Meet Caroline Stone, Avy Dog Trainer

Caroline Stone was skiing from the time she could walk. Her mother first took Stone to nearby Mount Snow Ski Resort in Vermont when she was 18 months old and, by age ten, Stone was ski racing. It’s no surprise that the adult Stone, one year after graduating with a degree in Business Marketing and Economics from the University of Colorado, would eschew a corporate career to try out for Vail Resort’s ski patrol. Now in her seventh year with the Vail Ski Patrol, Stone is the resort’s first female avalanche dog owner/handler.

Age: 30
Stomping ground: Vail, Colorado
Job: Ski Patrol

Photo courtesy of Vail Resorts

When did you first become interested in ski patrol?
I started working as a ski instructor at Mount Snow when I was 15. And even before then, I really admired the resort’s ski patrollers for being such strong skiers. I’d see them on the slopes and then hanging out at Cuzzins Bar during après. To me, they were the cool guys on the mountain. As I got older, I became increasingly interested in the medical side, so when I decided I wanted to work on the mountain again, ski patrol was my first choice.

How did you get involved with avalanche dogs?
I’ve loved dogs ever since I was a kid growing up in Fairfield, Connecticut, but we never had one because my family was always traveling to Vermont to ski. After a year with Vail Ski Patrol, my boss, Chris Reeder, who goes by the nickname Mongo, started the resort’s first avy dog program with his golden retriever, Henry. That dog loved me—I was his favorite person. Mongo asked me to be Henry’s assistant handler. I did that for three years as part of my patrol responsibilities. By then, the avy dog program was going so well that the resort wanted to expand it. I think Mongo wanted me to stay as Henry’s secondary handler because we had such a good connection, but I really wanted my own dog. Mookie, a black Labrador, was born on May 5, 2011. We started training as soon as he was old enough.

What’s the avalanche dog certification like?
Mookie and I had to daylight—which means locate and dig out—two “victims” buried in six feet of snow somewhere in a 200-by-200-meter area. And we had to do it in 30 minutes or less. We spent two seasons doing practice drills at Vail and went to a couple training programs, including the four-day Wasatch Backcountry Rescue International Dog School in Utah, which is pretty much the best in the country. Mookie learned to ride in helicopters and identify a person buried in snow based on scent. When it came time for the certification test this past March, I felt like we were ready. Mookie must have felt otherwise because he did so badly that we failed. He just wasn’t himself, like he was sick or something. I was really nervous at the re-test the following week because you only get two chances to pass. If we failed a second time, we’d have to wait until next year to try again. Fortunately, Mookie was back to his old self. He scented the first person before I even had my skis on. It was in under a minute that he daylighted that first person, and the second person was around 4 minutes. We cleared the whole scene in 12 minutes. It was awesome. I think the handlers actually have a harder time than the dogs. Mookie is a natural—he has a great nose, and loves to play the “find it” game. It’s definitely easier for him to find a victim than it is for me to learn to read him and train him.

Caroline Stone and Mookie practice the “find it” game. Photo courtesy of Vail Resorts

What is a typical day like on the mountain with Mookie?
We always start out in the Lower Patrol Room for the daily morning meeting. Then we ride the gondola up the mountain and head to whatever outpost we’re stationed at that day. I let Mookie run around for a bit and then put him inside to do my trail checks and other patrol tasks. Then we’ll work some drills. I try to recruit a volunteer victim from the staff or even a guest. I look for enthusiastic people who can sustain a long game of tug-of-war after Mookie unburies them—it’s his favorite reward. If I can’t rally someone, I’ll bury one of the stinky wool blankets that patrollers sit on all day. It’s called a scent drill and simulates a deep burial. But I think actual people are best because they can reinforce Mookie’s reward by playing with him. It’s critical that finding people is his favorite game ever. At the end of the day, we ride the chairlift down together and he joins me at Vendetta’s for après. Of course all that can change now that he’s a certified avy dog. Colorado has a notoriously tender snowpack, and if an avalanche happens, they contact the closest avy dog/handler team. This season, it could be us.

Are there any downsides to being an avy dog handler?
It’s different from regular patrol because you get taken out of the system a lot during the day. We have a lot of camaraderie on our ski patrol team and everyone works really hard and they’re all sure to give me a bunch of crap because I get out of certain tasks. Like the end-of-the-day sweep to make sure no one is left on the mountain—I typically don’t do it because I need to take Mookie down on the chairlift. So I guess you could say I get teased more.

What’s your favorite on-the-job experience with Mookie?
The day we passed the certification test. We passed it at the same time as another Vail Ski Patrol team member, John, and his dog, Rocky. Plus, Mongo was there to see it, and he’s been my mentor in all this, and it was just a really great moment. That and I get to bring my dog to work every day, which is really cool.

What’s the biggest benefit of having avy dogs as part of ski patrol?
The ability to rescue someone in an avalanche or provide closure for a family by recovering the body of a loved one is obviously a big part of it. But on a more day-to-day basis, Mookie is great for public relations. He gives ski patrol a good name and a friendly face, and helps people connect more with us on the mountain. The best part though, is Mookie’s effect on ski patrol morale. He just makes everyone happy at work.

This interview was originally published in Women’s Adventure magazine‘s Winter 2013-14 issue.

Category: Snow Sports