Welcome to the Alpine Ski Patrol News & Info page. Here we will provide you with news and general information on the Alpine Ski Patrol, Alpine Ski Club and the Collingwood area. This page will be split into three distinct sections, as follows:

• General Information,
      - where you can find general information on the Alpine Ski Patrol and Alpine Ski Club, such as how to get there,
         trail maps, etc.
  
  
• Patrol News,
      - where you can find out what's happening with the Alpine Ski Patrol.
  
  
• In The News,
      - which where we present news items featuring the Alpine Ski Patrol.
  
  

As your legs are likely hanging over the dock, toes soaking in lake-water at the moment, you're probably not reflecting too much on the blur that was your ski/snowboard season of 99/2000. But maybe you are… as I am. The past year was a strange one from almost every respect; weird weather, slow start, fast finish, a few big-ass powder days, a few eye-popping deck-days, and just about everything in between; probably an average year after all.

I've come to accept that many people don't really know about Alpine Ski Club in Collingwood - whether they are patrollers or not, or even whether they're skiers or not. Usually it's "Alpine… oh, that's near Blue, is it?", or "do you ever run into Steve Podborski?", or even "you should try nordic skiing sometime!". Most of the club members who aren't on the membership committee probably like it that way - "great terrain & conditions, less/no lineups, awesome views, friendly and professional staff, excellent instruction: "let's just keep it to ourselves".

Though our patrol is also known, or unknown, for a bit of the same, we have kept a loyal mix of both veterans and newer-comers who love the club and its great runs, snow conditions and atmosphere. Those who have stayed longer have in common a love for tons of mileage on their boards and an interest in improving their abilities, both as skier/snowboarder and as a patroller. Plans of development for 6 more challenging runs (read steep!!) on our north side, more lifts, water from the bay, etc… all in the next 3-4 years have us all quietly (until now) salivating. For those of you who visited us at the zone race this year, we hope you enjoyed yourselves and had a chance to ski around a bit & get a flavour for the club.

If you're thinking that your club doesn't do it for you anymore or just never did, remember that all ski areas and their patrols are not necessarily the same. It would be a shame to leave the system without exploring other possibilities. Whether your choice is Alpine or not, another ski area, close-by or in a different district might just throw a totally different light on what it is to be a patroller. The common element of helping people, injury prevention and first aid would still be a main focus, but what about all the other stuff? Just a little food for thought to accompany your egg salad sandwich & ever-warming suds….

If you want to chat, give one of us a call; we'd love to talk to you. The snow's closer than you think…

Far from it.

Even before the first snowfall, patrollers are training for the upcoming ski season. Their intensive first aid course is nationally co-ordinated and takes three months to complete.

And that's just the beginning.

Each year they have to re-certify their first aid credentials.

Once the season begins, patrollers spend hours practicing how to manoevre a rescue toboggan - basic rescue equipment found on every ski hill - under any condition, in all types of terrain.

During the season, patrollers ski the trails first thing every morning and on a continual basis to remain alert to changing conditions.

They're also constantly on the watch for skiers in distress, and ready to offer first aid to those in need.

Charlene explains that she became involved in the Ski Patrol organization because it was a goal she had set for herself.

"I felt that my skiing had improved enough to allow me to become a patroller," she says.

In addition to allowing her to do what she loves, Charlene says that her volunteer work on the slopes has helped her meet new people, meet new friends.

Like any volunteer organization, there are ski patrollers who contribute far beyond what is expected of them.

A case in point is Bell installer Bob Baker.

About six years ago, Bob (who has been a ski patroller for seventeen years) recognized that the one-person rescue toboggan being used wasn't all that great. And since "nothing was available in Canada", he decided to design a new one. He brought to the task his decade of experience training patrollers how to use the toboggan.

Even though the one-person toboggan is "easier to operate and control" Bob sensed that patrollers would resist switching to a one-person toboggan after being familiar with the two-person version. So he and his team of volunteers designed one that is capable of being used as either.

Their invention has proven to be such a good product that it's being used on slopes from B.C. to Newfoundland.

Unfortunately Bob doesn't have a patent on his design, but he shrugs off the money-making potential philosophically, saying that such is the nature of contributing to a volunteer organization.

Bob, Karen and Charlene are just three of the many Bell employees active in the Ontario Ski Patrol organization.