My son and grandson are snowboarders. A great way of staying in shape, but like all outdoor sports there are risk.
A fellow snow boarder has a gps and Motorola FRS/GMRS radios. Many of the ski resorts are now monitoring Channel 9 tone 11 (911). I called a friend who is associated with a number of ski areas. He told me the ski patrol has it's own radio system, but the Lift Houses at the top of the lift are monitoring FRS channel 9 tone 11. The lift operators can pass emergency information to the Ski Patrol. How this is handled will very with each ski area. How closely these radios are monitored is unknown. But in one case a call for help was monitored at ski area "A". A skier had gone down an icy draw and was in at ski area "b". The information was relayed to ski area "b" by phone and the skier was rescued.
Lift houses are idea radio relay locations because they are normally at a high point on the mountain. The Central Serria has a number of ski areas with high elevation lifts. These not only over look the ski areas but thousands of acres of National Forest. During the winter these areas are actively used by snowmobiles, cross-country skiers, hikers, and ice fishermen. The other advantage is that other outdoor users are plugging in 9 11. I have read that Midland is pushing Channel 1 as a National Calling Channel.
While I normally do not monitor my radio full-time I willl setup channel 9 with tone 11 when I am going out for the day. If you are aware of FRS channels being used by different ski areas please post them. FRS radios can be rented at some ski areas. One ski area in Montana recommends you drop a radio in your kid's pocket at the start of a day. Ski areas may be use different channels for different activities.
A well-requlated radio system with trained people have problems with traffic walking on each other at different times. FRS/GMRS is not a well requlated system with tyrained readio operators. This means the idiots will rule. Over the years I have heard a lot of idiots on the CB. The same thing can and will happen on the FRS.
The ski areas have a special interest in mointoring the radios. Customer safety is of prime interest. When people get lost and there is a major search under way, it cost money and interfers with business. In turn the event is in the press and may drive some business away.
