Ski patrollers gather at Mt. Bachelor ski area in 2021.

For all the beauty that comes with skiing and snowboarding, there is one undeniable reality along for the ride. They are inherently risky sports and at times, can be dangerous.

The risks do not deter thousands from traveling to Mt. Bachelor ski area, which just experienced its deadliest winter on record since 2018.

While some accidents are entirely unavoidable, it is possible through community outreach and education to help avoid certain accidents, which was part of the message during a safety clinic hosted by the National Ski Patrol near the Pine Marten chairlift behind the West Village Lodge at Mt. Bachelor on Saturday.

The event, according to ski patrol volunteers, was the first ski patrol safety outreach event of the season, but the hope is to put on similar events more frequently throughout the ski season.

“People are going to fall. We can’t avoid that,” said Eric Brittingham, patrol director for the National Ski Patrol at Mt. Bachelor. “But we can avoid the collisions. We can avoid people falling into tree wells. By education.”

Brittingham said on a typical day, and depending on snow conditions, there will be anywhere from 10-30 incidents that require ski patrol involvement. Most of these accidents are minor shoulder or knee injuries from falls, he said. He added some people miss a jump on a run and get a sprain, or get knocked out. He urged skiers and snowboarders to make sure they don’t ski outside their abilities, and to constantly be aware of their surroundings.

The people who are in charge of keeping skiers safe on the mountain include the National Ski Patrol, a national organization staffed by volunteers, and the Mt. Bachelor Pro Patrol, which is made up of patrollers employed directly by Mt. Bachelor. At the Saturday event, ski patrol volunteers educated the public on safety at the tail end of a season in which three people died and another was seriously injured.

The first death of the season was Birkan Uzun, a 28-year-old Seattle man who died after falling into a tree well on Dec. 31. Mt. Bachelor says on its tree-well safety page that the best way to avoid tree-well risk is to always ski or ride with a friend in sight, or stick to open, groomed runs.

“We do a lot of tree-well education,” said Colleen Park, a volunteer with the National Ski Patrol and member of the ski patrol safety committee, which helped put on the event. “And then the collision education and reminding people to slow down.”

Speed was a contributing factor in the second death of the season, when a 66-year-old Bend man, Thomas Schuberg, died after tumbling and sliding down the slope and crashing into a downed log outside the groomed area of a ski run on Feb. 11. According to a Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office death report, multiple witnesses said Schuberg was skiing in excess of 40 or 50 mph leading up to his death.

In addition to speed, ice was another hazard on the mountain ski patrol volunteers pointed out on Saturday.

“It is an unforgiving surface when it’s icy out,” said Kym Lavell, a volunteer for the National Ski Patrol and a member of the ski patrol safety committee who also helped plan the event.

A day after Schuberg’s death, Thomas Speer, a 60-year-old Bend man, and former Mt. Bachelor employee, died after crashing into a tree at high speeds. The sheriff’s office said icy conditions and speed contributed to Speer’s death.

Lavell said when conditions at the ski area are icy and sunny, skiers tend to ski a lot faster, potentially leading to more accidents. Typically, he said, people who ski and fall in icy conditions will suffer minor shoulder injuries.

Collisions are another hazard on the mountain, and the most avoidable, and Lavell said being constantly aware of one’s surroundings is the main way to avoid collisions with other skiers and snowboarders.

The National Ski Areas Association said there were 41 catastrophic incidents reported at U.S. ski areas during the 2020-21 winter season. The majority of those catastrophic incidents resulted from collisions with trees.

Lavell said he would like to see more safety awareness events to help prevent serious accidents and deaths like those that occurred this season.

“Those are horrible events, and we hate that,” Lavell said. “But sometimes it happens, and if we could raise awareness and keep people safer that is really why we are doing it.”

Lavell said accidents this season were not what motivated the ski patrol to put on the safety event, but as dedicated patrollers, preventing serious accidents through outreach makes the most sense.

“We feel that these events help move the bar in increasing safety awareness in the skiing public,” Lavell added.

In a passholder newsletter written by Mt. Bachelor President and General Manager John McLeod last month, the question of safety on the mountain in light of the number of catastrophic events this season was front and center.

In the newsletter, McLeod pointed out the deaths of three people served as a reminder to all who enjoy the mountain of the risks that accompany the sport.

“I am very aware that the tragic events I referred to earlier along with what many have observed this season with the extended high pressure and accompanying increase in skier and rider density on our groomed runs have caused some to wonder “is our mountain safe?” McLeod said.

McLeod said Mt. Bachelor follows ski industry best practices to educate and inform every guest of the dangers on the mountain and the inherent risk associated with skiing and snowboarding.

“Our patrol and management team does engage and enforce our policies with guests who are skiing and riding in an irresponsible manner,” McLeod said. “We can, and do pull passes from guests who are unwilling to comply with our skier and rider safety code.”

Dustin Fletcher, spokesperson for Mt. Bachelor, said Mt. Bachelor holds a safety awareness campaign each January that lasts the entire month. The campaign includes safety events, avalanche dog demos, travel to and from the mountain and other relevant topics related to safety.

Fletcher said safety is Mt. Bachelor’s No. 1 priority, and that the ski area takes the time to learn as much as possible with each incident.

“Continued education and messaging is our most effective tool in promoting skier and rider safety,” Fletcher told The Bulletin in an email. “In particular, and specific to the circumstances surrounding these tragic incidents we constantly remind our guests to follow the Skier’s Responsibility Code as the best means for creating a safer skiing experience for themselves and others enjoying Mt. Bachelor.”