If you stopped by for a cold one at Thirsty Squirrel, Honeycomb Grill, St. Bernard’s or Argenta Pub during a ski day at Solitude Mountain Resort this season, you’ve no doubt seen the cute pups on the Moab Brewery tap handles.
Rio, Lumen and Joni are working girls — avalanche dogs at Solitude Mountain Resort — who, along with their handlers, love to spend their apres-ski time hanging out after a day of work at the Thirsty Squirrel, where they are familiar faces to the regulars.
And in a charitable collaboration, the brewery made a donation for every pint sold this season from its tap handles in the Thirsty Squirrel to the nonprofit Wasatch Backcountry Rescue’s avalanche dog training program.
The fundraiser, which raised $3,000, was designed by Ketti Wehrle, manager of the Thirsty Squirrel and co-parent of Solitude’s youngest avalanche dog, Joni.
Joni, who’s handled by Jasper Anderson, hill captain, certified as a Level A (advanced) rescue dog in late February just after turning 2. The test, offered by Wasatch Backcountry Rescue, involved a simulated avalanche search over 1 hectare at Deer Valley Resort, where she located two “victims” during a simulation and various scent objects within a 20-minute time frame.
“She did great,” Anderson said. “It’s satisfying to be able to help someone in their time of need when you are in your element, like we become on patrol. The bond you make with a working dog is really strong, and she’s such a morale boost. Everyone loves her.”
Although he’d worked as a secondary dog handler at Steven’s Pass Ski Resort in Washington and for several years at Solitude, Joni is his first avalanche dog as a primary handler.
This highest level of certification now allows Anderson and Joni (along with the other two teams) to respond to avalanche accidents not only at Solitude but throughout Utah. At scenes, they are responsible for all aspects of a rescue as an accident site commander, including assessing the safety of the rescue party and formulating dog search strategies.
Trevor John, assistant ski patrol manager and dog coordinator for the dog rescue team for the 2019-2020 season, handles Lumen, a 5-year-old black Lab-pointer mix. The two recently traveled to Zurich, Switzerland, to learn new ways to save lives in the backcountry of the Wasatch Mountains.
Near-daily practice and training are the backbone of avalanche dog programs around the world, and it’s the reason that Lumen and John were invited to participate in the International Commission for Alpine Rescue training in the Alps earlier in the season. The hands-on training allowed the team to experience searching larger paths with more dogs working together.
“Most valuable was learning about how a complete rescue structure operates,” John said. He also gained exposure to innovative ideas in using long lines, climbers and mountaineers in rescues.
Lumen’s biggest adjustment was the focus placed on food rewards, instead of the toy and play rewards that Solitude handlers use to keep the dogs happy and motivated.
Mountain Operations Manager Marvin Sumner, who just closed out his 30th season at Solitude, explained that much has changed since he became involved with what began as a volunteer dog program at Solitude 20 years ago.
“The main purpose of having the dogs is for the safety of our guests,” he said, because the general public doesn’t typically wear avalanche beacons and the dogs are the quickest resource available in an emergency.
The dogs are trained to ride on snowmobiles, helicopters and chairlifts, and know every inch of the resort to reach and save guests as quickly as possible.
Rio, a 9-year-old yellow Lab, is Sumner’s second rescue dog. As the oldest and most experienced of the pack, Rio’s love of the snow and searching is still palpable — as is her love of a rewarding game of tug-of-war.
"It was a different program when I started,” Sumner recalled, explaining that the resort’s avalanche dog team has grown stronger each season and now fully supports each dog as it might a typical human employee — from food to health insurance.
Although the rescue dogs are technically owned by Solitude, Rio, Lumen and Joni have spent nearly their entire lives with each of their handlers. John and Anderson hand-selected their puppies from “mutt” litters found through KSL Classified ads.
John said he was interested in specific characteristics of both black Labs and pointers represented in Lumen’s mixed lineage litter.
The handlers tested every puppy in the litters, looking for the right combination of personality traits and temperaments that make up the characteristics of great avalanche dogs.
“Dominance, submission, a big play drive but not aggressive, and courageousness” are what John saw in Lumen. She came home with him at 8 weeks old to begin training. “I fell in love with her. She’s really easy to handle and excellent in obedience.”
After growing up with German wirehair pointers, Anderson was excited to find that breed mixed with black Lab two years ago as he began his experience as a primary handler for Solitude. He tested all 10 puppies in a litter, and Joni “was the best,” he said. “It was easy to see she would be trainable, loyal and not afraid.”
Joni became the newest member of the family for Anderson and his fiancée, Wehrle, at 7 weeks old.
Heather L. King is a Utah-based freelance writer who is loved by two Great Danes. She also owns www.slclunches.com and can be found on social media @slclunches.
