Ski patrol member watches over park: Niel Barrett is a charter member of the ski patrol at Crater Lake National Park
Herald and News
Klamath Falls, Oregon
January 30, 2009
By LEE JUILLERAT
H&N Regional Editor
When the Crater Lake Ski Patrol was created 26 years ago, Barrett was a charter member. Years later, he’s still part of the group.CRATER LAKE — Niel Barrett doesn’t live at Crater Lake National Park. It just seems like it.
Patrollers assist park rangers by signing cross country ski trails, checking for avalanche danger, tackling various special projects and making contact with winter visitors, especially cross country skiers and snowshoers.
Last winter, Barrett spent 23 days at the park and logged 250 miles while doing ski patrol tasks. When a “Good Morning America” film crew wanted to shoot footage from the rim — on a day when snowstorms closed the rim from park headquarters to Rim Village— Barrett organized a team to break trail for the camera team.
Whenever the ski patrol puts on one of its frequent courses — members are required to spend at least two weekends training and three weekends on patrol — the 52-year-old Barrett, who lives in Klamath Falls, is often one of the instructors.
His first park visit was in 1975 with his brother, Alan.
“He dragged me out one day. I bought some skis from Ed (Beverly, the owner of the former High Chalet outdoor store) — wooden skis, back when you had to know the witch doctor to know which wax to use.”
Giving back
He’s kept returning, as an individual and as a ski patroller, because he loves the lake, and he wants to give back to the sport of cross country skiing.
While he makes year-round visits to the park, Barrett regards winter as special.
“The lake itself. The views,” he says. “As skiing goes, it’s the massive terrain and many trails. There’s something for every kind of ski day. Unlike the summer, when it’s wall-to-wall tourists, you have the park pretty much to yourself. There’s nobody around.”
That doesn’t mean Barrett doesn’t like company, especially the camaraderie and diversity of other skiers and ski patrol members.
Respecting winter
His frequent winter visits have taught him to respect the quickly changeable weather.
“You just have to be prepared. It can be the most beautiful day, and the birds are singing, and the next day a storm moves in.”
Just as the weather can quickly change, so can skiing conditions.
First-time visitors
Barrett takes pride in being a ski patrol member, but he also savors meeting first-time visitors, and sharing his still unquenched love for the park and lake.
“Most Oregonians have been here, but it’s the people from other states and countries who are seeing the lake for the first time that I like,” Barrett says. “It’s the ‘Wow!’ factor. They’ve never seen this kind of snowpack. And the lake itself.”
Other pages in this section
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- OIT Environmental Science Students Learn at Crater Lake – Oct. 22, 2009
- Three missing people found: hunters, mushroom hunter located Saturday – October 18, 2009
- Crater Lake Wilderness: Oregon’s ‘best idea’ needs protection – October 17, 2009
- Wet weather ends fire season around region – October 13, 2009
- Roosevelt historian: He was a ‘thinker’; Brinkley will share stories from new book inaugural lecture – October 12, 2009
- Prescribed burn postponed at Crater Lake: Park Service to wait until forecasts are more favorable – October 9, 2009
- Prescribed burns set for next few months: Agencies will burn nearly 15,000 acres, mostly in Jackson, Josephine counties – October 9, 2009
- Search exercise to cover area where boy was lost – September 11, 2009
- National Park Service Announces Appointment of Dr. Gary Machlis as Science Advisor to the Director – August 12, 2009
- Extra pair pays off in Crater Lake Rim Runs – August 9, 2009
- Wilderness proposed at Crater Lake – August 07, 2009
- Oregon Wild warns legal action on Crater Lake helicopters – August 6, 2009
- Cantwell: Jarvis Well-Qualified for the ‘Greatest Job in the World’ – July 28, 2008
- Senator Wyden issues statement condemning Crater Lake National park helicopter tours – July 27, 2009
- Desert Ridge Wildland Fire continues burning at Crater Lake National Park – July 21, 2009
- Whitney Wildland Fire nears containment at Crater Lake National Park – July 21, 2009
- Cameron (Cam) Sholly has been selected as the new superintendent of Natchez Trace Parkway – July 15, 2009
- Rep. Dicks supports Jon Jarvis for nomination of National Park Service Director – July 10, 2009
- USGS volcanologist Charles Bacon gives Mount Mazama geologic history talk – June 23, 2009
- USGS volcanologist Charles Bacon receives award at Crater Lake National Park – July 8, 2009
- Review: Geologic Map of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Oregon by Charles R. Bacon – July 7, 2009
- Free entrance weekends at Crater Lake National Park – June 20, 2009
- Oregon Congressman Proposes “Aerial Gondola” to Wizard Island – Summer/Fall 2009
- Lichen Survey Hits the Jackpot One-Day “BioBlitz” Uncovers 61 Species Not Previously Recorded at Crater Lake – Summer/Fall 2009
- A Conversation with the Park’s Chief of Terrestrial Ecology – Summer/Fall 2009
- Black Bear Census Set to Begin: Park to Estimate Population Using Hair Samples and DNA – Summer/Fall 2009
- A promise fulfilled on roadless forests – May 28, 2009
- Crater Lake Lodge opens for 2009 season – May 21, 2009
- Marcella Isabella Stine (1918 – 2009) – May 22, 2009
- Lawrence Campbell Merriam Jr. (1923 – 2008) – May 22, 2009
- Wayne R. Howe: 1920 – 2008 – May 21, 2009
- Passing of John Bowdler (1925 – 2009) – May 4, 2009
- Parks receive stimulus funds: Crater Lake, Lava Beds to use funding for improvements – April 24, 2009
- Mercy Flights makes life-saving donation to Crater Lake park – February 24, 2009
- Rescue at Crater Lake: specialized rescue team saves man from icy slope – February 2, 2009
- Former National Park Service director George B. Hartzog Jr. dies – January 31, 2009
- Paradise in Blue: Snowshoe trek at Crater Lake informative, easy, free – January 22, 2009
When the Crater Lake Ski Patrol was created 26 years ago, Barrett was a charter member. Years later, he’s still part of the group.CRATER LAKE — Niel Barrett doesn’t live at Crater Lake National Park. It just seems like it.