With summer winding down, fall just around the corner and winter on the horizon, the Canadian Ski Patrol System (CSPS) is looking to bolster its volunteer ranks and the Calgary Zone is making special efforts to engage Bow Valley residents for the upcoming snow season.
John Bannerman, Calgary Zone vice-president of public affairs and communications, said recently the CSPS is looking to attract residents of the Banff-Canmore region for its Nordic program specifically, but also for its alpine program and a growing summer program, which includes mountain biking and trail running events.
“We assume there are probably a lot of people in Canmore and Banff who are interested in Nordic pursuits and we’re not reaching that population,” Bannerman said.
“We’re trying to be as flexible as possible and get people interested in the patrol.”
As part of its goal to reach out to the Bow Valley, the Calgary Zone is hosting a first-aid course for new recruits at the Canmore Nordic Centre that begins Oct. 15 and runs for five weekends through to Nov. 13.
Volunteers with the CPS in the Calgary Zone, which includes Lake Louise, Norquay, Nakiska, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Canmore Nordic Centre, Canada Olympic Park and West Bragg Creek, are expected to patrol three weekend days a month.
Volunteers, who can be dual Nordic and alpine patrollers and can take shifts at different venues, are also expected to take a skills test.
However, Bannerman said the CSPS does offer no-cost skills training and partially subsidized equipment costs.
The two main roles for ski patrollers are to promote safe skiing, assisting people who may need directions or help with equipment and, of course, responding to emergency medical situations in conjunction with conservation officers in provincial parks or professional ski patrollers at the resorts.
The incidents Nordic volunteers typically respond to tend to be less traumatic and more environmental, such as frostbite or hypothermia, along with medical emergencies such as cardiac or diabetic related.
Alpine and mountain bike patrollers, meanwhile, tend to face a combination of medical and traumatic incidents, including head and spinal injuries.
As a volunteer bonus, Bannerman said the hills in general give credit for days patrolled that can be used for individual day passes or put towards an annual pass.
“Another of the big benefits is being with a group of similar interests. It is quite a social group,” he said.
The CSPS is also a good opportunity to learn and enhance medical skills.
“We have a lot of people who are hoping to perhaps pursue employment as paramedics or EMTs. A lot of people who volunteer with the program find it helpful,” he said.
“People trying to get into EMT or beyond need to prove their interest and the ski patrol helps with that.”
Patrollers can also receive ski and snowboard training as well.
Along with the move to include more residents of the Bow-Corridor, the CSPS is continuing to evolve its mountain bike patrol program.
The program is well established at Canada Olympic Park, but patrollers have begun to branch out and do more ad hoc patrolling at individual events.
And the Canmore Nordic Centre is an opportunity to move that program further, Bannerman said.
“If we became better established in the Banff-Canmore area with people who have the knowledge and experience in those events, mountain biking becomes a natural choice,” he said.
Bannerman described the CSPS as a mobile and self-contained service that owns all of its own first aid equipment, including radios, that allows patrollers to be stationed at points throughout a course such as the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series.
For more information on volunteering with the Calgary Zone of the Canadian Ski Patrol or the upcoming Bow Valley first aid course, contact Bannerman at [email protected] or go to www.cspscalgary.ca/home or www.csps.ca.
The Calgary Zone is also hosting an open house at Canada Olympic Park in the Olympic Hall of Fame, Sept. 13-14 from 7-8:30 p.m.
Representatives from the Calgary Zone and from each patrol (Canada Olympic Park, Lake Louise, Nakiska, Norquay and Nordic) will be on hand to answer questions.
