Mary Logan – Honoring A Woman Who Brought New Safety Measures to Ski Patrollers
Mary Logan Brought New Safety Measures to Ski Patrols and Inspired Women in Every Occupation
By Dori Welch
It was an unremarkable day on the mountain, and Mary Logan was getting ready to return to the top with an empty toboggan for the next inevitable unlucky passenger. An audible gasp escaped a woman waiting in line as she watched the ski patrollers load the chairlift.
“… But I thought she was just a LITTLE girl!”
Justifiably impressed, the woman watched as Mary, with her petite frame and bouncing blonde ponytail shining in the sunlight, hoisted the 8-foot-long toboggan weighing over half of Mary’s weight onto the lift. The chair swung away to begin the journey up.
Mary, or as I know her, Mom, likely physically grew in that woman’s eyes. Mom was anything but a small person on the mountain, even if first glance could lead you to believe otherwise.
Mary’s skills in assessment, skiing, and hauling rigs quickly erased any first impression of her size. An injured skier at the top of a steep, bumpy run looked at Mary incredulously when she arrived with a toboggan to bring him to the clinic. He would tower over her had he been standing. He nervously asked if she would be the patroller taking him down. As one of the strongest skiers on patrol, Mary confidently informed him she would, and she did. When they reached the bottom of the long, steep stretch there were cheers and applause from the chairlift above.
Mary came to Breckenridge in the beginning of the 1970s to ski and teach skiing. Main Street was dirt and the sidewalks were wooden. She quickly figured out that patrolling, not teaching, was her true calling and found her soulmate Nick (I call him Dad) among the patrollers.
Recently, Nick found a magazine among some of Mary’s things that had a note referring to page 19. It held a column about unionizing workers and about the tactics used to frighten those who try. Page 19 made me realize how much strength I have derived from watching her set the example of refusing to be intimidated, anywhere in life.
“Mary was one of the few women on ski patrol when I met her, and she set an incredible example for other women who wanted to patrol. She was strong, confident, and a natural leader,” Butch Peel, an old coworker and long-term friend of hers told me. “She was a key figure in the growth and improvement of the Breckenridge Ski Patrol, and she was a good friend.”
A season started out with patrollers signing up on crews under the name of an assigned Crew Chief. With her leadership skills and known support for her coworkers, Mary’s crew filled fast and first.
Winter season 1981-82, Mary had a daughter, Taya, at home and was expecting her second. Mary chose to ski patrol that year and scheduled a week off prior to her due date of January 28th. In mid-January a local reporter interviewed her about working on patrol while pregnant. The article, printed on January 22nd, noted that she would be giving birth in just 6 days. The kicker? I had been born the previous morning, mere hours after she finished her scheduled shift on the mountain. Joe Neel, a friend and coworker who I imagine greeted Mom on the ‘other side’ with a good joke and deep belly laugh, called the hospital to congratulate her. “Are you going to be back to work today for sweep, Mary?” he asked.
One of Mary’s favorite parts of patrolling was consistently getting first tracks on early morning avalanche routes before the mountain opened to the public. Snow had fallen in measurements of feet the night before she ran an explosives route in the Peak 8 bowl. Pushing through the deep snow in the flatter terrain below the bowl proved difficult. She finally reached a phone at the bottom of #2 Chair to report her route clear, getting criticized for the delay. Recognizing a system failure, she became determined to get radios for real time field communication.
Radios, equipment allowances, and proving the professional nature of ski patrol were a few of the things Mary did while heading up union organization. After treating someone who had hit a tree and required CPR, Mary insisted on procuring one-way masks and mechanical suction to be available for the safety of her team while they performed lifesaving measures. Equipment granted.
“My clearest memory was the day Peak 7 bowl slid in 1987. Mary witnessed it while riding on the T-bar and was one of the first patrollers on scene, taking a critical role in the rescue/recovery effort,” said Butch. “I was so impressed! Calm under pressure during an unprecedented event.” Mary organized the rescue efforts smoothly and remained diligent for three days until the last person was recovered. Deservedly, she received the award for Patroller of the Year that season.
Mom told me her dreams had included living on a hill looking toward a ski area, working on the mountain and in medical, and having a family. She and Dad built their dream life in just such a home. A tick-borne illness turned tragically chronic forced Mary to retire long before she wanted to. She remained a hero to her friends and family, especially her daughters in whom she instilled lifelong characteristics and credence.
- Good leadership is through example, respect, and fairness.
- Gratitude is always accessible, no matter the circumstances.
- Do not allow someone to intimidate you.
- If you stay silent in the face of oppression you are taking the side of the oppressor.
- Live life on your terms and build your dreams.
- Love your family fiercely.
The same month Mom departed this earth, a young rookie Breckenridge Ski Patroller moved into my lock off apartment. No doubt he will be utilizing some of the tools and practices Mary helped implement decades ago. His dedication, excitement, and overall high vibration feels like a complete circle with renewed vitality, ready to go around again.
“Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round… The sky is round and I have heard the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind in its greatest power whirls, birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.” – Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
Dedicated to Mary Logan, July 7, 1952 – September 17, 2024
Cheers to Mary on International Women’s Day and every day!
This story appeared in Breckenridge Magazine’s Issue 9 2024/25 to Read more click HERE or head to www.breckenridgemagazine.CO
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