Members of the Junior Ski Patrol are Making a Difference

Members of our Junior Ski Patrol program have been meeting every week to learn the ins and outs of helping everyone stay safe on the mountain. Already, their training has come in handy.

On the third week of practice, the team was called to an incident on the mountain. A boy had fallen and needed to be carried down the mountain on a sled. While the ski patrol members were attending to the skier, members of the Junior Ski Patrol were stationed near the top of the run to tell skiers to avoid the area.

“It was pretty serious. We could tell the boy was in a lot of pain. He fell on a really narrow run with a tight turn. Anyone going down that run wouldn’t know what was happening until it was too late. It felt really good to know that we were actually helping by directing skiers to another area,” said Alice Luther (13), who joined the Junior Ski Patrol program this year.

One of her fellow Junior Patrolers, Sebastian Dunaway (12), put his new skills to use when he was free skiing with a friend just a couple weeks later. “We saw a kid in front of us take a really hard fall. I was able to get to him quickly and assess the situation while my friend skied down to ski patrol to ask for help. I asked him the concussion questions that I had learned, encouraged him to stay still and helped him stay calm until help arrived.

It felt really good to know that I was helping, even if it was just a small thing.”

Alice says her desire to join the Junior Ski Patrol came about after she herself was assisted by them last season. “On my last run of the night, I fell at the top of Buck and broke my thumb. My phone was dead, and one of my skis was gone. I was stuck. Luckily a nice man stopped to help me. He got ski patrol and also called my mom. I rode down the mountain on a sled. It was scary but also really cool.”

This year, Alice and her dad saw a boy take a tough fall while skiing at Shuss Mountain.

“We were riding the chair lift when this kid fell really hard. I was able to call to him and ask if he was okay, but he didn’t respond. I told him to hit the ground twice if he needed help, and he hit the ground twice,” says Matt Luther, Alice’s dad.

Alice and her dad rushed to the boy’s side as soon as they got off the lift, with Matt calling to the lift operator to get ahold of ski patrol. When they reached the boy, Alice directed her dad on what questions to ask and then managed traffic to keep the boy safe until more help arrived.

“Just the little bit that we know gives me more confidence to help people when they need it,” says Alice.

But the kids know more than just a little bit.

Already during their Junior Ski Patrol sessions, they’ve learned how to sweep a hill to close it down, how the toboggan works and some general first aid, including using a cravat, general bandaging, bleeding management and administering splints. They’ve also met with an avalanche guru to learn more about avalanche safety on the mountain.

“Alice and I are definitely going to do this program next year!” says Sebastian.