do patrol
room duty.
I also made myself busy aroundour kitchen and day room and I
(11:47):
did a few things like gettingthe kids patrol brats involved
in cleaning, and for some reasonI was able to talk them into
having a star next to their nameput up their name and put a
(12:11):
star if they did their dutyAwesome.
And throughout the seasondifferent kids would take
responsibility until we got allthe kids.
The other thing I did I made aboard on the height of all the
kids and that is still there nowand they come back to look at
(12:33):
themselves.
And of course, they started outat three feet tall and now
they're six foot eight a few ofthem.
And now, they're six foot eight,a few of them and those little
things that I got involved within 2003, actually, surely
(12:53):
because she is such a goodwriter.
Shirley (12:56):
I didn't do that, didn't you?
Gary (12:59):
Gary Rayburn did it.
No, Okay.
Well, Gary Rayberg, a greatwriter, also wrote up, and so I
became the Outstanding National,which is a great honor for me.
Murphy (13:16):
Oh yeah.
Gary (13:17):
And the beauty of it is that really, shirley works three
times as hard as I do.
Really, shirley works threetimes as hard as I do.
But when we went back for the75th and they had the awards up
on the walls, my name is there,but Shirley's isn't.
Jodie (13:37):
Would you mind with me?
Gary (13:40):
So we got to get Shirley up there.
Jodie (13:45):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, Anyway, and it was perfect for
me because I'm very proud tojust be an Alpine patroller.
I think it's great because italso brings in to the whole
factor.
As I told Murph earlier, I'm alousy skier.
I always have I did progress.
(14:06):
It got a little bit better.
But, with that being said, Iknow that I would never be an
expert skier and I think there'smerit in saying, hey, ski
patrol is not just for thosethat are on expert skiers, et
cetera.
Gary (14:22):
It's a family and a team.
Shirley (14:25):
Besides, it's not your fault.
Your mother should have startedyou at age three.
Murphy (14:30):
So, shirley, how old were you when you started skiing
?
Shirley (14:33):
I was 14 and I got a.
I had a friend who worked up atsnoqualmie and her father and
her two brothers and she saidwhy don't you try and get a job?
They're hiring.
So I went up with them on theweekend and I went in and talked
(14:54):
in that big Quonset hut thingthat they had that long army hut
.
And I went in and talked toWebb and he said how old are you
?
And I said I'm 14, but I'd likea job.
And he said what can you do?
And I said what do you needdone?
You're hired.
So, he put me cashiering at thetop of the Thunderbird and we
(15:22):
the restaurant that's now closedat the top on East oh it was
the place to go.
Murphy (15:27):
Oh, I'm sure.
Shirley (15:28):
And it was quite expensive.
We all had to sign a statementthat we would not say what any
of the recipes were made.
And the Moffats had justreturned from Switzerland where
she learned how to make bouffantdoux.
What was that Bouffant doux?
(15:49):
You know the fondue pot whereyou well, she had learned how to
make that and nobody in SeattleI mean no restaurants had it.
So it was very secret andthat's what we served to these,
and it was not cheap.
Oh, I'm sure and that's what weserved to these.
(16:09):
And it was not cheap, oh, I'msure.
Murphy (16:11):
So I would get a ride down the mountain a lot of the
time with the ski patrol in thetoboggans oh how convenient, it
was dinner and a show I'mgetting in the toboggan and
taking down.
Wow, I'm still can't.
I can't get past the fact youwere 14 and they gave you a job.
Now you know you gotta be like18.
You gotta do whatever, but see,it just proves 14-year-olds.
Shirley (16:31):
Well, there were the laws, weren't there?
Murphy (16:34):
Yeah, that's true.
Shirley (16:35):
And I don't know if Webb would have cared.
Murphy (16:39):
How funny.
So when did you start skiing,Gary?
Gary (16:42):
I went up to the same area uh summit, uh snow qualmy uh on
a bus from my high school,seattle Prep, and there was one
person who couldn't go skiingone weekend.
So I went up with them and wehad a.
