As told to or remembered by Shirley Cummings

The Hyak Ski Patrol is a non-profit organization dedicated to rescue, emergency care and public safety for Summit at Snoqualmie guests at the Summit East/Hyak ski area.  Throughout the years the ski area at Hyak has had many name changes: Snoqualmie Ski Bowl, Milwaukee Ski Bowl, Ski Bowl, Hyak, Mt Hyak, back to Hyak, Pacific West, back to Hyak again, and the current area name, Summit East.  Despite all the area name changes, the patrol name—Hyak Ski Patrol—has remained a constant.  The Hyak Ski Patrol is one of over 650 patrols in the National Ski Patrol system, a federally chartered organization whose members number approximately 30,000 patrollers.

Dedicated to providing “safety, service and rescue”, The Hyak Ski Patrol is “first on” the slopes in the morning and “last off” when we sweep the hill at night.  We are an organization of volunteers who love the mountains, love winter snow sports and love helping others.  Locally, we are composed of alpine and Nordic patrollers, skiers and snowboarder/riders, young and old, male and female, some single and some married, some with families and some without.   What we have in common is a sense of compassion for the sick and injured and an educational background to treat those injuries and illnesses. We maintain snow transportation skills to move our patients off the hill to advanced medical care.  It is our common educational bond (the NSP Outdoor Emergency Care course), our love of the winter outdoor sports and our shared sense of compassion that has endured from when the Hyak Ski Patrol was founded to present day.

The Hyak Ski Area (also known as Summit East) is located at the east side of Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State; it is just off Interstate 90 at Exit 54.  Hyak is the hidden gem of the Summit at Snoqualmie Ski Resort with tree-lined runs, powder stashes, lots of cruisers and the Nordic Center.  Hyak is known to locals as always having lots of untracked terrain, shorter lift lines and fantastic views of Lake Keechelus and many surrounding mountains.

HISTORY

Since the early 1900’s skiers have been coming to Hyak and Snoqualmie Pass.  Because of its many local Norwegian immigrants, ski jumping was very popular in our region…although for most people it was a spectator rather than a participant sport.  Nordic skiing/jumping and cross-country racing were the only ski sports offered in the first Olympics which were held in 1924.  The 1936 Winter Olympics were the first to include alpine skiing (slalom and downhill).  The ski bowl at Hyak was originally called the Snoqualmie Ski Bowl but after World War II, the Snoqualmie Ski Bowl was re-named the Milwaukee Ski Bowl; it boasted that it had the largest ski jump in North America when the Olympic Ski Trials were held there in 1947.    This ski bowl is still visible from Hyak’s cross country trails.

Hyak was the main railroad stop on Snoqualmie Pass.

In the late 1930’s, Minot (“Minnie”) Dole founded the National Ski Patrol System.  Dole’s actions grew out of his breaking an ankle at Stowe, Vermont and having no one to rescue him except his friend, Frank Edson, and a near-by skier who would use a piece of corrugated tin to get Dole off the mountain.  Very soon after, Dole’s friend Frank died in a ski race.  Those two incidents made a big impression on Dole prompting him to eventually found the NSPS (originally known as the National Ski Patrol System) in 1938.

Minnie Dole was also responsible for establishing the 10^th Mountain Division.  After convincing Army bureaucrats that “it would be easier to make a soldier out of a skier than a skier out of a soldier”, the US Army agreed, and the 10^th Mountain Division was born.  These soldiers wore camouflage gear—white clothing, white hats, white boots, white skis, white goggles and brown guns.  From a distance they looked like a forest with snow on the trees.  The 10^th Mountain Division was the only unit of its size to receive specialized training to fight in mountain and artic conditions.  The 10^th Mountain Division was charged with screening all applicants for this unique and elite unit.  Much of the early training for the 10^th Mountain was done on Mt Rainier.  Many of those 10^th Mountain Division members later came home, established ski areas across the United States and contributed to the growth of skiing as a sport.

All white uniform of the 10^th Mountain Division.

