Mountain Safety Patrol

Transcription

1 COPPER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT February 2017 VOLUME 7, NUMBER 3 Mountain Safety Patrol S.P.E.E.D. Safety Patrol Assistance Education Enforcement Delighting the Guest Shauna Says. As I skied around Copper Mountain today, I continue to be in awe of all of the snow and the beautiful mountain in which we get to spend so many days. I know that this beauty is not lost on you either and one of the reasons you continue to volunteer your time on the mountain, even on days like today where the temperature never made it out of the single digits! But the cold temperatures help keep the snow lovely for ourselves and our guests and will help provide a great product for two of our upcoming social events. Tubing with the Ambassadors on Feb. 4 th, and the Tennessee Pass Yurt luncheon on March 3 rd. Also on the horizon is the Glacier Awards put on Awards put on by Copper Mountain on March 7th. This is a very nice event to recognize Copper staff for 10, 15, etc. years of service. Copper recognizes volunteers in their 11 th, 16 th, year etc. Warren and I have a list of MSP years of service, but if you worked or volunteered in another capacity at Copper and think you are at 11 years, please let me know. A wanted to give a big shout out to all of those who worked Martin Luther King Weekend! We had a tremendous Safety Fest event and had very good on-hill coverage all three days! The fact that it was sunny and warm didn t hurt either. As we roll into February, continue to work on mountain orientation and radio skills. The tours are set up and this is a good month to knock them all out before we come into Spring Break- our busy season! So continue to eat well, work out, take care of your equipment and ski and ride with great awareness so that you can continue to enjoy the beauty of this wonderful place called Copper Mountain! Management Team Shauna Bocksch Warren Hancock Phil Harris Team Leaders Robert Barrows Dale Butler Bill Clendenning Skip Hale Dwight Hill Jerry Kaczmarski Kelly McKown Marilyn Raymond Rick Spiess Peter Welles Editor: Sally Swartz seswartz49@gmail.com Proofreader Ed Lane emlane6100@msn.com Please feel free to send articles or suggestions for articles. 1

2 TOP PERFORMERS January Year to Date Phil Harris 11 Dale Butler 10 Phil Rick 9 Rick LaBonville 9 Mike Mathis 9 Steve Moran 9 Tom Morgan 9 Fred Beattie 8 Stan Black 8 Jim Dillon 8 Betty Koenig 8 Ed Lane 8 Greg Padgett 8 Dale Butler 29 Betty Koenig 23 Phil Harris 22 Mike Mathis 22 Tom Morgan 22 Robert Barrows 21 Joe Danser 21 Stan Black 20 Rick LaBonville 19 Ed Lane 28 SNOW DATA TO PONDER January 82 Season to date 192 Mid/Upper base 48 /67 2

3 Annual Post-Holiday Bash Thanks to Bruce Marshall & Marilyn Schmidt for sending photos Special Thanks to Jim Dillon for reserving the Treehouse party room. Dale Butler and Betty Koenig costume winners Pajama contest entries Bob Barrows Dale Butler and Ed Lane 3

4 Some Important Dates to Remember Lisa Whitaker Social Queen Feb 4 March 3 April 1 Tubing Party with Ambassadors Meet at Double Diamond for Happy Hour from 4-7, tubing from 5-6. Great fun was had by all last year! Contact Ed Lane: emlane6100@msn.com Tennessee Pass Yurt Event and lunch Save the date, more info to follow End of Season Party!!! Save the date, more info to follow DECEMBER PLAYMAKERS Al Beckman, Art Turton, Dave Raymond and Ed Lane These men were nominated for their contribution of training the MSP new hires. This full day of training early in the season starts trainees off on the right track to becoming seasoned Safety Patrollers. This job is more complicated than it seems due to the large amount of information the rookies will eventually have to absorb. These trainers helped run the morning meeting, then spent the afternoon on the hill acquainting the new hires with mountain geography. Mountain Safety Team Leaders These 11 leaders have over 100 years of collective experience and knowledge of MSP operations. They take on extra responsibilities which includes making the schedule and pairing team members the night before they work. They come in early to attend the ski patrol meeting s website, pull grooming reports and make last minute adjustments and find out the priorities for the day. They check Copper s website and make last minute adjustments with a smile and positive attitude. They conduct the morning meeting and check on team throughout the day. Kudus to the team leaders. 4

