All was quiet as Leroy searched diligently around the area of disturbed snow. Leroy, a black German shepherd, was quick to cover the circumference of the avalanche, following occasional directions from his trainer. After a quick search of the area, Leroy began circling an area by two trees, showing a great interest, with his nose busily sniffing the snowy surface. Suddenly he began digging furiously, with his tail wagging. His trainer called him off, and four searchers began digging at the spot with shovels. Meanwhile, Leroy went back to his job of searching for the next victim.
Leroy is a police dog with the Mammoth Lakes Police Department, who has recently been undergoing training as an avalanche rescue dog. This simulated rescue at Mammoth Mountain was the culmination of weeks of training, as he was tested for certification as an avalanche rescue dog. His trainer, Police Officer John Mair, has worked hard with Leroy to get to this point. They have spent a couple of days a week over the last month working with Sandy Bryson, a K-9 team trainer from Lake Tahoe.
Mair and Leroy were brought to the scene by snowmobile, where they were told by ski patrol that there were a party of cross country skiers missing, possibly caught in this avalanche. The exact number of people missing was unknown. It was up to Leroy and Mair to search the area for people buried in the snow.
Leroy and Mair passed the test with flying colors, finding the location of two men buried about four feet under the snow. Leroy is now certified by both CARDA (California Rescue Dog Association) and WOOF standards.
The training project is a joint venture with the MLPD and Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, explained Sergeant Paul Dostie, K-9 supervisor for MLPD. Mammoth Mountain is paying for the training and all the equipment needed to respond to the avalanche situation. The project has been facilitated by Luke Schwartzkopf, security manager for Mammoth Mountain who worked with ski patrol to organize personnel and equipment for Leroy's training exercises at locations all over the Mountain.
Leroy will be the second trained avalanche dog in Mono County, and the only one based in Mammoth. Trapper, owned by Sallee Burns in June Lake, works with the Mono County Search and Rescue Team.
Four year old Leroy was born and trained in Holland and responds to Dutch commands. He joined the Mammoth Police Dept. in October 1997 from the police kennels in Riverside, California. Both dog and trainer attended a tracking school at the Riverside kennels before taking over official police department duties.
Monitoring the test scene was trainer Sandy Bryson. She was very happy with Leroy's performance. "The first time he was down wind of the victim he became very alert and went straight to the victim," she said. "The dog is very responsive to his handler who reads the dog very well."
Mair looked relieved to have the test over. "So far it's been a learning experience not only for him but for me also," Mair said. "Dogs are like anybody else, some days they're on, and other days they're not." Leroy was definitely having an "on" day.
Now that Leroy has passed his avalanche certification, it is important to continue his on-snow training. He will be out with Mair and their crew once a week training until the Mountain closes, resuming again next fall.
Having a avalanche rescue dog located in Mammoth is crucial for the community because of the time factor. Time is important in avalanche rescues. After half an hour a person's scent begins to defuse, making them harder to locate. "A person buried over half an hour has less than 50 percent chance of survival," Bryson said.
Mair and Leroy, with beeper attached, are on call for avalanche duty 24 hours a day in the Mammoth area.
"He is an asset to the Mountain and the entire community," said Mair proudly. "He is available to go anywhere in the County or out of the County if needed," he added.
"He's a people sniffer," said Dostie. "All his job is, is to sniff; people under the snow, people in collapsed buildings as in an earthquake, lost people and criminals." Sniffing for a living might not sound important, but one day it could be the sniff of life for some poor avalanche victim. MT