In the early days of the 1930’s, Hyak was well known throughout the Northwest; it was very popular as a skiing destination because the train ride was such a fun way to get to the ski area.  Skiers would hike uphill each time to ski down.  In 1938, skiing in the Pacific Northwest was revolutionized with the opening of the Snoqualmie Ski Bowl at Hyak.  The railroad—Milwaukee, Pacific, Chicago, St Paul—known as Milwaukee Road– had built a 2.3-mile tunnel under the pass to avoid the snow that was closing its surface tracks.  Hyak, a rail stop, was at the eastern end of that tunnel and was where they decided to open a new ski area; originally, it was known as the “Snoqualmie Ski Bowl”, later it became “The Milwaukee Ski Bowl”.   Located 2 hours by train from Seattle and Tacoma, the Ski Bowl with its modern lodge and “J-bar” (an overhead cable ski lift) quickly became a popular destination for skiers.  Getting to the ski area was almost as much fun as skiing there because the train had a food car, “reserved seating”, a jukebox car with dancing and a hot-ski-waxing-car set up with hot irons.  Skiers were then flocking to ski areas throughout the US.  Skiing was a growing sport and big changes were on the way.  

In 1941 a Class-A national ski jump was built at Hyak.  That site became a pre-qualifying area for Olympic Ski Jumping competitions; it was known then as the largest ski jump in North America.  National ski jumping competitions were held on this site from 1941 until 1949 when the lodge was lost to fire.  That same jumping site can be viewed today from Hyak along the Cold Creek Nordic Trail.

Largest ski jump in the United States was at Milwaukee Ski Bowl.

Skiboggan lift with Milwaukee Lodge in background.

Skiboggan

For a brief time during World War II, Hyak was closed.  After the war, the area re-opened.  Now it had the famous “Tally-ho Skiboggan” (also known as the “Skigram”).   This was the first high-capacity ski lift on Snoqualmie Pass.  The Skiboggan/Skigram was a huge double sled carrying as many as 32 standing skiers up the mountain.  A new rope tow was also available to those who wanted to go even higher.  While in college at the UW, my mother was one of those frequent ski train riders.  She remembered the dancing, singing and the fun times she had with her friends. 

My mom had very long wooden pointed tip skis with bear trap bindings; these were my first skis when I started skiing at age 14.  The following year in 1959, Web Moffett gave me my first job—cashiering at the Thunderbird Lodge on the top of Snoqualmie Pass Ski Area.  After work, many times patrollers would bring me, other employees and various supplies down the mountain in their toboggans.

Cars made after World War II were more comfortable and made

getting to the mountains more enjoyable. 

The Hyak Era

In 1959, a group of Seattle banking investors known as the Hyak Ski Corporation purchased land just north of where the old Milwaukee Ski Bowl had been located and opened the ski area which they named Hyak.  John Hight, a patroller at Snoqualmie Pass who had joined the NSPS in 1938, was asked to come to Hyak and be the first patrol director.  Before coming to Hyak, John received his National Appointment; it was during World War II and was presented to him by his commanding officer aboard a Navy ship while in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  John was tasked with recruiting a crew of experienced patrollers.   Some of those early Hyak patrollers had been members of the 10^th Mountain Division.   Using some of their army know-how, the soldiers hauled two small, old railroad service/office buildings to the present site.  Originally these buildings were used as a ski rental shop and a ski school building; first aid was done at the rear of the lodge.  Eventually, a central wood stove was installed; gradually a men’s dorm was added, then a women’s dorm and a bathroom.  The current first aid room also served as a dorm at night. 

In the early 1960’s, my husband Gary Cummings and I joined the patrol along with Bill Brockway; all 3 of us are still senior alpine patrollers at Hyak today.  In those days, patrol requirements were to pass the “ski & toboggan test”, and to complete the American Red Cross Standard (8 hour) First Aid Course and the Advanced (20 hours) Course).

Patrol candidate Gary Cummings in front of the First Aid Building as it was in the 60’s.  

 During the 60’s, CPR was not known but Artificial Respiration skills were required; three methods were taught: a) Silvester (front-pressure arm lift); b) Schaefer (back-pressure arm lift straddling the patient prone) and Holger-Nielson (a back-pressure arm lift conducted from above the patient’s head).    All of them looked like a form of “leapfrog”.  Oxygen was rarely used in those days.  In the 1960s the Hyak roster numbered some 70 patrollers.

Holgier-Nielson Method Artificial Respiration…push on back lift up on arms.