I remember very well skiing theBunny Hill or whatever the
(17:10):
first hill was, and when I fellI fell face forward downhill,
swearing a streak in my underunder uh tones, and this cute
girl comes up and says can Ihelp you?
Now?
She didn't have a ski patroluniform on, but she should have,
(17:32):
but anyway, that was it.
And then I uh, when I was 17, Iskied a lot up at the
mountaineers in uh stevens passand that's where I learned to
ski on my own.
I never had a lesson in my lifewhich shows in my skiing,
(17:53):
unfortunately, unfortunately.
Murphy (17:54):
Oh, I did that same thing.
I learned on myself and then Ijoined the ski patrol and I had
to break all those bad habits.
And that is worse than you knowwhen you first start out.
Gary (18:08):
That's true.
And then a friend of Shirley'shad gotten married and started
working and managing the skishop up at Hyak.
We were juniors in college andat that time we had a
one-year-old and so he couldn'tstay up there for some reason,
(18:34):
and we went up on New Year's in1983.
63.
What?
60.
63.
And so he said I can't do this,gary, you want to do it?
And so I said maybe.
And so Jim Whitaker, who waswith REI and that was one of his
(18:58):
projects, the ski area at HIACBecause you're probably most
people are aware that HIAC wasone of the first was the first
ski area on the mountain in theform of the Milwaukee Railroad.
In the form of the MilwaukeeRailroad, they would haul people
up there and that's whereAmerican ski jumpers practiced
(19:22):
at Hyak.
Jodie (19:23):
Really.
Gary (19:25):
Long ago, long ago in the 1930s and 1920s and 1930s.
Shirley (19:33):
And the ski jump hill is still there if you were to go
out on the cross country trail.
So theoretically, hyak couldadvertise themselves as an
Olympic venue because that skijump was used as a qualifying
for the Olympics.
Now I have talked to them aboutthat, but they don't think it's
a particularly good marketingploy.
Gary (19:56):
So that was.
We managed the ski shop Duringthe day.
I rented out skis and of courseat that time ski patrollers
were all on wooden skis but themajority a few of them could
afford the heads and the heartsthat were metal skis out.
But invariably I'd have atleast two or three patrollers
(20:21):
come in during the weekend andsay I broke my ski and Jim
Whitaker's policy, which is anREI said if ski patrol needs
skis we can give them the skisfree for the day, and so I'd get
them into skis.
(20:42):
So therefore, two years later,when we had the circumstance
where a new manager came, theydecided to hire a full-time
manager and we had a conflictwith them as far as sleeping
accommodations because we had achild and they didn't want they
were newlyweds.
So that ended up being aconflict.
(21:05):
But then we joined the skipatrol and of course maybe they
were I think maybe that's how Igot on the patrol they were just
indebted to us for all thoseski frees.
Murphy (21:17):
Well, yeah, what is it Rental?
Jodie (21:21):
Equipment Inc.
Definitely.
Murphy (21:24):
Yeah that's why they had to return or change their
return policy.
Shirley (21:28):
When he gave them the metal skis, they were all
breaking skis.
Murphy (21:32):
Yeah, oh.
Shirley (21:33):
I can see where that happened.
I got a question.
Murphy (21:35):
that happened All right, so I got a question for you.
So this is Jody's question, andI love this thing.
What does the phrase service orsafety and service since 1938
mean to you?
Jodie (21:50):
Service and safety.
Murphy (21:51):
Yeah.
What does the phrase safety andservice since 1938 mean to you?
Shirley (21:58):
Well, that is the mission that the Ski Patrol was
founded on at the very beginning.
Safety and service was themission, and it's been our
mission ever since.
Jodie (22:15):
So if you were to go current time.
What does it mean to you?
Has it changed at all yourthoughts about what you think it
is or how it's approached?
Shirley (22:29):
Well, I think most recently there's been a bigger
emphasis on safety, which wehaven't paid much attention to
for years and years, which isgood both physical and mental
safety.
So that's good.
Jodie (22:50):
Just your thoughts.
I mean seeing that when theystarted it off and, like I said
here, you have how nationalbecame and whether it's the West
Coast, east Coast, et cetera.
