Toggenburg Mountain Winter Sports Center Fabius, New York Tel:

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1 Memo To: From: Toggenburg Mountain Winter Sports Center Fabius, New York Tel: Jim Hickey, Eric Waite, Geff Dennee Walter O. Shepard Secretary, Toggenburg Ski Patrol Date: February 12, 2013 Subject: North Double-chair Evacuation On January 23 at approximately 7:30pm the four (4) on duty ski patrollers (Paul Martellock, Bob Hough, Sue Hadzor, and Gary Kahn) were requested to perform an evacuation of the North Double-chair. The chairlift would not run due to an interlock failure which also prevented the auxiliary motor from engaging. On Sunday, January 27, we met to review what took place. Present at the meeting were: Eric Waite, Operations Manager; Paul Martellock, Alpine Patroller & Evacuation Leader for that night; Bob Hough, Alpine Patroller, Sue Hadzor, Patroller; Jim Morrison, Assistant Patrol Leader; and Walt Shepard, Chairlift Evacuation Advisor & Secretary. We reviewed what transpired that night and discussed what could be done to improve chairlift evacuation procedures. Attached is summary report prepared by Paul Martellock and reports from the other patrollers involved. Also included is an message from the Pine Grove Middle School Chaperones. Recommendations for improvement include: Implement lockout by Operations Manager in Charge and the Ski Patrol Evacuation Leader. Once chair-evac operations begin continue until all are evacuated. Do not keep trying to restart, which causes all evacuation equipment to be removed from the haul rope and severely delays evacuation progress. Begin calling for additional help immediately (additional patrollers and 911). Review and revise chair-evac training frequency requirements and content. Consider having patrollers change into regular boots for better maneuverability. Walter O Shepard Summary Report by Paul Martellock

2 To: Walt Shepard From: Paul Martellock Re: Chairlift Evacuation conducted January 23, 2013 Date: January 24, 2013 Revised: January 31, 2013 consolidation with other patroller s reports Last night, at approximately 7:30 PM Eric requested assistance in evacuating the North double chairlift. The chairlift would not run due to an interlock failure. This was compounded by an inability run the Auxiliary Power Unit to allow the lift to be unloaded normally. On duty at the time were Four Patrollers: Paul Martellock (Chief of Hill) Bob Hough Gary Kahn Sue Hadzor The temperature at the time of the evacuation was below zero, and at the conclusion it was approximately -10 F. At the time of the lift failure the entire patrol was working on an ALS accident. On the first request, I left the rest of the patrol attending the patent and went to the bottom of the lift. Eric and the rest of the lift operators were still trying to get the auxiliary power unit to drive the lift. At that time it was clear that they were not ready to evacuate the lift. I told Eric to call when he needed us, that we would be standing by. At approximately 8:00 Eric made the determination to evacuate the chair. Paul Martellock and Eric Waite, the Head of the Mountain Crew and Operation Manager, made this decision. Paul assumed the position as the Evacuation Leader (EL). No onduty patrollers were on the disabled lift. Note that Sue Hadzor, on-duty ski patroller, assumed responsibility of the injured skier as an ambulance was on its way and the injured skier was stabilized. It was decided that one patroller would start the evacuation at the bottom of the hill to assist Sue, if needed. At Bob and Gary s request we evacuated the lowest occupied chair as a three-person team to refresh Bob and Gary in the procedures. Once that evacuation was complete we broke into three teams: Top of the Lift: Eric Waite (lead), Bob Hough and an additional mountain crewmember. Middle of the lift: Paul Martellock(lead), with two mountain crewmembers assisting: Chris Roodenburg and Adam Lockwood. Bottom of lift: Gary Kahn(lead), and two other mountain crewmembers. While we were working the evacuation, several times the Lift operator requested that we clear the lift to allow them to test repairs to the Auxiliary power unit. The last of these