During the 1960’s, some skiers still used the wooden pointed tip skis; many had the new-style wood skis they would paint with base wax, and “iron on” daily wax depending on the conditions.  Many of these same skiers would re-paint the edge-stripes on their wooden skis so that their mistakes of crossing tips or skiing over edges was less noticeable.  Those who wanted to spend about $100 purchased the black (Head) or blue (Hart) elitist metal skis.  There were fewer brands, so all skis were recognized by name.  Most common ski lengths were 200-220 cm.  The bindings were a mixed bag—to name a few: bear claw, Tyrolia, Marker, Besser Spademan (no locking heel where the foot kind of floated on the skis).  When the “leather long-thong” release straps became popular, we all thought it was a great invention…no more run-away skis breaking legs or causing internal injuries, just broken ankles now.  The boots during that era all started out as the lace-up type.  After that, they progressed to leather boots with buckles.  Next came the “double boot” and finally the “plastic boots” which all of us have today.

The very early toboggans for transporting patients were sleds which patrollers straddled.  These evolved into the dog sled which had the upgrade of a rear braking system.  Next came the Akia, a boat-like contraption with handles at each end.  Those Akjas were the sleds a few of our older patrollers trained on.  Akias were wooden slat platforms with an attached rescue basket and handles fore and aft.  The Sun Valley sled came next.  When the Cascade style toboggans (invented by Northwesterner Vic Bradley) arrived on scene, they were hailed for their fins and for the improved control.  These new Cascade sleds had front handles that carried a chain which could be dropped as a slowing mechanism as well as a tail rope for a rear patroller so that the weight of the transport could be shared.  Today many ski areas use the 4 handle Crystal Sled which was built by the Clark Boat Company and commissioned by Crystal patroller Paul Talbot.   At Hyak, we use both types of sleds.  In the past, we had some specific toboggan challenges. Because skiing was done on BOTH sides of the mountain, if someone was injured on the “back side, aka Hidden Valley”, that necessitated a system for securing the patient in an elevated toboggan onto the chairlift.  A patroller would then sit in the chairlift next to the elevated toboggan and ride the chair up the back side of the mountain and down the front side.  The ride up the hill was not so bad but going down was a bit scary.   Today, toboggans are hauled up the back side by snowmobile and then brought down the front side.

Toboggan used in other parts of the country before the new Hyak opened in 1959.

Sun Valley Sleds were used when Hyak began and during the 1960’s.  The base was made of wooden slats with a metal stokes liter secured to the base. Add front handles, a rear tail rope and you’re ready to roll.  

Hyak currently uses four handle sleds (the Crystal or the boat)

 and Cascades which have a flatter bottom and a tailrope.  

Shirley Cummings front handles, Jay Magruder rear handles, Jon Sullivan riding.

In 1960s, patrollers from Hyak were asked to transfer and form patrols for the new ski resorts at Crystal Mountain (1962) and Alpental (1965). To maintain the necessary numbers of patrollers at Hyak, a major recruiting campaign was begun to replace the patrollers who had left.  The ski area was especially appreciative of patrol efforts during this time—family season lift tickets and/or guest comp passes were given to patrollers along with discounted lodge food.  The area also often provided free Saturday night dinner for both patrollers and families.

Hyak had 2 rope tows then, “The Bunny” and “Spaghetti” ropes, and a Poma Lift.  Children who rode the Poma (like current patroller Sally Bankson and my kids) would be lifted up off the ground and ride the ski track in the air for the first 50-100 feet.   Communications were a real challenge then too.  No individual patrol radios were used as we have today.  We used our whistles to signal for a toboggan (3 shorts, toboggan needed at my whistle), 1 short whistle when the toboggan arrived…and a bunch of short bursts as we skied downhill with the toboggan…to let folks know they needed to make a path because a toboggan was coming through.  Next came CB radios and finally FM radios.  Finally, in 2019, our communication problems on the Hidden Valley side of the mountain and Nordic Trails seem to be solved.  The ski area has recently re-installed a repeater which provides better long-range reception and transmission for the back side of the mountain.

In those early days, we did not have “snowpackers”, the Thiokols and Bombardiers did not arrive till much later.  Part of patrol opening hill duties then were to “pack the hill”.  Hill grooming began each morning by having the ski patrol and some ski instructors hike up and slide-slip down in several parallel lines to create a “groomed run”.  To make the rope or poma lift an easier ride, patrollers would ride sideways up the lift to provide a smoothed-out track.  Toboggans were lap-carried up to the top and communications consisted of a crank telephone at top and bottom of the lift.  

