Descendent of pioneers to speak in Sisters page 4 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME Sisters skier headed to nationals page 7 Turn your clocks forward an hour at 2 a.m. on Sun., March 11 The Nugget Vol. XLI No. 10 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com A tale of two winters PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 Wednesday, March 7, 2018 Headed to the BIG DANCE By Ron Thorkildson An Olympic celebration for Sisters couple Correspondent Sisters Country might as well have had two winters this season — one mild and dry, and one with plenty of snow and chilly temperatures. When a neutral El Niño- Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signal was measured in the tropical Pacific Ocean last fall that looked like it might morph into a La Niña by win- ter, it’s understandable why many seasonal forecasters foresaw roughly normal con- ditions with regard to temper- ature and precipitation for the Pacific Northwest this winter, with “ample” mountain snow. What they got right was that a La Niña did indeed By Charlie Kanzig Correspondent PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK Lustin Lake pulls down the rebound in Outlaws Boys Basketball action versus Henley. The win earned the Outlaws a berth at the state championships. See story, page 8. See WELTHER on page 30 See OLYMPICS on page 21 Snowpack levels show dramatic decline By Mark Floyd Correspondent CORVALLIS — A new study of long-term snow mon- itoring sites in the western United States found declines in snowpack at more than 90 percent of those sites — and one-third of the declines were deemed significant. Since 1915, the average snowpack in western states has declined by between 15 and 30 percent, the research- ers say, and the amount of water lost from that snow- pack reduction is comparable in volume to Lake Mead, the West’s largest manmade reservoir. The loss of water storage can have an impact on municipal, industrial and Inside... When it came to planning the celebration of his 50th birthday in February, Tate Metcalf and his wife Aimee put no limits to ideas when they began to brainstorm pos- sibilities. Sharing ideas, their focus turned from warm, sandy beaches on an exotic island to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. “After a while we had so many ideas it got overwhelm- ing,” said Aimee. “Finally we asked ‘What does Tate love?’ “The answer was sport, any and all kind of sport, agricultural usage, as well as fish and other animals. Results of the study are being published today in NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science, a Nature publication. “It is a bigger decline than we had expected,” said Philip Mote, director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. “In many lower- elevation sites, what used to fall as snow is now rain. Upper elevations have not been affected nearly as much, but most states don’t have that much area at 7,000-plus feet. “The solution isn’t in infrastructure. New reservoirs See SNOWPLCK on page 25 To save a life in Sisters By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief David Adler is still com- ing to terms with a journey right up to the threshold of death. On February 12, while he was working out at Sisters Athletic Club, Adler, 65, collapsed in sudden cardiac arrest. Thanks to quick, con- certed action by the people around him, Adler not only survived — despite the fact that he was not breathing and had no pulse when he hit the floor — he is expected to make a full recovery. “It will take a long time before I fully process it,” Adler said. “In truth, I can’t stop thinking about how extraordinary it is that I am actually alive — and well.” It was a very, very PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS David and Marcy Ldler met with Clyde Dildine and The Nugget to recount David’s near death due to sudden cardiac arrest. close-run thing. Adler ’s wife, Marcy, recalled that David had wanted to go down into the crawl space under the house for a second time to check a gas line that had been giving them trouble. She persuaded him not to do that, and he went to the club instead. See SLVE L LIFE on page 12 Letters/Weather ................ 2 Obituaries ......................... 9 Movies & Entertainment ....11 Bunkhouse Chronicle ....... 23 Classifieds ..................26-28 Meetings ........................... 3 Announcements ............... 10 Paw Prints ....................... 18 Crossword ....................... 25 Real Estate .................28-32