5 SAFETY WEEK HIGHLIGHTS Photos by Nicole Shaver Safety Week Awards 2016 Best lift safety program 2014 Best terrain park safety program 2013 Best overall safety program 2012 Most creative safety program 2011 Best overall safety program Nicole Shaver Snowcat operator Shauna Bocksch Smoky s girlfriend Rob Narro - official announcer Avalanche Dog Demo 5

6 Weekly Themes Wk Date Weekly Topic Topic Details Radio Theme Wk 11 Jan 29-Feb 4 Wk 12 Feb 5-11 Wk 13 Feb Wk 14 Feb Inter Group Cooperation Radio Use Guests with Issues Skier Safety Act/ Responsibility Code Wk 15 Feb 26-Mar 4 Personal Responsibility Everyone is part of the same team! Treat everyone w/respect Separated Parties; unusual calls; Taxi guidelines Listen patiently/don't make excuses for Copper/Guest Comment Form Clarify - Difference between code violation/criminal act You're always on duty - Respond if you're in the area By the numbers: Debunking myths about ski accidents by Chryss Cada in Denver Post 1/24/17 Some of the information in this article includes: The average person who died on the slopes of US ski resorts during the 2015/16 ski season was a 30-something experienced male skier wearing a helmet who hit a tree going too fast on an intermediate run, according to the National Ski Area Association s annual report on safety. Beginners on green runs tend to be more cautious. said Jasper Shealy who analyzed the data. It s when you get on the blue runs with a mix of abilities and speeds that things become less controlled. Colorado averages 11 deaths on its slopes each year according to the Colorado Ski Country USA. Nine of the 10 skiers and boarders at Colorado resorts were involved in collisions. In those collisions, seven hit trees, one hit a post, another hit a skier and the tenth died in a tree well. Only one of those killed was a woman, Seven of the 10 occurred on blue runs. Tree wells account for about 5% of resort deaths. Inbound avalanches are rare. Two avalanche fatalities in 2012 marked the first in Colorado since 2006, are among the only 4 in the states modern skiing history. Helmet use has increased to 80% the last few years, but it has not changed the fatality rate one iota. Helmets are tested to be effective up to 15 mph, but skiers and snowboarders average closer to 25 mph. Injuries occurring during high-speed collisions overwhelm any protection the helmet can provide. 6

7 Health and Wellness by Alan Greenburg How Yoga Increases Flexibility by Pinna Gallant, Owner of Peak Yoga in Dillon The reasons people practice yoga range from physical therapy to spiritual development, but the primary reason that people start (and stick with) yoga is increased flexibility. When looking at the benefits of yoga, think about mobility or range of motion rather than focusing on flexibility. Flexibility conjures up images of Olympic athletes doing gymnastics, which is both intimidating and not applicable to daily life. What we need is to bring our joints closer to a natural range of motion. With a full range of motion in our joints we have more power and control over our bodies so that we can ski faster, move more gracefully, and - when we lose our balance - recover more quickly. Connective tissue connects bone to bone (ligaments) and bone to muscle (tendons). It also surrounds every muscle in our bodies. Over time, connective tissue becomes less supple, and through sports and injuries the collagen fibers of connective tissue go from being straight and parallel to being tangled or bent. As a result they are shorter, drawing the muscle and bone closer together and reducing range of motion. Because yoga works on literally every joint in the body and moves the spine in all 6 directions (forward, backward, left, right, twist left, twist right), a regular yoga practice will create healthier tissue throughout the entire body. Healthy tissue provides more freedom of movement. Although all forms of yoga have similar benefits, different styles of yoga can affect the body differently. The most common styles of yoga in the West such as Hatha (breath) and Vinyasa (flow) increase mobility, build strength, improve balance and calm the nervous system. These are all fantastic benefits, but if your primary goal is to increase range of motion, a practice, which incorporates restorative yoga postures, will give you the most benefit for your time on the mat. Yin yoga, a restorative practice, is different from many other forms of yoga in that it is not designed to build strength. Yin yoga compresses and releases the collagen network of the body, lengthening the fibers and improving both strength and elasticity of joints. If you'd like to experience the benefits of Yin yoga, Peak Yoga is offering 3 dedicated classes for Copper Mountain Safety Patrol at a dramatically discounted rate. We will everyone the details shortly. If you have any questions in the meantime please contact Alan Greenberg at or him at alan@restorationnutrition.com. You are also invited to Pinna Gallant at pgallant@peakyogastudio.com for more information. Contributors Shauna Bocksch Kaslo & Colette Ed Lane Sally Swartz Warren Hancock 7