In 1967, Joyce Hill (past Hyak patroller who had transferred to Crystal Mountain) and I (Shirley Cummings, Hyak Patroller) organized “Skiers Too/S-2”, which would become the first ski program in the United States for special-needs students.  It took a lot of planning and several years for everything to “click”.  With the help of the generous owners of the Hyak Ski Area and patrollers from several northwest ski patrols, “Skiers Too” was born.  Lots and lots of writing was involved over several years in submitting ideas to the ski area, the National Guard, ski rental shops, the Seattle School District, to parents of the special needs students and to participating patrols and patrollers.  Eventually, the concept was accepted:  the Hyak Ski Area provided free lift tickets on Wednesdays for our special-needs students (mental age 5-15 years, chronological age 12-25 years).   With help from Hyak patroller Earl Papac, the National Guard was contacted, and they provided free bus transportation for the special-needs students.  Free equipment was also provided (most of it donated by patrollers).  Each student was paired with a patroller for free one-on-one instruction; all instructor/patrollers were from NW Region patrols—regulars were from Hyak, Snoqualmie Pass, Ski Acres, Crystal Mountain and White Pass.  Patrollers from the Northwest Region are proud to have cooperated in this endeavor … proud to have started the first ski school in the USA for special-needs students”. We are very grateful to the Hyak Ski Area for making it possible.

In the 60’s, there were two levels of patrollers—locals and seniors.   Locals stayed mostly on the lower half of the mountain or they had to ski with a senior patroller.  A patroller who passed senior certification got a rocker patch for their parka and was able to ski anywhere on the mountain; they were also welcome to patrol as a visitor at any other patrol in the region and usually in the division.  Senior certification was and still is a prerequisite to receiving a national appointment designation.

Auxiliaries, now known as patrollers, worked only in the First Aid Room.  At one time Hyak had 12 auxiliaries, many of them were RNs and the aid room was super-efficient.  There were more patients than beds in those days, so patients were evaluated, treated and moved to the lodge to make way for the next patients.  For incidents, there was a lot less paperwork involved.  Patients were asked to sign their names to a running list of minor incidents with no other paperwork.  Today we have a 3-page form with multiple additional pages depending on the need for patroller comments and the severity of the incident.  At that time, numerous physicians (12-14) were also on patrol; they regularly provided sutures and reduced dislocations in the aid room when needed.  Currently, the area is working to convert all paperwork to computer.

In the 1970’s and 80’s, Hyak Ski Area changed hands several times.  Competition between ski resorts was huge.  Hyak offered several weekends of “24-hour lift tickets”, “$2 all day/all lifts” tickets and “noon to midnight” tickets.  The hardest part about being a patroller in those days was staying awake during the really long night shifts in the wee hours of the morning.  We would count the number of skiers on the lift and station someone to be at the bottom to count the number who returned to the bottom; that way, especially between 2-6 AM we did not have to keep skiing. In those days the Hyak Patrol was at its height—numbering 148 patrollers/MDs on the roster; we had 7 duty shift options a weekend.  Those were the days when all the Hyak parking lots were full of ski school buses, and we had 5 ski schools. Aid room patients numbered so many that they were treated and taken to the lodge to make way for new patients.

Gradually Hyak added chairlifts; by now there was a double “Hidden Valley Chair” (aka “Dinosaur”) which served both sides of the mountain and another double “Little Chair”.  The Poma Lift was replaced by a new double “Keechelus Chair” which went almost to mountain top.  The “Spaghetti Rope” and the “Bunny Ropes” were removed to make way for Nordic access and for what would eventually become 55 miles of Nordic trails.

Hyak has long had a patrol hut at mountain top to store toboggans, signs, ropes, etc.; the hut has also undergone changes over the years.  At one time, food and hot drinks were sold out of a big window.  The Hut is one of our patrol treasures.  Over the years it has been upgraded with a donated clothes dryer, microwave, coffee pot, benches, glass windows and best of all, a wood stove.  It was where many of us spent time during those “24-hour ski ticket day-nights” and where we discussed and solved world problems.  The Patrol Hut was recently dedicated as a memorial to patroller/patrol director Walt Langkait who died in 2017. The inside of the hut is now called Langkait’s Lair.