3 requests the repair worked allowing the last seven riders to complete the ride to the top. Those riders had shed their skies in anticipation of the evacuation were driven down the mountain on snow-cats or on the Rhino. The lift evacuation equipment was picked up and brought down to the bottom of the hill, along with all personnel working on the evacuations. The Mountain Crew then checked the hill for equipment left behind by skiers that were taken down the hill on mountain vehicles. They also checked the lift to ensure that no other skiers were left on the lift. The mountain crew then performed a slow, methodical sweep of the mountain using mountain vehicles to ensure that the slopes were all clear of skiers. The lift evacuation was complete at approximately 9:45. Other observations I would like to note: Approximately skiers were on the lift, seven of which rode to the top once the Auxiliary power unit was operational. Several people skiers or other customers volunteered to help by throwing blankets and chemical hand warmers to the skiers trapped on the lift The Mountain Crew drove the snow-cats under the chair to communicate with the stranded skiers, the also eased the job of throwing blankets to the skiers. Sue Hadzor attended the patrol room, she had a steady stream of visitors needing her help, including many people who were cold after having been evacuated from the lift. She only saw one case of frost-nip on a skiers cheek. It was critical that the patrol room was manned during the incident. One of the people, who volunteered to help after they had climbed up to where my team was evacuating the lift, was cut on the forehead when the rope with a carabineer attached hit him on. I did not observe this incident. He used my patrol belt to get a bandage. He walked down to the patrol room and was treated by Sue. Several times I had to forbid the volunteers who were trying to get blankets to the people in the chairlift from climbing the lift towers. I explained at the time we did not want any one else to get hurt. The elastic on the Slingshot broke when I pulled it back to use it. I suspect that at the cold temperatures that the rubber became brittle. The entire Mountain Crew team on the mountain performed excellently, with mountain vehicles negotiating the hill bringing down cold skiers as passengers throughout the evening and being very careful of the other skiers as they went down the hill after getting down from the lift. The new radios that easily communicate with the mountain crew on channel two was invaluable. We switched to doing all our communications on channel two while the evacuation was in progress. The lift operators requests to try to run the lift severally hindered progress. Each time I tried to clear the lines as quickly as possible and

4 my team ended up standing around for at least 20 minutes. I feel we would have completed the evacuation much quicker and gotten all the customers off the lift much sooner if we did not keep interrupting progress to try the lift. Reports from the other patrollers who took part in the chair-evac on Bob Hough The following are notes from the Chair Lift Evacuation at Tog on Jan 23, 2013 ~7:15 PM The Wednesday night Ski Patrollers were attending to a skier that we had just brought in to the patrol room with a head injury. The Mountain Crew called on channel 2 of our radios, advising us that a chair evacuation might be needed, as the new double chair was not working. Paul Martellock, the Chief of the Hill (COH) that evening, went over to the base of the chair lift to discuss the problem. ~7:30 PM It was determined that a chair lift evacuation was needed, as the lift operators could not get the lift started again. Paul Martellock and Eric Waite, the Head of the Mountain Crew and Operation Manager, made this decision. Paul assumed the position as the Evacuation Leader (EL). No onduty patrollers were on the disabled lift. Note that Sue Hadzor, on-duty ski patroller, assumed responsibility of the injured skier as an ambulance was on its way and the injured skier was stabilized. It was decided that one patroller would start the evacuation at the bottom of the hill to assist Sue, if needed. Paul Martellock, Gary Kahn and Bob Hough (all on-duty ski patrollers) met under the first chair at the bottom of the stopped lift, just in front of the lift room. The Mountain Crew also joined this meeting. Three equipment bags with the chair lift evacuation equipment in them were brought to this meeting. The lift operators were told to keep power off the lift and not try to start it, as we were going to start the evacuation. Paul also told everyone to use channel 2 on the radios so that all of the Mountain Crew could hear the instructions and respond accordingly. Several volunteers were requested to keep the bystanders away from the operation. Together, we evacuated the first skier at this location, going over each step as we did it, so that all were re-familiarized on the process and equipment, especially the configuration of the lowering rope through the ring attached to the person responsible for physically lowering the skier from the lift chair. Special attention was given to the skier in the chair, that they are to lean back in the chair, hold on to the chair before lifting the safety bar, then slide the lowering chair under them but leaning back in the lift chair. They are then to put the rope around them, under their arms and then tighten the adjustment slider. Once securely on the lowering chair and rope, then they were instructed to edge out and push away from the lift chair. Skis or snow boards are to be removed and dropped before the safety bar is raised, along with the ski poles. ~7:45 PM

