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Show B-4 The Park Record Calendar High School Sports Baseball South Summit @ Parowan March 9 10:00 a.m. Wasatch @ American Fork March 9 1:00 p.m. North Summit @ Layton Christian March 12 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Delta March 12 3:30 p.m. Wasatch @ Pine View March 14 8:30 a.m. Park City vs. Maple Mountain March 15 9:00 a.m. Park City vs. Foothill, NV March 15 4:30 p.m. North Summit @ Millard March 15 4:30 p.m. South Summit @ North Sevier March 15 11:00 a.m. Wasatch vs. Granger March 15 1:00 p.m. Wasatch vs. Judge Memorial March 15 3:30 p.m. Park City @ Desert Hills March 16 TBA North Summit @ North Sevier March 16 3:00 p.m. Wasatch @ Pine View March 16 TBA Park City @ Skyline March 18 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Am. Leadership March 18 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Timpview March 19 3:00 p.m. Softball North Summit @ Morgan March 11 3:30 p.m. North Summit @ Utah Military March 12 3:30 p.m. North Summit @ Am. Leadership March 13 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Millard March 13 3:00 p.m. South Summit @ Beaver March 14 3:00 p.m. Wasatch @ Riverton March 14 3:30 p.m. Park City @ Bonneville March 19 3:30 p.m. North Summit vs. Altamont March 19 3:30 p.m. Boys Soccer North Summit @ WV Academy March 12 4:00 p.m. South Summit @ Millard March 12 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Delta March 13 3:30 p.m. Park City @ Ben Lomond March 15 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Manti March 15 3:00 p.m. Park City @ Morgan March 18 3:30 p.m. North Summit @ Draper APA March 18 4:30 p.m. South Summit vs. Layton Christian March 19 3:00 p.m. Wasatch vs. Provo March 19 5:00 p.m. Weather Hotline (cancellations) 615-5432 Park City Ice Arena Ice Hockey Track & Field Park City @ Ben Lomond March 6 3:00 p.m. Park City @ Juan Diego March 20 3:00 p.m. Park City @ Pine View Invite March 22-23 TBA Park City @ Bountiful March 9 Park City @ Herriman March 13 Park City @ Corner Canyon March 16 Park City @ Viewmont March 23 6:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 6:30-7:45 p.m. TBA Basin Recreation Fieldhouse (655-0999) TBA Drop-in Sports Girls Lacrosse Park City @ Skyline March 13 Park City @ Herriman March 21 TBA TBA Tennis Park City @ Mountain View March 13 TBA Park City @ St. George Tourney March 22-23 TBA Girls Golf Park City @ East Bay March 14 10:00 a.m. Winter Sports Alpine Skiing Intermountain Cup YSL Championships – Brian Head March 9-10 TBA Intermountain Championships March 15-178 TBA IMD Finals – Snowbird March 23-24 TBA Basketball (age 16 +) Tues. 7:00-9:00 p.m. Basketball (age 160 +) Tues/Thurs Noon-2:00 p.m. Basketball (age 16 +) Sat/Sun 8:00-10:00 a.m. Pickleball (age 16 +) Mon/Wed/Fri 2:00-4:30 p.m. Pickleball (age 16 +) Sun–Friday 8:30 a.m. Noon Volleyball (age 16 +) Thurs. 8:00-10:00 p.m. Soccer (age 16 +) Mon/Wed/Fri Noon -1:30 p.m. Soccer (age 16 +) Wed. 8:00-10:00 p.m. Soccer (age 30 +) Tues 8:00-10:00 p.m. Masters Swim Tues/Thurs Noon-1:00 p.m. South Summit Aquatics & Fitness Center (783-2423) Rock Wall Saturday 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Pickleball Open Gym Recreation Sports Wed. – Fri 4:00 – 6:00 p.m Park City Recreation Services (615-5401) Volleyball Comp Division Wednesday Rec Division Wednesday 6:00-9:00 p.m. 6:00-9:00 p.m. Female patrollers up 5 percent in the past decade BY EVE BYRON Associated Press TBA TBA Women making gains in male-dominated ski patrols Speed Skating Training Wednesday Boys Lacrosse 615-5707 Gold League Sunday Silver League Wed/Thurs/Sun To include an upcoming sports event in the calendar, please send an email to Joe Lair at scoreboard@parkrecord.com The Park Record’s “Help Wanted” section has the jobs you need to support your gear addiction Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, March 9-12, 2019 WHITEFISH, Mont. – Kate Atha chuckles as she recalls the reactions, especially from older men, when the petite ski patroller in her red coat arrives with a bright orange toboggan to haul injured people off of the Whitefish Mountain Resort’s slopes. “It’s usually a big guy who tells me, `You’re not going to take me off the mountain,’” recalls the 31-year-old patroller. She looks young enough to still get carded when picking up a six-pack of beer, but has been skiing since she was 3 years old and patrolling almost her entire adult life. “One time, they asked if (the male patroller) with me could do it instead. I told him, `Sure. I just checked him off on using the toboggan last week.”’ Her blue-green eyes twinkle as she reports that the injured skier changed his mind, and Atha gave him a smooth cruise down to the base clinic, the Missoulian reported. It’s a scene that can occur four of 10 times on Big Mountain, where the Whitefish Mountain Resort Patrol Manager Dave Stephens has conscientiously made a practice of hiring capable people to cover the 3,000 acres of skiable terrain. This year, 13 of his 29 patrollers are female, in a profession that historically relied on strong men with above-average adventure-induced testosterone levels, buoyed by their ability to ski anything and save lives in what can be brutal winter conditions. Although hard numbers aren’t readily available, the National Ski Patrol estimates women typically make up about 25 percent of the ranks, which is up from the national average of about 20 percent a decade ago. “When I took over five years ago as director and started conducting interviews, it wasn’t the case that I intentionally tried to hire more women. It simply was the case that I had very qualified women sitting across the interview table from me,” Stephens said. “They shined more than other interviewees. I was interested in giving them an opportunity in what has been a predominantly male-dominated industry.” It isn’t just the ability to perform the job, however, that Stephens wants. He looks at the whole person, and found that sometimes women bring a different understanding when responding to the work, as well as a different type of compassion. He also likes a bit of humility in his patrollers, and said that the women help lighten the mood. He doesn’t want just the most qualified people, but the best fit for the team. “There’s no doubt that even though this is a strong group Continued from B-1 Exclusive ski terrain for clubs Clubs can’t alter the snow on resort runs the way they would like to. Between practices, those runs will be re-opened to the public, who probably didn’t fly to Park City to test their edges down ice. Kanarowski said that an icy surface is not only a better simulation of World Cup races, but it’s safer for the athletes too, since it doesn’t shift as much under skis and create unexpected ridges that can be hard to spot in flat light. Clubs will be able to hose down the course at the UOP, should they feel so inclined – which also helps keep the course skiable on warmer days. “I don’t know if there is such a thing as a normal winter anymore,” said PCSS Alpine Director John Buchar. “But we’re seeing these big swings going of alpha males and females, by having some women on patrol they tend to be a little more of the voice of reason when approaching certain situations,” Stephens said. “They no longer have to be the first out of the door because there’s so many women on the staff. They’ve paid their dues and proven themselves to be capable patrollers, regardless of whether they’re male or female.” That attitude, along with Atha’s college background – bachelors’ degrees in recreation and tourism management and earth science, along with a minor in ski area management – prompted Stephens to promote Atha to assistant patrol manager. Her summer job as a mountain bike patroller and her leadership skills bolstered his decision. “She leads by example, and she’s professional and intelligent,” Stephens said. On Wednesday, five female and seven male ski patrollers met at 8 a.m. for the daily briefing before heading up Big Mountain. Amid the scent of toast in the air and the snap of boot buckles, Atha provided a breakdown of how the day might unfold. News that temperatures were negative 2 at the summit and a relatively balmy 6 degrees at the base drew cheers from the patrollers in a season that included the second-coldest February on record. “If we hit the (projected) high of 17, it will be 33 degrees warmer than what we’ve been seeing,” Atha noted. She added that stubborn wind slabs from Arctic northern blasts aren’t responding to efforts to remove the avalanche danger, but that will change as the weather warms. She reminded her peers of an upcoming potluck, a test with avalanche dogs and the end of night skiing on Saturday, and cautioned patrollers to check the new work schedules before heading out the door to start a day that always promises to be different than yesterday. Whether male or female, most of the patrollers have similar backgrounds. They’re often adrenaline junkies with lengthy backgrounds in the back country. Many are whitewater, backcountry or mountain bike guides in the summer, cobbling together high-risk, low-paying jobs to eke out a living that many 9-to-5’ers with desk jobs only dream about. With 20 years under her ski patrol backpack, Brenda Guzman is the longest-serving woman on this year’s Big Mountain patrol. A whitewater raft guide and mother of two, she’s humbled by the women who paved the way for her in these professions. “I feel like I had it a lot easier than the women who came maybe 10 years or so before me; those were the women that really paved the way for us,” Guzman said. “When