Good morning, Crater Lake. Two members of a
film crew shooting footage for a Good Morning America
television segment at Crater Lake scheduled to run Sunday,
experienced an unexpected morning at the lake’s rim
Thursday.
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From left, Good
Morning America correspondent Matt Frucci, audio
technician Dale Jestice, Crater Lake ski patrol
members Miko Smilenski and Niel Barrett, and
acting chief ranger Pete Reinhardt wait for a
break in the weather at the Crater Lake Rim
Thursday. H&N photos by Andrew Mariman.
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Scott M.
Douglas and Dale Jestice of Douglas Technical Services in
Eugene, who do contract filming and audio work for several
television networks, spent the night at the Crater Lake Café
and Gift Shop in Rim Village, with Miko “Smiley” Smilenski,
a member of the Crater Lake Ski Patrol.
They
were among 10 people who skied or snowshoed three miles up
the unplowed road from Crater Lake National Park’s
headquarters to the rim Wednesday for the filming.
Matt
Frucci of New York, who is producing the Crater Lake segment
for Good Morning America’s weekend show, and others skied or
snowshoed down from the rim after filming despite the bleak,
snowy conditions.
“The
camera guy was exhausted. He was beat,” said Niel Barrett, a
ski patrol member who helped coordinate the outing.
“We
brought some blankets and pillows for them. We just found a
place for them to crash,” said Matt Folz of Xanterra, the
company that operates the café and other park concessions.
The
concept for the Crater Lake segment was conceived and
produced by Frucci, who visited the park several summers
ago. It will be used for Good Morning America’s “Weekend
Windows” program.
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Fred Richter
and Crater Lake ski patrol member Miko
Smilenski make their way along the rim of
Crater Lake on Wednesday.
H&N photos by
Andrew Mariman.
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“We’re
going to places you can’t reach by a car,” Frucci said the
“Beyond the Roads” segment. Previous segments have included
visits to the Dry Tortugas National Park, which is accessed
by seaplanes or ferries, and the San Juan Mountains, visited
by train.
“We’ve
had it in the works a couple of weeks,” Frucci said of the
Crater Lake visit.
He and
his crew planned to travel to the rim by snowmobiles or
Sno-Cat from the North Entrance Road on Tuesday, but heavy
snows have closed highways in the Diamond Lake area. The
road from park headquarters to the rim is usually open but
has been closed for nearly a week because of snowstorms and
equipment breakdowns.
“Plan B
was to go in the hard way,” Frucci said, before he, Douglas
and Jestice, along with a group that included Smilenski,
Barrett, park volunteer Fred Richter, ranger Don Clark and
chief ranger Pete Reinhardt, began the arduous trek on
crosscountry skis and snowshoes through deep snow.
After
filming at the rim, where Frucci interviewed Clark and
Reinhardt, several in the group skied down to headquarters
while others stopped at the café for coffee and warm
beverages. Douglas and Jestice decided to spend the night,
and Smilenski agreed to stay.
Barrett
and Reinhardt skied down Wednesday evening, then skied back
up to the rim to accompany Smilenski, Douglas and Jestice
back to park headquarters.