Canaan Valley Volunteer Ski Patrol trainers gather Saturday on the slopes to prepare to help other members hone their medical and rescue skills.
By Beth Christian Broschart
The Parsons Advocate
DAVIS – This year, the ski season is slated to open at Canaan Valley Ski Resort in December and on Saturday, about 20 volunteers gathered to train for a lift evacuation exercise so they can help others learn the skills necessary to be on the Volunteer Ski Patrol. Mike Mullens said they are offering a refresher course Oct. 8 and 9.
“All of the trainers are refreshing their skills today and then they will pass on their knowledge when we have the upcoming lift evacuation exercise,” Mullens said. “In case our lift goes down, we are prepared to evacuate the customers stuck on the lift. Right now we are practicing how we ascend up to help bring them down.”
Mullens said there are 20 trainers and the ski patrol has about 70 members. He said the 20 will train the other 50 in October. He said Canaan Valley Ski Resort is projecting the tube park will open Thanksgiving weekend and the ski slopes will open Dec. 10.
Training is imperative in case the ski lifts stop.
“We need to know how to get folks off the lift without hurting them,” Mullens said. “This is the second training we have had this summer and our big training is coming up in October. On that Sunday, we will have a practice mass casualty event, our first ever, which includes the Canaan Valley Fire Department, the Tucker County EMS, our ski patrol and the Timberline Ski Patrol. It will be as if there is a complete catastrophe. We will go the whole triage and setting up and organizing, getting people off the lift. It is just practice, practice, practice.”
Mullens said during the ski season, the Ski Patrol’s job is to make sure the mountain is safe.
“If someone does get hurt, we are trained medically,” he said. “Our job is to come upon the injured, do an assessment, stabilize the victim and bring the victim down to the first aid station. If there injury is serious, we call for EMS to transport the patient.”
Ski Patrol member Ray LaMora said the training is very important.
“It is one of those trainings you have to be prepared for but you hope you never have to use,” LaMora said. “I think it is a good thing to have under our belts and know what to do and know how to do it safely. One of the big things we want to assure is we don’t have people sitting on the ski lifts for hours. If it is zero degrees and you are skiing, you have been sweating and you are going to be cold. The longer you sit, the colder you will get. Hopefully, if we are well practiced and well versed, the evacuation will go quickly and smoothly.”