You have the whole part of whydid we even come into play
because they needed help gettingpeople that were injured down
(23:10):
and the fact of also trying tohelp explain how you might be a
little bit more safer by doing X, y, z.
So it's just sort ofinteresting to see.
You know, we look at here.
You talked about skis, the longwooden skis, right, and how
that's changed, and so just sortof curious for people that have
seen that progressionthroughout National how it's
(23:32):
changed at all throughoutNational and how it's changed at
all.
Shirley (23:38):
I think at the very beginning it must have been at
least a little bit frighteningto realize that when you were up
there on the mountain there wasno way to get down and then a
few ski patrol people or a fewpeople interested in service
were there to maybe help you.
But you didn't know when youclimbed up a mountain in 1938 or
(23:59):
1940 that they were going to bethere that day.
Now the standard across theworld for the most part is that
if you buy a lift ticket you'regoing to get safety and service.
A lift ticket you're going toget safety and service, and in
(24:21):
Europe they build it into yourski lift ticket, so you have to
pay for it, but you still have away of getting down off the
mountain Right, the choice oflast resort in the toboggan.
Murphy (24:28):
Yeah, yeah, so you know, in the 50 years that you have
been patrolling, you two, whatdo you think, gary?
I'll start with you what do youthink has been the biggest
change overall?
Gary (24:51):
What have you seen over at HIAC?
Well, first of all, I don'tthink the people have changed a
lot.
The people are still there.
Those that go out on patrolvery quickly, considering the
amount of time they have to putin to get certified properly to
(25:15):
meet the standard that we nowhave created, are there giving
of their time to other people.
So that is the same.
The thing that's different isif you look out on the table,
the manuals were 40 pages long.
The bandaging involved in theclass that I took in 1965 was
(25:42):
the standard first aid and the,and then I came back after eight
weeks of the instructor sittingat each of the class reading to
me out of the book and went tothe advanced.
The bandaging, for instance,was roller bandages.
(26:05):
That was it and we actuallylearned, you know, with certain
kind of boards for splinting abreak, but that was the extent
of it.
There was, I do not recall, oneitem regarding back injuries.
I don't regard or recall takingall the various methods of
(26:31):
testing and checking oncirculation and all the other
aspects.
It was either visible or itdidn't exist, and that isn't to
say that we weren't aware thatother things can happen, but the
amount of training involved wasminimal.
(26:53):
Today, of course, instead of a40-page book, we have a
1,600-page book.
Everybody chuckles at that one Iguess I'll have to jump in here
and say it and it's a sign ofmy age.
I feel very sad for new peoplecoming in and also I wonder if
(27:19):
we've lost the opportunity toget some very good people that
maybe just aren't thatacademically proficient to excel
or appreciate that that couldstill do a great job.
Anyway, but talk about thechanges in skiing.
(27:42):
We used to deal with anklebreaks almost exclusively and
now we then we migrated thething about it.
There are very few injuries onthe hill in comparison when you
consider the amount of skiingand the speed of skiing that
(28:03):
goes on today and the acrobaticsthat people young people
especially are doing.
They didn't do that back 50years ago.
Jumping was the big thing butit was a straight line jump.
They didn't do 23 somersaultsin the air.
Jodie (28:27):
Do you think that the ankles were more to the type of
boots that were being worn atthat time?
Gary (28:32):
Absolutely.
Type of boots, type of skis.
Shirley (28:38):
Speed.
Murphy (28:39):
Yeah, speed probably had a little to do with that.
Gary (28:41):
Yeah and so, yes, definitely.
So there's a lot of differences.
Murphy (28:48):
Shirley, what do you, you know in the 50 years of
looking at what's been going onin the ski patrol.
What do you think's changed?
Shirley (28:56):
Well at HIAC I know for us the benefits were a big draw
.
We had a place to sleep, we gotseason lift passes for our one
and four-year-old kids, but allthrough high school we got
season passes for our kids.
But all through high school wegot season passes for our kids
(29:17):
and the area even gave us dinneron Saturday night.
So it was a very family areaand benefits were big.
That changed when largercorporations bought it.
