Page Title

HISTORIAN

Well one year has passed since I introduced myself as the Historian for the Region. I still know as much about the history of our Region a I did last year. It seems that everyone forgot to send out some tidbits of history from the patrol and the Ski Areas that you have been associated with. As everyone should know the longer it takes to capture history the more it changes. I would like to send out another "REQUEST" for the information that your have stored away in boxes, bags or in your head. Please get it to me so that it can be documented for everyone to enjoy. Remember the more times a story or tale is told the more it gets changed.

My address is 67 Dixon Blvd, Uniontown, Pa15401 or use my E-mail address w.kozlovich@aol.com

AWARDS- WHO NEEDS THEM THINGS ANYWAY?

By Pat Boccardi, WAR Awards Advisor

The short answer is NO ONE. We do not need awards like we need snow, skis, toboggans and first aid equipment. We do not need awards like we need patrollers who do their work dependably with skill and dedication. However, there are incidents in which a team or an individuals efforts rise significantly above average. These efforts do not NEED to be recognized but rather they DESERVE to be recognized. The awards program is all about publicly acknowledging meritorious work. We do not have merit pay increases in this organization (sure hope you were not waiting for them). The way we recognize individuals that perform above and beyond the call of duty is with awards recognition.

I know there is a history of misunderstandings and frustration with the awards programs. We can not change history but we can indeed change the way we approach awards. I have been working with our new Division Awards advisor and have a better understanding of the system. Bottom line- we are getting more of the awards we are applying for. I am not going to go into detail here about the individual awards and their respective requirements. That information is detailed in the Policies & Procedures Manual that all Patrol Directors receive each year. I am not even going to ask you to plow through that document, even though it is riveting reading. What I am asking you to do, is keep your eyes and ears open for actions above and beyond the call of duty and let me know about them. Call or email me and we can discuss the merits of the case or individual before anything is applied for. This may serve to streamline the procedure and most importantly, get more awards to deserving patrollers.

Patrollers will undoubtedly continue skiing, eating, sleeping and yes, even patrolling, whether or not they ever get an award. So they may not NEED the awards but in a lot of cases they sure do DESERVE them. It is a shame that in many situations nothing is ever said or done about really outstanding work. We should not let these really good efforts go unnoticed. Lord knows we get criticized enough when we mess up, so why not publicly acknowledge jobs really well done. A little recognition can go a long way and I will do my best to work with you to make the award happen. While I can not guarantee that we will get every award we hope for, I can guarantee we will not get any award if we do not apply for it.

LIFT EVACUATION REPORT

BY Tyler Davis

I am glad to have received only one lift evacuation report during the past ski season. The incident occurred in the afternoon on a Saturday. The temperature was 32 with a very light wind blowing. Not to unpleasant as these events go.

There were 60 customers on the stalled lift. Within four minutes the Ski Patrol was notified, and 20 minutes later the evacuation began. 15 Patrollers and about 30 others lowered 21 people from the chairs. Meanwhile, the cause of the lift stoppage was located and repaired making it possible to remove the remaining 39 people in the normal way. The entire event took about one hour.

It is encouraging to note that the region has a smaller number of Lift Evacuations than we used to. This is probable due to newer equipment and better maintaninance.

However, we should not lower our gaurd. All patrols and others may be called upon to assist in lift evacuations should include day and night sessions to keep skills sharp.