Winter use of Crater Lake National Park continued to increase during the late 1930s, thus prompting the Park Service to upgrade its public service, health, and safety standards during the winter months. These efforts, which had been commenced during the winter of 1937-38, were finalized during 1938-39. Thus in April 1939 Superintendent Leavitt reported that the past winter had been the first “where the standards of the National Park Service were met in connection with public service,public health, and public safety.” In elaborating on this theme observed:
The increased cost to the government in the past two winters in the operation of Crater Lake National Park has not been due to demands of the public because these demands have been kept to a minimum. The increased costs have been necessitated by the Service’s own standards of public service, health, and safety. By public service I mean keeping the roads in reasonably safe condition for winter travel by proper removal of snow, sanding bad areas to a limited extent, and by regular patrols to assist visitors who get into difficulties. Also providing adequate parking space for automobiles. Under the head of public service, we have for the first time this past winter provided modern comfort stations at the rim of Crater Lake and at Park Headquarters. These are electrically lighted and electrically heated and tunnel entrances were built between the plowed out roadway and the doorway to these comfort station buildings. The park never previously had such a service.
Special precautions were taken at the rim of the lake to prevent visitors from slipping on the icy snow within the crater wall and being dashed to pieces on the slopes below. An accident of this kind occurred on Memorial Day two years ago in which a young girl lost her life. During the winter of 1937-38 a section of the rim area opposite the parking space was roped off. This was insufficient. During the past winter a rope was stretched from the Crater Lake Lodge to a point northward beyond the area ordinarily devoted to winter sports activities. Signs and flags were placed on this rope at regular intervals, the signs reading, “Danger, do not pass beyond this point”.
Crater Lake had more serious accidents this past winter than ever before due to novices trying ski trails that had been laid out for experts. We had both an expert trail and a novice trail properly signed, and one long trail leading from the rim of the lake to Annie Springs.
The Park Service had to be prepared to handle these accidents when they occurred. It was, therefore, necessary to purchase two toboganns specially equipped for handling basket type stretchers in order to go to the assistance of injured visitors who were usually quite some distance from the road. It was necessary to buy several pairs of skis for the official use of our park rangers. Every member of our organization completed the Red Cross First Aid course and rendered very effective and efficient service whenever accidents occurred.
In addition arrangements had to be made to see that a physician or surgeon was in the park on week ends of heavy travel and prepared to render service in the case of serious accidents. Arrangements were made with the Indian Service to provide necessary narcotics for hypodermics to be kept at the park for use of qualified physicians when necessary.
By contracting our dining hall, visitors have been furnished with regular or short order meals during the past two winters at rates that were reasonable. The food was excellent in quality and well prepared and seasoned.
As the dining hall houses the kitchen, dining room, and living quarters of the dining hail staff on the lower floor, and the park employees who do not have their families with them, on the upper floor, this building is kept serviced and heated 24 hours a day. Wash rooms and sanitary facilities were available for a much larger force than the park used. It was, therefore, easy to arrange the dormitory space on the second floor to accommodate 18 women, and on the third floor, to accommodate 24 men; thus the government, working through the dining hall operator, was able to furnish a cot and matress to overnight visitors at a charge of 25 cents, the visitor providing his own bed roll. Over night accommodations were accepted up to the capacity of these dormitories, reservations being made by the dining hall operator in the order of receipt of application.
In addition a permit was granted to the Yellow Cab Company to operate up to five taxicabs in transporting visitors from Medford to the park during the winter. [42]