5 Paul divided the three ski patrol members into three groups. Bob Hough went with Eric Waite and several of his Mountain Crew to the top of the hill and work their way down the hill, while Paul Martellock went to the middle of the hill and Gary Kahn stayed at the bottom of the hill and would work his way up the hill evacuating skiers. Two members of the Mountain Crew were selected to assist each of the three evacuation teams. Mountain vehicles distributed the personnel. The three teams moved quickly to their respective locations and successfully started the evacuations. After a short while, the chair lift operator thought that they had resolved the problem, so as soon as each of the teams had lowered the active chair evacuation and lowered the ropes from the wire, Paul requested an all-clear from each team. This was performed top to bottom and after all responded that no evacuations or equipment were on the wire, the lift operators tried to restart the chairs. Unfortunately this did not work and the lift operators were told again to not start the lift until we went through an all-clear process again. The evacuations were restarted after the lift crew stated that they would not operate or power the lift. Note that several volunteers threw blankets up to skiers that were in lower locations. On the top of the hill evacuation team, Eric Waite was the Team Captain. Bob Hough assisted, especially talking to the skiers in the chair to ensure that the skiers were not in shock or overly cold, along with making sure that they followed instructions to safely use the evacuation equipment. Bob also checked out the skiers once they were down from the chair. Eric was very familiar with the evacuation equipment and led the team very well. It was obvious that they had been well trained on the chair lift evacuation process as they performed smoothly through the process. The entire Mountain Crew team on the mountain performed excellently, with mountain vehicles negotiating the hill bringing down cold skiers as passengers throughout the evening and being very careful of the other skiers as they went down the hill after getting down from the lift. The area under both of the double chairs was full of new, man-made snow, which was not groomed and difficult to work in. This made the task of walking under the disabled chair more difficult. The three teams continued with the chair lift evacuations. When the skiers were lowered, they either skied or boarded to the bottom of the slope, or the Mountain Crew took them down the slope to the patrol room or lodge. All skiers were evaluated as soon as they were lowered to determine their condition and have them ride down in mountain vehicles if there was any doubt of condition. All were checked for signs of shock, fatigue, frostbite and symptoms of hypothermia. In the Ski Patrol Room, Sue Hadzor evaluated and warmed up skiers that came to her from the evacuations. Several other volunteers assisted warming the skiers. The ambulance successfully picked up the injured skier from the earlier accident on the hill. ~9:30 PM The chair lift operators again thought that they had resolved the problem, so as soon as each of the teams had lowered the active chair and lowered the ropes from the wire, Paul requested an all-clear from each team again. This was performed, top to bottom and after all responded that no evacuations or equipment were on the wire, the lift operators tried to restart the chairs. Luckily the chairs started moving, very slowly but they continued this time. The Mountain Crew vehicles went to the top of the hill to bring down skiers if needed. Bob Hough, being at the highest point on the hill, talked with all remaining skiers as they passed overhead and determined that all the remaining skiers were cold, but in good condition. Seven to nine skiers remained on the lift and were met at the top of the hill by Mountain Crew personnel to take them down if needed. The lift evacuation equipment was picked up and brought down to the bottom of the hill, along with all personnel working on the evacuations. The Mountain Crew then checked the hill for equipment

6 left behind by skiers that were taken down the hill on mountain vehicles. They also checked the lift to ensure that no other skiers were left on the lift. The mountain crew then performed a slow, methodical sweep of the mountain using mountain vehicles to ensure that the slopes were all clear of skiers. All ski patrollers went back to the Ski Patrol Room and attended to skiers that were there to get warmed. Some skiers needed feet warmed, but quickly were feeling warm again and left the Patrol Room. Note that the Triple Chair lift was closed around 9:00 PM. The lift evacuation equipment and blankets were laid out in the patrol room after all skiers were warmed up. Bottom line, we lowered around 15 to 20 skiers from chairs with the air temperature around -10 F. Susan Hadzor Chair Evacuation Recap Here is my recollection of what happened on Wednesday. About 7 pm we were planning the evening (cocoa at 8) Gary called on the radio that there was an accident on the triple under tower 3. Paul went up to get the sled, as he was already on his way out. Bob and I got ready. We asked should we go to accident, or wait at bottom to help on the flat. We were told to be at bottom. Back in the patrol room, IP was on a backboard, Gary was doing the accident report, I called for ambulance, Paul and Bob were helping the IP. Eric called and said the lift was down and we needed to evacuate it. Paul and Bob went out to the lift, Gary finished with the IP and asked if I would stay with him until the ambulance came. I did so. His fiancée and another couple were there. Another IP came in and I treated her for a wrist injury, then the ambulance came, and the original IP left, to go to Upstate, to the best of my knowledge. As I straightened up the room one of the Mountain Crew came in with a woman in his arms, accompanied by a man. The MC man, who may be named Chris, said Oh good, there IS someone here. The couple had been on the lift and were very cold, the woman was extremely cold, to the point of appearing brittle. I assisted them in warming, opening jackets, removing boots, using the hair dryer and warm hands on feet, etc. I assisted the woman to the lav., as she was so cold it was hard for her to walk. She was feeling better, and eventually they were ready to leave, I asked them to write name address and phone number down for me. The man did so, on blank accident reports. While the couple was still in the PR, a candidate came in and asked if he could help. I sent him out to Paul, and he asked if he could bring blankets. Gary had already thought of that, but we had thought that the manpower was needed immediately, and it would be difficult to get the blankets up to the people. So still uncertain if it would be possible, I sent a pile of blankets out with him. Later a woman came in, possibly Gary s wife? And asked for more blankets, so I sent all the dry ones we had. One of the patrollers, Paul, I think, called down that a volunteer was on his way with a cut to his head, and to keep an eye out for him. I did, he came in with a friend, and I notified the bunch on the hill he had arrived. He had cravats that he had applied to his head to stop the bleeding. Which it had. I cleaned up his face a little, did an accident report. He asked how bad it was, but since