As far as the main organization, I think one of the big things
that happened that our divisiondoes not get maybe credit for
(29:43):
the ski patrol used to run themountain.
We would decide when we weregoing to open, when we were
going to close, what time if itwas, the light would dictate
when we called.
When the mountain would close.
We would say when an areawasn't safe to ski, we would
(30:04):
slide, slip the hill to pack it,but our patrol leaders would
tell us where we went next to doit.
The area management did not.
They would say thank you at theend of the year but for the
most part the ski patrol ran themountain and after the Ski Area
(30:27):
Operators Association becamemore communicative with each
other in probably the 80s, theysaid you know we're the ones
holding the risk here.
We want to make the rules.
So henceforth we will be incharge and you will follow those
things.
(30:47):
Well, in certain areas skiresorts that message did not go
across at all well and I givemost of the credit to Gary Burke
who was our division directorand had George Whitman who was
also a division director, butGeorge was the police chief of
(31:11):
Bellevue Police and George got atask force together and said if
we do not patrol ourselves andput a damper on this, we're in
charge, not the people that ownus.
They're going to kick us out.
And it was, and I was secretaryat the time.
(31:32):
So I would hear all of theseclosed-door meetings that the
rest of the patrol has no ideahow close we came to probably
losing patrols, and not just inour division.
But I mean Ski Area Operatorsis a national organization and
so that was one of the firstcritical times that came through
(31:55):
and I think the reason that thenew first aid with its huge
Gary calls it 1,600 pages.
But they had to compete withEMT.
And they had to compete way backwhen, not just because of the
standard or first aid or whatthey thought was happening on
(32:16):
the hill, but who was going tobe in charge, and that having A
good educational program thatwas almost comparable to the EMT
was their selling point.
And I really respect theleaders that were in position at
the time to recognize what athreat it was to tamp it down
(32:40):
and to put something in itsplace.
I wasn't fond of the new WECeither when it came through, but
knowing the background it's alot easier for me to accept.
But they didn't want to tellthe membership you know you came
this close.
Jodie (32:57):
What did they think would happen if they had told the
membership?
Shirley (33:00):
Well, they did tell.
I mean, like at a conventionlike this, they would tell the
patrol directors in a small.
They did small closed sessionsso that people would get the
idea that it wasn't to blast out.
But this is what's happeningand when you go to speak with
your area manager, make sureyou're respectful, make sure you
(33:22):
know you're like an employeethat's about to get the boot.
Jodie (33:26):
Absolutely.
And what time frame are wetalking about?
What year?
I think it's in the 80s.
Shirley (33:33):
But in that stack of stuff it's right when Gary Burke
leaves and George Whitman takesover as an assistant and George
wrote it up and of course therewas no mimeograph, I mean
there's not multiple copies.
So I remember typing it andthen they hand-carried it,
because everything had to behand-carried back to National.
(33:56):
Oh really yeah.
Murphy (33:59):
Oh, interesting.
And why is that?
Jodie (34:01):
I mean hand versus I mean we did have good mail.
Shirley (34:05):
I have a copy of the HIAC, I have a copy of the Hyak.
They were trying to be theoutstanding patrol in the nation
, so you put together a folder.
And then that had to becauseyou only had one of a kind you
(34:26):
didn't have.
You couldn't make multiplecopies.
Mimeo, I think, did come in inthe late 80s, right 70s, it must
have been.
Murphy (34:33):
It was yeah, 70s.
Shirley (34:36):
Whenever I was teaching , I remember.
Murphy (34:41):
That's right, because I remember sitting in class and
sniffing the test when they cameout.
Shirley (34:44):
I remember looking in the mirror at recess.
Jodie (34:49):
Little streaks across your face.
Murphy (34:51):
What was that blue?
Yeah, it was like purple-blue.
Shirley (34:55):
When did you join?
Murphy (34:58):
Let's see here I joined.
It's going to be my 10-yearanniversary this season.
Gary (35:05):
Really so 10 years ago.
Murphy (35:06):
All right.
Gary (35:07):
Big one for you.
