While this season has been a great improvement over last year, the thaws have been tough. We went from fabulous mid-winter conditions to spring in a couple of days, and as the first of March hit, the snow guns were fired up. Ski areas always hope they will have all the snow they need by now and use the guns only for a little touch up. Instead, several are operating at capacity now that temperatures have reverted to January levels.

The good news is the percentage of trails open is high, and if any warmups are brief, we’ll have plenty of skiing going forward. Which brings us to what we can expect in March.

If this month is like most March skiing, we can expect a little of everything. In a typical year we start with mid-winter conditions and wind up with spring conditions. The official start of spring skiing is St. Patrick’s Day. We may not have spring conditions, but the big day for the Irish signals the start of parties on the decks at ski areas. The sun is high and warm with plenty of sunlight even after the lifts close, so the celebration begins.

Last weekend I headed up to Mt. Abram on Saturday, a day when the TV forecasters were telling us how dangerous the wind chills would be. Unfortunately, too many skiers believed them and the crowd was small. The temperatures during the day got into the teens, and while it was windy, it was the kind of day we would have taken in stride in January — if not for the forecasters. One kept pointing to a graphic that showed frostbite might occur in 30 minutes. He failed to point out that this is on raw flesh, and the skiers I saw that day were exposing precious little. I was comfortable without a face mask. Of course, we should also remember that even a low intermediate skier can get inside in less than a half hour from almost any spot on any mountain in Maine.

My reason for going to Mt. Abram was to check in on the annual Fitch-Gilpatrick Memorial race. This race is in memory of a pair of friends. Sandy Fitch and Dave Gilpatrick, who were both devoted members of the Mt. Abram Ski Patrol and who died far too young. The money raised goes to a charity for medical research. Sandy’s daughter, Laurie Fitch, who organizes the race, told me they raised $450 from 30 participants, figures kept low by the forecasts.

Often, I include in my ski days a visit with the ski patrol at the top of the mountain and I decided with the race going on in memory of a pair of Mt. Abram Ski Patrol members, a stop with the patrol would be appropriate.

In the patrol shack, I found a few members enjoying the warmth. One I had observed a few years ago in toboggan training and skied along with them. Chip Childs was a veteran working with some newer patrollers. He introduced me to Amy Boulanger, now patrol director and we talked about the patrol as it works today.

The Mt. Abram patrol has 24 members, four of which are paid, the rest volunteers. I was surprised to learn that only a couple of members are under forty and that new members are not coming along as they have in the past. We discussed the changes in requirements and how it takes a much greater commitment than it did years ago.

When I started, all a candidate needed was the completion of the Standard and Advanced Red Cross first aid course, a total of 26 hours. CPR was simply a part of one of the sessions. A one-day refresher before the season started was conducted by each patrol to familiarize members with procedures at their mountain, and it was on to the job. The rest of the training was done on the hill.

In the years since, all training has been upgraded and the minimum requirement is either the National Ski Patrol Winter Emergency Care course, or the Emergency Medical Technician Course, both up to 90 hours. And that’s just to qualify for a candidate’s spot on a patrol, where the rest of the training will begin.

That’s a major commitment in time before getting onto a patrol. Most skiers could earn the money to buy a season pass in the hours it takes to get the basics. After that there is the time commitment of so many days a year on the mountain. And it doesn’t mean strolling in 9 a.m. and enjoying coffee while getting booted up to be on the hill at ten. Try being in the patrol room at 7:30 and ready to go up the mountain for the milk runs by 8 a.m. to check trail conditions and rescue sleds. It also means being on the mountain until the lifts close. Being a member of a ski patrol on even a smaller mountain is a major commitment. That being said, I know from experience that patrolling is a very rewarding endeavor. It also means skiing with a group of good skiers dedicated to the sport, and it also means you can say to your spouse when you head out for the weekend, “They need me up there.”

The thing I miss most about patrolling is the camaraderie.

If this interests you, now is the time to talk with the patrol director at your favorite mountain. They can tell you what is needed so you can prepare in the offseason, and maybe they will take a run with you to check out your skiing.

Now, prepare for spring skiing, which more often than not will be described as “variable.”

See you on the slopes.

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