Dedication Day for the Walt Langkait hut. 

Walt’s widow, Kathie Buffington, and his children Cliff & Sherry are in in the front row center.  

Patrol uniforms have changed over the years.  Originally, we all wore navy blue stretch pants and rust parkas (with special parka prices for Northwest patrollers given by Sportcaster, a Seattle manufacturer with owner Gary Burke (patrol director/region director/division director owner).  Embroidered patches were added to the jacket sleeves and front to acknowledge the certifications a patroller had received—patroller, senior, national, Circle A, Circle M, Avalanche Patch, Mountaineering Patch, Alpine or Nordic, as well individual name badges, a ski area patch and/or pin of the ski area.  Most of the patrols also designed their own individual patrol sweaters.  Hyak’s sweaters were V-neck pullovers in an avalanche orange color.  Helmets for skiing were not used yet so individuality was expressed through a variety of hats, patches and pins.   Today, the uniform for most patrollers consists of red and black parkas (many colors of red and combos with black) and many jacket fabric types; there is no specification on color or fabric of pants.  Helmets today —any color—are required to patrol.  Fanny packs are still used by some; others use first aid back packs or vests with lots and lots of pockets for first aid supplies.

Maintaining and purchasing toboggans and first aid supplies was and continues to be a huge expense.  In those decades, patrols owned their own toboggans and radios, and they purchased all first aid supplies from an in-home warehouse maintained for the ski patrol’s Northwest Region by Crystal patroller, Bob Bauermeister.   Expenses were huge and that necessitated off-season and on-season fund-raising efforts.  To name a few, the Hyak Patrol fund-raising efforts have included delivering phone books door to door in Seattle, selling Entertainment Books, holding garage sales and car washes, sponsoring ski swaps, selling food and beverages at mountain top and selling hundreds of T-shirts, sweatshirts, golf shirts and patches which were produced for us at cost by Hyak patroller, Erik Lindstrom.  We received many donations, many were the result of our sending a follow-up postcard to every patient asking how they were doing.  In addition, we received an annual corporate donation for years via long-time patroller Gary Erikson, whose employer, Scott Paper/Kimberly Clark gave annually to support the patrol.  We no longer purchase the toboggans or the first aid supplies so our need for funds is much less, but we continue to sell some things especially to ourselves.  And in recent years several local businesses (Boeing, Microsoft, BlackRock, etc.) donate to the patrol for the hours their employees volunteer.

Over the years Hyak has been sold again and again and at times the ski area name has changed.  Some of these name changes have been Snoqualmie Ski Bowl, Milwaukee Ski Bowl, Ski Bowl, Hyak, Mt Hyak, back to Hyak, Pacific West, back to Hyak again, and the current area name, Summit East.  With sample Hyak Patrol roster numbers as a marker, the Hyak Patrol has gone from 30 to 60 to 80 to 148 to 70 to 26.  The low number of 26 members was our lowest number to date when new area owners announced that the size of the patrol needed to be drastically reduced.  Skiing and tobogganing tests were held.  Patrollers chosen had to have a good record of meeting their duty day assignments (1 day per week-end that the ski area was open); they also had to pass a steep slope ski & toboggan test.   Some of the patrollers who had to leave left huge voids in our training and operations staff.  After “the cut”, Hyak had 26 patrollers (19 Alpine and 7 Nordic).  The adjustment was very hard, but we all learned to work harder and to appreciate the skills of every single one of our 26.  Currently, the area has allowed the patrol to grow and our roster now numbers 42.  Throughout our history we have proudly carried the patrol registration number P008—we were the 8^th patrol registered in the Pacific Northwest Division National Ski Patrol System when they began assigning official registration numbers many years after 1938 when the first patrols were formed.  The area name has changed many, many times throughout the years, buildings and chairlifts have been added and removed but the Hyak Ski Patrol has remained a constant.

