👀Patrol Your Sunday Scaries

We had some friends roll into town this weekend from a few ski towns over — including one who patrols at A-Basin. If you don’t know Arapahoe Basin, just picture a high-alpine playground sitting above 13,000 feet where “casual” terrain doesn’t really exist. It’s one of the most extreme ski resorts in Colorado, so patrolling there is no joke.

It’s always fun (interesting? mildly intimidating?) to ski with people who actually know what they’re doing. And as if one I-can-huck-anything-these-bumps-aren’t-that-crusty patroller wasn’t enough, we were also joined by an on-duty patroller who had just moved from A-Basin to Snowmass and wanted to take a few laps with his buddy.

So yes. The odds of me pretending I knew what I was doing dropped significantly. 😆

From ducking ropes (legally, relax) to joining a training sweep, skiing with patrol changes how you see the mountain.

And of course, that got me thinking about how we might need to patrol our Sundays a little better.

1️⃣ Scan Before You Send It

Patrol doesn’t start their day assuming that because it looked good yesterday, it is good today.

They also don’t drop into a run or ski around oblivious to their surroundings. They’re checking out every nook and cranny they pass.

Evaluating snowpack, traffic, light, and wind. Looking for people in distress and areas that could jump out and grab you, from tree wells to lift towers.

We, on the other hand, like to pre-panic the entire mountain (week) before we’ve even set foot on the snow (Monday). 😵‍💫

💡 Lesson: Check the conditions before you commit to the descent.

2️⃣ Risk Isn’t the Enemy. Recklessness Is.

We ducked a rope. 😮

Because we were with patrol!

Not because we felt bold. Not because we wanted to impress anyone, and definitely not because it’s something we do any other time (I, personally, like my $2,000 season pass and don’t want to have it taken away. 😜)

Ropes and closures are in place for a reason, and when it comes to real life, there can actually be a difference between  “closed” and “closed to you.” 🤯

Experience, training, and context change access.

💡 Lesson: What’s reckless for one person can be responsible for another.

3️⃣ Conditions Change. So Should Your Plan.

What skied beautifully in the morning can turn into scraped-off survival skiing by noon, and since the weather in Colorado this winter never seemed to realize it wasn’t April, our conditions are definitely a little…variable.

Same mountains. Different conditions.

Your week works the same way.

You can wake up feeling strong and ready to go, only to hit a patch of ice by 2:00 p.m. that derails the rest of the day.

💡 Lesson: Adjusting doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means the terrain shifted.

4️⃣ Rope Off What’s Not Ready

Some runs are closed. No explanation. No apology. Just a rope and a sign.

Not because they’re bad.
Not because they’ll never open.
Just because today isn’t the day.

There’s something mature about knowing the difference between “not ever” and “not yet.”

I love a good “push through it” moment as much as anyone, but sometimes the most responsible move isn’t to charge harder; it’s to respect the timing. 🤔

💡 Lesson: Not everything needs to open on your timeline.

5️⃣ Sweep the Mountain

One of the things patrol does throughout the day, and especially at the end of the day when lifts stop turning, is sweeps.

As in: make sure no one is in an aforementioned treewell before we all leave.

Since our on-duty patrol friend is new to Snowmass, he’s still learning how to sweep some of the more remote and difficult terrain, and we got to go along for the ride!

We joined a training sweep down KT Gully,  a double black that looks like a death chute from the lift but falls into the category of Type II fun (Don’t know about Type II fun? Maybe you should pick up a copy of my book and flip to Chapter 8 😂)

Patrolling is a very different energy than “me and my line.” There’s something grounding about being responsible for the whole slope instead of just your own descent, and that’s a good reminder of why we need people like patrol around – on the mountain and in life.

💡 Lesson: Before you close out your week, look back. Who (or what) needs to be checked before the lifts stop turning?

6️⃣ Even Patrol Has a Team

Radios.
Partners.
Backup.

No one is patrolling the mountain alone, pretending they’ve got it all handled.

And yet… how often do we?

💡 Lesson: If you’re navigating something steep, call it in. You don’t lose credibility by asking for support.

7️⃣ The Mountain Doesn’t Get Easier. You Get Better at Moving Through It.

KT Gully will still look steep from the lift next week. Gowdy’s will look steeper. 😧

The wind will still blow.
The moguls will still form.
The hazards will still exist.

Some of them will be marked.

Some will not.

Patrol doesn’t make the mountain flat. They make it navigable.

💡 Lesson: You don’t need the week to get easier. You need the awareness and skill to move through it.

I’m grateful for the people who do this work — quietly, steadily, without applause — so the rest of us can enjoy the ride.

Maybe this month isn’t about eliminating uncertainty.

Maybe it’s about scanning more intentionally. Roping off what’s not ready. Opening what is.

👉 And dropping in anyway.

See you out there.

Your Friend and Coach,
Angie