Radio Channels in use by Patrol

[SkiVideoGuy]

We bring some radios along on our trips to SB and use them to communicate amongst 3 couples. Some of us will ski Castlerock and sometimes ski bits and pieces of the woods. Never alone of course. What radio channels does ski patrol monitor for distress calls? Are there other channels which we should avoid used by mountain ops, groomers etc so as not to annoy people trying to get their jobs done? We usually ski Sunday through Wednesday and sometimes traffic can be pretty thin. Would be good to know patrols channel in case of our own problems or to report a skier/rider in distress.

[shadyjay]

I believe a lift tower poster said patrol monitors talkabout radios channel 9 / subchannel 11 (911).

[SkiVideoGuy]

Great, thanks.

How's the Verizon reception around the mountain these days? Are phones reliable anywhere/everywhere on the mountain?

[Hawk]

Yes 9-11 works. Verizon works fine except at Allyns I think the hill at the top of Bravo lift blocks the signal. Also Verizon does not work in Slidebrook.

[SkiVideoGuy]

Thanks guys. Have skied all the trails on the trail map, some of the woods. Have yet to venture into Slidebrook but would like to do that sometime while we are up March 9-23 if the snow is ample and I can swing a guide or otherwise find somebody who knows their way around. Will try and spend more time in the woods when I'm up in early February.

Think Cold/Snow!

[pcampbell]

I noticed that sign. Channel 9 is an FRS channel., 1/2 watt on UHF. It is not going to go very far unfortunately. Would be nice if there were something universal that had a little more power.

What kind of radios do you use?

[SkiVideoGuy]

We have a pair of Midland GXT710 w 26 mile range (in Kansas). I've been atop Heaven's Gate and reached my wife in the lodge before. Same goes for top of Summit Quad reaching the lodge at ME. Not 100% everywhere but pretty good range. Our friends have less powerful radios and I've been pushing for them to upgrade but I doubt that's gonna happen.

[Hawk]

My simple Motorola 5 mile talk about works just fine from the locations you spoke about. No need for the high powered radios.

[pcampbell]

Yeah as long as you have the height on one end of the conversation, you should be able to go a ways.

Any regular GMRS/FRS should go down to 1/2 Watt on channel 9, because it is a FRS channel, so differences in radios on that channel should be small.