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Show New series can make skiing safer for you Avalanche a word that should send a chill right to your bones. Once it happens, it is too late to take precautions. Fortunately, for the second winter season in this area, a group has organized in the hope of saving back-country back-country avalanche victims. To help keep you safely away from a snowslide, the Red Pine Back Country Safety team is planning a series of articles that will appear in the Park Record. It could supply enough information to make your off-trail skiing smooth sailing. The first installment of eight back-country safety articles will appear in the Dec. 12 edition of the Record. Red Pine Back Country Rescue is under the umbrella of Summit County Search and Rescue, said Jim Miller of White Pine Touring Center. He said the back-country rescue squad Was" farmed last year by members, of White Pine, the Park City Ski Area, the ParkWest Ski Area and Deer Valley Resort, as well as Utah , Powderbird Guides. The group was formed to provide pro-vide search and rescue for - avalanche victims. Miller said the rescue team's founders felt a "moral responsibility" to aid avalanche victims in the mountains moun-tains surrounding Park City. The radio equipment of the three major Park City ski resorts has been equipped with new crystals to provide a common channel between resort ski patrols, White Pine, Powderbird Guides and other rescue team members, Miller said. Communication Com-munication between the groups is critical to rescue attempts. The team coordinates its action by means of a "mobilization schedule," Miller said. He said that Utah Powderbird Guides provides helicopter transportation for the team a service that could spell the difference dif-ference between life and death for anyone caught in an avalanche. avalan-che. In addition, Holy Cross Family Health and Emergency Center has donated medical supplies to the group, said Miller. The series of safety tips should increase cross-country skiers' awareness of avalanche hazard, Miller said. |