Murphy (35:08):
Yeah, it is actually Cause I uh went and uh I did my
ski test early um at Snoqualmieand I had just gotten back from
New Zealand and I was on skinnyskis, no shape skis, it wasn't
like Nordic but yeah, they hadno shape to them and I skied so
(35:29):
badly.
And I remember going up andtalking to Michael James after
my test and I said, hey, I knowI sucked.
If you will want to cut me, Icompletely understand, I'll go
practice and come back.
And he said, well, that shows alot of maturity that you would
actually say that.
So, uh, you are going to workvery hard this year improving
(35:49):
those skills.
Shirley (35:50):
See, there you go, you do not have to be an expert
skier to start.
How did you get connected tothe ski patrol then?
Jodie (36:00):
So my background with being in EMS and as an ER nurse
when I worked EMS back inMichigan it was a definite
family sort of everybody wasclose, close to each other.
I had started nursing.
Nursing has its ups and downsand sometimes in some places
(36:22):
it's sort of eat your youngattitude, and so I missed that.
And when I moved out I was bornand raised in Michigan moved
out to the northwest and Imissed that whole environment
and so I thought, well, I canbarely get down.
Probably I mean my Michiganthey built that hill of a couple
hundred feet right and I didn'tski that often.
(36:46):
But I thought, well, maybe Ican do something else.
And that's how I got started.
I had heard that people back inMontana that's when I was
working in Montana I had donesome of the OEC classes and
helped instruct that and Ithought, oh, look at how close
everybody is, this is awesome.
And so I looked for it.
And that's when I started atMount Hood back in 2002.
(37:07):
You know your math Murph is alittle off.
And so I looked for it andthat's when I started at Mount
Hood back in 2002.
You know, your math Murph is alittle off.
You guys said you joined in 65?
Okay, let's do the math here.
Murphy (37:16):
Oh, that's 60, 59 years, okay.
Shirley (37:21):
Well, gary's at 58.
You know the other thing backwhen we did it national, they
didn't always take your moneywhen you joined.
I mean they might get it byjune 1st, that might be, but so
blaine would have had a heartattack every year, so you're
right I mean so national onlycredits when you know, the money
(37:44):
comes in.
And now, they take it up front.
So right, I tried to explainthat to some of the people on
our patrol.
Well, some of you, yeah, butother people get an extra year.
Murphy (37:56):
That's funny.
Well, thanks you two forspending some time with us.
Like I said, I do want to goover.
You know through that displaythat you guys provided.
That was fantastic and you know, I'd hopefully like to be able
to follow up with you on some ofthese other questions that we
have about HIAC and get some ofthose old stories, because the
(38:18):
train service was there and youguys know and have a lot of
history of Snoqualmie Pass andEl Patel.
Jodie (38:27):
This is true, yeah, so it's good To wrap it up, though,
what would you if you hadanything to say for anybody
coming in new?
Do you have any words of wisdomor anything you would want to
pass on?
Of course I hit you this Boom.
You haven't had any time tothink about it while we're here
at the hotel.
Gary (38:47):
Boom, you haven't had any time to think about it.
While we're here at the hotel,I'd say do you like being part
of a team?
Okay, good.
Do you like helping people?
Jodie (38:59):
Mm-hmm.
Gary (39:02):
Do you like a change of climate?
Oh, like the change of climate.
Ah and do you like beingathletic?
And if you like all thosethings, then Ski Patrol can give
(39:26):
all of those things to you, aswell as the ability to take care
medically to some extent ofyourself, your family and your
friends and community.
Jodie (39:47):
Very well put and I think , get involved.
Shirley (39:51):
I mean, Hyak is known as a family area.
I always encourage new peopleto bring their family members
and our roster will show thename of your significant other
or your spouse.
Bring your kids, they'rewelcome.
Come to our potlucks.
If your family is happy here,you will stay here.
(40:13):
Chances are if you're going tobe up here two days every
weekend, there's a lot of thingsthat aren't getting done at
home that are going to pile upAbsolutely.
Murphy (40:25):
Truer words were never spoken.
That's true.
All right, true, alrighty.
Thanks you two.
Jodie (40:32):
Thank you so much, god, you guys.
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