Rescue Dog Invited to Winter Olympics

The Squaw Valley Ski Patrol Avalanche Rescue Dog Team has been invited to provide assistance at the Olympics in Vancouver. This is a big honor for the dog handlers and their four dogs. They are the only team invited to the Winter Olympics. Matt Calcutt will be coordinating the team in Vancouver.

See the Associated Press article about 3- year old black and white Border Collie Wylee and also see him in an action video

I first learned of avalanche rescue dogs in the 2009 book, "A Wall of White: The True Story of Heroism and Survival in the Face of a Deadly Avalanche" by Jennifer Woodlief. It is a gripping story of the March 31, 1982 avalanche at Alpine Meadows (Lake Tahoe, CA). Rescue dogs were new back then, but Bridget, a young German Shepherd, found and saved a woman member of the ski patrol who got buried in the main building of the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort. The book talked about WOOF, a nonprofit Wilderness Finders organization that was founded in 1975 in order to train dogs to rescue humans lost in the wilderness. Pick up a copy at the Bookshelf at the Boatworks in Tahoe City.

Another good book that includes avalanche rescue dogs is Tahoe mystery writer's book, "Tahoe Avalanche: An Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller." This is a great page-turner!