I started as a river guide in ‘96, one of the first things one of the senior women guides told me was `You need to expect to work twice as hard for half from normal temps (to warm), and to bring it back to freezing, sometimes it takes using that water, and we don’t have control of that.” The athlete-only hill concept is nothing new in the skiing world. Ski clubs in Jackson Hole, Sun Valley and Vail all have designated hills to train on. Kanarowski said PCSS’s $3 million investment (along with another $3 million from Rowkmark and $1.5 million from the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, among others) will help bring the club up to speed and will save money in the long run. “It’s a trend that’s kind of industry-wide, where the resorts are aiming for a more mainstream (service) … and clubs have had to develop their own training facilities,” he said. “It’s just a reality in our sports.” PCSS won’t be leaving Park City Mountain completely. The club will still use Eagle and Payday, and the warren of offices and lockers that they rent beneath the resort. “All the younger athletes; their home base will be PCMR, and we really don’t see that changing,” Kanarowski said. “For the younger athletes, they of the credit as the men. And don’t blow it for the rest of us women.’ “I knew we had to toe the line to keep the respect that’s been earned.” While they may have the same skill sets and job requirements, Guzman notes that “pound for pound,” men are stronger and larger than women, which means women sometimes have to take a different approach to some jobs. Often that involves using finesse rather than muscling through a situation. Atha said she also stepped up her game. When three avalanche beacon drills were required in a week, she’d do five or six. Despite what Stephens said, she also always tries to be the first person out the door when an emergency occurs in order to build her skill set. “I don’t want anyone to ever say `You’re good for a girl,” Atha said. “Just `You’re good.’ I want people to think that if they’re injured out there and see Kate coming with a sled, that they’ll be OK. It’s the classic case of working smarter, not harder. “You have to be a Jill-of-alltrades.” It’s also important for the women on the crew to be a positive role model for girls who might want to become ski patrollers. Not only do they practice that every day when interacting with the public, on March 9, the Whitefish Mountain Resort is hosting “SheJumps,” a Wild Skills Junior Ski Patrol day camp. During the camp, intermediate to expert skiers and snowboarders ages 8 to 17 who identify as female are taught a range of outdoor skills, mountain safety and first aid in a supportive mentoring environment. “It’s important for young women to see us older women in predominately male jobs, to see it really doesn’t matter. It’s about you,” Guzman said. “These young ladies are smart and powerful, with fantastic energy. Spreading that positive energy needs to be the universal message.” That message is important to Marshand Dye, who Wednesday morning donned her red coat, clicked into her ski bindings, and headed out with a fellow patroller from the top of Big Mountain to check on signage, snow conditions and grooming irregularities at the Whitefish Mountain Resort. She glided lightly, deftly on her skis, making little jumps off of snow mounds while carrying a 10-pound drill with a foot-long bit to bore out holes for bamboo poles delineating boundaries. Earlier in the day, Dye informed her fellow patrollers that her climbing harness, used to evacuate chairlifts, no longer fits since she’s about four months pregnant. They laughed, chiding her about not being able to do evacuations Please see More, B-6 need to be skiing the whole mountain to develop their skillset. You want a more all-mountain foundation, and that’s what PCMR will be, the place where we develop that.” Once the UOP expansion is completed, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation will handle scheduling. Each club will buy time on sections of terrain, and each athlete will be required to have a pass. “We’ve been working really hard on a usage agreement,” Brickson said of the clubs and the UOLF. “And we’ve all agreed on a very equitable way to share the spaces. All three teams are going to get just what they need.” The first phase will expand the training area behind the museum, including the addition of a lift. It will total about 11 acres of terrain that rises 400 feet over a path of about 1,200 feet. The second area, set to be completed in 2020, will be more expansive. The hill adjacent to the bobsled course will be developed into a 30-acre ski area with another lift, and about 1,200 of vertical over 3,280 linear feet of ski run, which is projected to cost about $8 million to build. |