7 clotting had already started, I did not remove the cravats. I applied a hat-like bandage over the cravats, and we discussed the idea of stitches, due to location on upper forehead/hairline area. I do not know how many people we saw in the room. It was busy and crowded, but warm, so people spent some time and left. The three patrollers came back and jumped right in to assist the cold folks. There seemed to be quite a few students from Pine Grove Middle School, and one of their chaperones had also been on the lift. The PGMS were very active, checking on the students, notifying parents, and really on top of the situation. In all this time, I saw one case of frostnip. No other visible signs. The temp was below 0. We hung up the wet blankets, put the room to right, and I attempted to refill the yellow bag, but did not have a blanket dry to put in. Left note for day crew. At the end, Eric and Mark came in and I made sure to tell all the men, that they had done a great job from my point of view. The snowmobile had been employed in some capacity, as Eric brought another load of wet blankets in from it. We hung those up too. I left the heater on all night, moving objects away from it, hoping that the blankets would dry overnight so the day crew could un-shroud the room for use. When we left the temperature was -10, on the new thermometer. I was in the Patrol Room the whole time, so I saw nothing of the evacuation. I believe that the PR would not be a good location for the EL, as the room has no view, and must function as a patrol room. I think it is better to be on the scene to direct the operation. With just the function of warming room, and checking on people it was bursting at the seams. I regret not getting everyone s names, I thought of a sign in sheet at the end of the night. Bob wrote down one person s name. This is what happened, to the best of my recollection. Susan Hadzor Gary Kahn Date of Chair Evacuation: 1/23/13 From: Gary Kahn To: Walt Shepard 2/7/13 Chair evacuation sequence of events: ~7:15pm: I was attending to an IP with a head injury on Knee Knocker, first on scene. Determined the IP required to be backboarded. Paul Marellock (COH) assisted with the back boarding and toboggan ride to the patrol room. ~7:30 Call was made for ALS from the patrol room for the IP. Patrollers in attendance were Bob Hough, SUe, Paul, and myself. ~7:30 Over the radio a call from Eric (maintenance crew) that we will need to a chair evacuation. ~7:45 At the loading zone on the North Main Chair, the mountain crew, lift attendants, Patrollers: Paul Marellock, Bob Howd, and myself and all the lift evac bags were in place. At this point it was suggested, that for the patrollers that we complete the first chair evac together at the bottom of the hill at a well lighted and even surface of the lower chair to go over the process. Paul was at the lead, with Bob and myself. Once completed, we broke into 3 teams: Bob (upper portion of hill), Paul (middle portion of the hill), myself (lower portion). ~8:15 My team at lower portion of the hill consisted of 3 mountain crew, Owen Kahn (my son 15yrs old and ski instructor), and Will Mench (snowboard instructor). Once we hiked up to to

8 tower 4, one of the mountain crew attempted to use the "gun" to launch over the line. He did not attach the line properly and was unable to recover the ball. It seemed as if the other crew members were unable to make it further up to the area I was going. At that time over the radio, an attempt was made to move the lift. It seemed to be a long amount of time before my team was able to re-engage and start the setting of the lines for the evacuation. At the same time, mountain crew staff were asking to climb the tower to help, and I was able to control them and not have them assist in that method. Once we had the go ahead to return to the evacuation, with the softball launch, the upper chair in my section with lines in place, the snowboarder on the chair was evacuated. I then proceeded to move the lines to the next chair lower. Instructions were given to each skier on the lift by me and to the proper technique to move away from the chair on the seat and were lowered safely to the ground. Owen Kahn, and Will Mench, and one mountain crew member (Chris Swartwouth) assisted me with lowering each chair. I had lost track of the other two mountain crew. After a total of 4-5 chairs evacuated, a call over the radio from Eric that another attempt was going to be made to restart the chair. My lines were brought down and gave the go ahead to Eric to start the lift. I am unsure of the time once my crew moved up into position on the hill, and to the time the lift began to operate. Once all items on the hill in my section were removed, I proceeded down to the patrol room, where Sue was in control, to assist. In the patrol room were a number of kids with cold feet and hands. None appeared to require further medical care *Of note: Volunteers were helping by getting blankets and hand warmers to the kids on the lift. (My wife was assisting in this process) The snow guns on Nubian were in use and the wind was blowing north and onto the people on the chair The slope conditions under the chair were complete ice and was difficult to get footing for positioning self to launch the tether over the cable as well as from sliding when having counter weight on the skier being lowered. Some of the kids in the chairs had taken off their skis and poles without instruction when reaching their chair. Temp. was at -10*. I did not write down the names of each individual