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Show THE SIGNPOST Friday, January 19, 2001 Patrol continued from front Page 2 Good day, bad day in the life of a patroller Shad Stromberg tenches organic and inorganic chemistry labs at WSU. lie also does volunteer patrolling at Snowbasin. Stromberg said that a good day for him is one with no incidents and everyone has fun skiing on a sunny day alter a snowstorm. A bad day. Powder Mountain's Moore says, is one with a large crowd and poor visibility. Fortunately, few patrollers have had to deal with the heartache of bringing a fatality off the mountain. Storey is one who's experienced some of those heartaches during his 40 years of patrolling. In about 1962 when Lawrence Allen was buried under five feet of snow, Storey was with the group looking for him. Allen was dead when they found him. Storey said the images of the "ice crease" formed in Allen's face from the cold temperature, or the face of his drowned5-year-old neighbor whom Storey pulled out of the Ogden River, are images that disturb one in the middle of the night. Storey said there are no counselors available for patrollers, like the police have. Sometimes one has to get with a bunch of guys and just talk it out. Storey earned Purple Merit Star for performing CPR on a man at a WSU football game. Horace Christensen was having a heart attack, and Storey was able to revive him. About a year later, Christensen's daughter finally found Storey and thanked him. He had given Christensen one more Christmas with his family before he died- Avalanche control Snowbasin's Paul Wright calls a heavy snow day a "con If you have Medicare or Private Insurance, Yoo may be eligible to reefTe your: Diabetic supplies at NO..Cpst IftJEiml For more information call Diabetic Supply Program Toll Free 1-888-466-2678 (no HMO patients, picane) Information Reception in Salt Lake City! Friday and Saturday, January 19 th and 20th Call for schedule details Join us to learn first hand about the graduate degrees offered by the University of St. Augustine, including entry-level degrees (MPT and MOT), advanced studies degrees (transitional DPT, MHSc, and DHSc), and Continuing Professional Education. Our physical and occupational therapy programs are innovative and provide an excellent avenue to enter or advance within the professions. Many of our programs are offered in a distance learning format. Interviews will be conducted with prospective master's degree applicants. To reserve your space or schedule an interview, contact Adrienne D. Dillard at (800) 241-1027 ext. 235 oraddillarusa.edu. Reception Site: Hilton Salt Lake City Center (801 ) 328-2000 trol" day, because that's when he and the other four on Snow Safety get to start at 5 a.m., rushing to get the hills ready to open as close to 9 a.m. as they can. The most impressive method Snowbasin uses to control potential avalanches is the most dangerous. They try to cause them with two-pound explosives. The charges are either run up the mountain with ropes and pulleys, or fired from a tower through guns which aren't unlike large potato guns. Firing explosives with precision, to cause an avalanche in heavy snow loads is part of Alfieri's job. "It's wicked," Alfieri said. Powder Mountain and Snowbasin also do "ski cutting" to control the snow pack. Two or more skiers go to an area with heavy snowpack. One picks a tree on the opposite side of the hill and skis directly to it, always within sight of the others. He bounces along the way, to try to cause a snowslide, and to test the packing. The other(s) then follow the same path across. They repeat this process until their zigzag cuts have turned the one big snow pack into several smaller and less dangerous ones. What will the Snowbasin Ski Patrol be doing during the 2002 Olympics? "Same as we do now," Tim Franchi, Snowbasin ski patrol director, said. "Only more people will be here and lots of excitement."They'll continue to remove hazards, mark other hazards, give medical care, practice good public relations and police the rules. -J W I 1 tt ; " " (' y f - s. : y - t ' 1 o Creamer, above, leads the toboggan with the handles up front as Storey tows from behind. When Creamer presses down on the sled's handles, the chain attached drags further into the snow, slowing them down. (Ashdown is on the toboggan.) The white cross on the coats signifies the ski patrol. What can skiers and boarders do to avoid injury?Holly Williams, WSU student and Snowbasin patroller, said the most common injuries are knees and shoulders, in that order. There are some injuries that Keith Moore, assistant director for Powder Mountain's ski patrol, sees mostly on adolescents-banged and broken wrists, shoulders and collarbones. Moore calls them "jumping injuries." "It's pretty much what everybody wants to do now," he said. To avoid such injuries, patrollers from Nordic Valley, Snowbasin and Powder recommend that you: 1. Ski and board within your limits. Opening For WSUSA Executive Assistant Position 2. Make sure your equipment is up to snuff, properly maintained. 3. Don't ski through hazard areas. Waikart said they try to keep as many areas open as they can, but if one is closed, it's for a reason.Storey said that fatigue also plays a factor in injuries. He said two o'clock is the magic hour; after then is when the injuries seem to come in. Alfieri said that the ski industry tries to keep their incidents at or less than 5 percent of all the patrons for the year. More than 5 percent, and people start raising an eyebrow. Also, if many injuries are occurring on one certain run, the staff will also look at that, and see what needs to be changed. - ' 1 1 J'" - n i ..fir ' 1 : -; C :,: - Volunteering Resorts have a tougher time finding patrollers to volunteer on weekdays. Covering the weekends is much easier, since many volunteers have families and jobs to care for during the week. "It's a fun job," WSU's Stromberg said. "If I could be a pro patroller and not worry about money, that's what I'd be doin'." - - University of St. Augustine ' ,m j WtB Sl i t:: www.usa.edu E-mail: infid usa.edu |