In 1972, an unfortunate ski lift accident would eventually lead to bankruptcy in 1977 for the old Hyak Ski Corporation.  In those days, it was possible for the lift operator to push a button and the chairlift would run “forward fast”, push another button and the lift could run “reverse fast” (never advised!).  On that ill-fated day, a failure of the diesel brake occurred; a lift operator pushed the reverse button and the chair ran backwards in fast mode throwing skiers off at the bull wheel.  Some skiers jumped and were hurt, some were tossed and were hurt.    What made the accident sensational was a that a local TV station was on scene and broadcasted the entire episode.   Partly because of the bad publicity and the lawsuits, the area declared bankruptcy in 1977.

Major changes came to the pass when Ski Lifts Inc. (who had originally owned only Snoqualmie Pass) purchased the adjoining areas; first, Ski Acres was purchased, then Alpental and finally in 1992 –Hyak. (The most recent name change for the ski area at Hyak came in 1997 when Ski Lifts Inc. sold all four of the Snoqualmie Pass ski areas to Booth Creek; the new owners decided to change the name again.  The conglomerate name of the four ski areas became Summit at Snoqualmie which is comprised of Summit West, Summit Central, Summit East, and Alpental (no one knows why they are not Summit North).   As of this writing in 2019, the Summit at Snoqualmie is owned by Boyne Resorts.

On January 7, 2009 Hyak was struck with what was originally termed an in-area on-hill Avalanche Disaster.  The fast-moving flood of snow mass came charging down the hill mid-week when the Hyak was closed; the slide took out 3 lift towers on the Keechelus Chair and damaged other towers.  It continued down the mountain and moved a large local mountain home several feet off its foundation; our past patrol director, Norm Craven, was inside that home at the time and was able to crawl out a window.  Fortunately, the avalanche happened mid-week on a Tuesday; had it happened three or four days earlier, many may have lost their lives.  The chunks of snow were as big as cars and huge old tree stumps (which had been used as “fill with dirt cover in a depression when the area was built”) littered the hill.  Rivers of mud covered the hill and a layer of mud covered the lodge floor.  It was surmised that the tree stumps and fill became saturated with water and initiated a mudslide.  So, what was originally termed an avalanche is now thought to have been a landslide/mudslide.  The ski area eventually decided to remove the damaged double Keechelus Chairlift and the double Small Chairlift, and they regraded the slide zone.  They also removed the double Dinosaur Chairlift and replaced it with a triple chair, the East Peak Chair.   So now there are 2 chairlifts, East Peak and Hidden Valley, one on each side of the mountain.  More recently, the new Rampart Ridge quad chair was installed to access trails to the North and to serve skiers coming over on the Cross Over trail from Summit Central.   

A huge mudslide (originally termed an avalanche, closed the ski area for the rest of the ’09 season.   

The slide also moved the home of our former patrol director Norm Craven off its foundation.

 The destroyed Keechelus Chairlift, lift towers and mud slide are in the background. 

Soon the ski area bounced back and so did the ski patrol.  The Keechelus chair and small chair were replaced with the triple East Peak chair which goes all the way to mountain top.  The quad Rampart chair was added and carries riders to the top of Blowdown.   The Hidden Valley chair has been upgraded to handle higher capacity.  The ski patrol now has more ski runs and more terrain to patrol; every year we add candidates who become members of the Hyak Family.

TODAY

Once open regularly until mid-night, the ski area is now open only weekends and during Christmas week, and on holidays.  We no longer have night-skiing lights.  However, now our building has an enlarged kitchen (instead of a door we could open into the snowbank to make shelves to keep things cold), 3 picnic tables, 2 dorms, 2 bathrooms and a shower!  And along with our First Aid Room, the building is a palace compared to the early years.  Our building is still not much to look at with its numerous patches, sagging ceiling and peeling paint, but we love the Hyak patrol building for its ability to support the work we all love and to bring friends and families together. Today patrol enthusiasm is very high.  We have recently been named the Outstanding Ski Patrol in both the Northwest Region and the Pacific Northwest Division.  The Hyak Patrol has seen lots of changes throughout the years and many patrollers have come and gone.  Most consider volunteering with the ski patrol to be a calling and fondly recall their friends and patrol experiences.  And most important, we all agree that even though the weather and the snow might be bad, skiing and patrolling at Hyak is always good! 

Hope You’ll Come Join Us!

Photo credit is given to The Museum of History & Industry, to Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass 

published internet photos and to Milwaukee Road Historical Association.