- January 20, 2019
- Posted by: Sage Shield Safety Consultants
- Category: Overseas Occupational Health And Safety News
It’s no secret that skiing and snowboarding are dangerous sports, which is why the National Ski Areas Association has named January National Safety Month. Copper Mountain Resort and Loveland Ski Area are both hosting safety-related events in honor of the awareness campaign.
On Saturday Copper’s Safety Fest begins at 10 a.m. with stretching and yoga in Center Village. Shortly thereafter ski patrol and avalanche dogs Recco and Mason will host demonstrations on how they find buried victims. The first demo is at 11 in Burning Stones Plaza while the second is at 12:30 p.m. in West Village.
At 2, Colorado Mountain College’s snow science students will show how to deploy an airbag to save oneself in an avalanche. Then at 2:30 a drawing will be held for those who collect raffle tickets at each safety tent in Center Village. Some prizes, which total $10,000 in value, include lodging, gift cards, tuning and a season pass.
Throughout the day people can head to the top of the Excelerator lift near patrol headquarters and tour a Flight For Life helicopter with a pilot and medics.
Finally, those who always wanted to hit the slopes with ski patrol can sign up for a 4 p.m. sweep of the mountain to see how patrol efficiently and safely closes the resort.
Yoga, avalanche airbag demonstrations, the raffle and the ski patrol closing sweep return Sunday for an encore at the same time and place. Additionally, both days at the various tents guest can learn about grooming, Woodward’s terrain park, the U.S. Forest Service’s role in the ski industry, helmet safety with St. Anthony Summit Medical Center and backcountry safety with the Summit Huts Association and Summit County Rescue Group.
What started as a small grassroots event is now celebrating its 10th anniversary at Copper.
“It started with getting our patrol, our lift operations, our slope team, putting them all together and inviting guests to understand what goes on behind the scenes at Copper Mountain,” said resort spokeswoman Taylor Prather. “Copper has been continuously recognized from NSAA for its safety initiatives and programming. We take safety very seriously.”
Specifically, Copper has won awards for their overall safety campaign, kids on lifts campaign, collision prevention program and their terrain park program.
The weekend isn’t just for skiers and riders, though. Anyone who lives in Colorado can learn about driving safely in the winter from a Nokian Tyres demonstration or learn about skin protection with Sun Bum Sunscreen and CMC’s nursing program.
If you can’t make it to the mountain this weekend, don’t worry. Copper’s patrol headquarters will have free hot chocolate all month long and skiers and riders are invited to pop in to meet patrollers and learn about the program.
Loving it
Just outside of Summit County, Loveland Ski Area will also be hosting their own safety weekend this Saturday and Sunday.
A safety tent will be set up at the base area informing guests on NSAA’s responsibility code, terrain park etiquette, sun safety and other topics. Loveland’s ski patrol will have patrol dogs on hand to demonstrate avalanche rescue techniques, conduct beacon demonstrations and talk about avalanche awareness. Employees will quiz kids on the responsibility code and hand out prizes for those that can recite the entire code. Kids taking lessons can also receive a free helmet.
