Jack Staton recalls sidestepping down a ski slope to groom one run per day at Mt. Bachelor — and that was even with some of the customers helping out.

As an original member of the Mt. Bachelor National Ski Patrol in 1958, Staton, now 84, can reflect on how much things have changed.

“Most everything was done by hand,” says Staton, who lives in La Pine. “There wasn’t any equipment for grooming or anything. We’d groom a run by tromping down the hill.”

Now the resort has an army of machines to groom more than 60 runs a day, and the ski patrol can focus on other concerns.

The nonprofit Mt. Bachelor National Ski Patrol — a 90-member volunteer organization whose members work weekends to supplement the paid “pro” patrol staff of 25 — has evolved dramatically over the past 50-plus years. Unchanged, however, is the most important quality of a good patroller: the desire to help fellow skiers and snowboarders.

And the ski patrol is looking for a few snowriders with that desire. A ski evaluation for those interested in joining the ski patrol is scheduled for Sunday, April 17, at Mt. Bachelor ski area. Participants — who can be alpine skiers, telemark skiers or snowboarders — must demonstrate the ability to ride any terrain on the mountain.

The ski patrol typically selects 15 or so men and women from the season’s evaluations to move forward into Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) training, which is conducted two nights per week from August through November. Then, the candidates move onto the mountain to train with toboggans (used to transport injured skiers) and patrol with a partner for much of their first season.

“We’re very highly trained when it comes to emergency skills,” says Bend’s Rob Weiss, 50, the candidate training director for the Mt. Bachelor National Ski Patrol. “You have to have that desire to ramp up your skills. There’s so many people that want to participate, but because of the time constraints of that first year, they just can’t do it.”

About a dozen new patrollers are added to the volunteer staff each year. Once they make it through the challenging first season, each patroller is required to work 18 days per season, all on weekends. They receive a free season pass.

Like most other volunteer National Ski Patrol groups at large ski resorts in the United States, the Mt. Bachelor organization works in cooperation with the resort’s paid patrollers.

The National Ski Patrol (NSP) was founded in 1938 and now boasts nearly 30,000 members serving more than 600 patrols.

The Bachelor NSP is divided into three disciplines: alpine, nordic and auxiliary. Nordic patrollers provide emergency and medical coverage on Bachelor’s nordic trails, while auxiliary patrollers provide medical services in the two aid rooms at Mt. Bachelor.

Currently, the greatest patrol need at Bachelor is for alpine.

“Honestly, in Central Oregon, there’s no shortage of good skiers and riders, because we’re a few minutes away from (Bachelor),” says Bend’s David Dattke, 40, an alpine patroller and the communications director for Mt. Bachelor NSP. “They’ve skied the backside, they’ve skied the west bowls from Northwest (chairlift), so they already know the mountain pretty well. You have to know exactly where you are on that mountain at all times. Because if you get a call, you have to say where you are.”

A typical day on the hill for an alpine patroller starts with the morning meeting, at which patrollers discuss weather, snow conditions and what to expect. (Only pro patrollers conduct avalanche safety work, which includes use of explosives).

Volunteer patrollers check each run for hazards exposed by the previous night’s grooming activity, Weiss says. Terrain parks are roped off, family skiing areas are marked and all signs are cleared of rime and snow.

“Once setup is good, we’re there to patrol,” Dattke says. “We’re waiting for the call. We have a radio. It’s a well-oiled machine. When an incident happens, it’s amazing how fast there’s four other patrollers around the patient.”

Patrollers give directions, help find lost skiers, treat injured skiers and assist them off the mountain, according to Dattke. Once the lifts close for the day patrollers sweep each run to ensure all guests have made it safely to the parking lot.

Weiss says every day is different.

“We train to be ready for that worst-case scenario,” he explains. “We know we’re ready. It’s a high-velocity sport. There is a propensity for impact and trauma, and we all know it. We all have war stories, and we all learn from each other’s experiences.

“A lot of stuff happens on that mountain.”

Dattke says the worst incidents to which he has responded are those that involve two snowriders colliding with each other.

Working on such traumatic cases, and training constantly together, forms a tight bond among the patrollers.

“We’re just a big family,” Weiss says.

“I’ve only been doing it a couple years, but some of my best friends are from the patrol,” Dattke adds.

Staton has enjoyed his own ski patrol friends for more than 50 years. He still attends patrol meetings and continues the required training each year, though he is no longer on active duty. Even in his mid-80s, he tries to ski twice a week.

“It’s grown tremendously, and the knowledge that we have now and are teaching to our incoming patrollers is so much greater than it was back then,” Staton says, comparing today’s training with the ski patrol instruction of yesteryear. “At that time, I had no training in first aid so I took a course and went on to learn a lot more (with the ski patrol), I’ll tell ya. It was the best decision I ever made in my life. It’s been a lot of fun over the years.”

Ski evaluation for the Mt. Bachelor National Ski Patrol

What: The nonprofit Mt. Bachelor National Ski Patrol is conducting its annual ski evaluation for those interested in joining the volunteer organization; NSP is recruiting for all disciplines: alpine patrol, nordic patrol and auxiliary patrol (indoor clinical work); alpine patrol is open to all downhill techniques including alpine skiing, snowboarding and alpine touring/telemark skiing; this is the final ski evaluation offered this ski season

Where: Mt. Bachelor “Sprung” (large white tent in the West Village Parking Lot just west of the ticket sales building)

When: Sunday, April 17, at 9 a.m.; candidates should plan to spend most of the day on the mountain

Contact: Rob Weiss at mt.bnsp.training@gmail.com