Schoonmaker skis perfect corn snow on a Spring day at Jake's Peak on Lake Tahoe's west shore.

Schoonmaker with TNSAR members Doug Read (left) and Bernie Mellor prepare a landing zone for a California Highway Patrol helicopter team that will land and train with them.

Schoonmaker with friend and climbing partner Randall Osterhuber prepare their camp at 8,700-feet on Mt. Baker in 2008.

A group of Truckee, Calif., fourth-graders thank Schoonmaker for teaching them to S.T.O.P. (Stop, Think, Observe, Plan) if ever lost.

After finding a lost snowboarder on the backside of Sugarbowl Ski Resort, Schoonmaker has traded jackets with the hypothermic victim, given him food and snowshoes and is preparing to hike him out to meet up with a Snowcat.

Schoonmaker and his son J.C. take a break on a three-day backpack trip that included a stop at Aloha Lake in southwest Lake Tahoe.

After digging a pit to evaluate avalanche potential, Schoonmaker prepares to ski from the summit of Sourdough Peak at 7,976 feet.

Dirk Schoonmaker with his wife Marty, son James Clinton and daughter Mera at Tuolomne Meadows in Yosemite National Park in 2009.

Schoonmaker skis below the clouds of Mt. Baker at 6,000 feet.

Schoonmaker (standing) and TNSAR team member Steve Reynaud use ice axes and other gear to climb glaciers on Mt. Baker in Washington state in 2008. The men are at a 10,400-foot elevation and above the cloud layer.

To get to the summit of Jake's Peak, at an elevation of 9,195 feet in Tahoe, Schoonmaker first had to hike from his car at 6,400 feet.