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Safety First
The Board of Directors, Members Safety Committee and management of Alpine Ski Club are committed to a safe and respectful environment for its members and guests.
This is in part accomplished through ongoing communications and involvement related to safety at the club. Below are several initiatives that all skiers and boarders should be aware of including:
Member Safety Committee Representatives for 2009
Members Safety Committee Mandate
Alpine Responsibility Code
Alpine Responsibility Code – Enforcement
Slow Zone Update
Badge Removal Update
Safety First For Our Guests
Alpine's Terrain Park Safety Program
Look before you leap - Levels of Progression
Terrain Park Safety Orientation and Quiz
Freestyle Terrain Code of Conduct
Snowshoe Responsibility Code
Riding Lifts and Moving Sidewalks
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Alpine Member's Safety Committee 2009
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Director of Safety / Janet Griffin
Member Volunteer / Dr. Greg Thomson
Member Volunteer / David Butt
Member Volunteer / Louise Thayer
General Manager / Bill Williams
Operations Manager / Mark Collins
Alpine Programs Manager / Kim Roberts
CSPS Volunteer Ski Patrol Leader / Paul Aitkens
The Members Safety Committee Mandate
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1. The Members’ Safety Committee at Alpine Ski Club shall consist of the following eight individuals: the General Manager, the Operations Manager, the Alpine Program Manager and the Head of Ski Patrol, as well as the Director of Safety and three volunteer members. The Director of Safety shall chair the Members’ Safety Committee. At the request of the committee additional staff or members may attend a meeting.
2. As a general principle the volunteer members of the Members’ Safety Committee shall be selected by the Director of Safety for a three year period to be served in rotation so that a volunteer member is replaced each year.
3. As a general principle, the most recent past Safety Director and then current Corporate Secretary shall be invited to participate in meetings of the Members’ Safety Committee.
4. The Members’ Safety Committee shall generally meet a minimum of five times each year; twice prior to the opening of the Club in December and once during each of the months of January, February and March in advance of the Board of Directors meeting in those months.
5. The mandate of the Members’ Safety Committee shall be to discuss and provide feedback to the management of Alpine and the Board of Directors on safety issues concerning the use of the Club by members and their guests. Without limiting the safety issues that can be discussed, this includes the responsibility, at its regularly scheduled meetings, to review recent accident data in order to identify those incidents or trends that may give rise to safety concerns at the Club to be discussed. However, the day-to-day management of safety at the Club, including the appropriate investigation of accidents, remains the responsibility of the management of Alpine. It is not the responsibility of the Members’ Safety Committee to investigate individual accidents or to address individual matters of discipline.
6. In their discussions of safety issues members of the Members’ Safety Committee have a responsibility to respect the confidentiality of any personal information that they may become aware of in those discussions.
7. Safety concerns may be brought to the attention of the Members’ Safety Committee by e-mail at MembersSafetyCommittee@alpineskiclub.com. E-mail communications will be reviewed at the next scheduled Members’ Safety Committee meeting. Safety concerns that require immediate attention should be brought to the attention of the management of Alpine.
Alpine Responsibility Code
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The Alpine Responsibility Code - Enforcement
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The safety of all skiers and boarders at Alpine is a primary goal of the Board of Directors and the management of Alpine. The objective is to strive to make decisions on safety issues that are reasonable in the circumstances and that are consistent with industry standards.
The Alpine Responsibility Code is the standard for on-hill behaviour that skiers and boarders are expected to adhere to at all ski and snowboard resorts across North America. Every skier and snowboarder has a personal responsibility to live up to the Alpine Responsibility Code. In addition, at Alpine, members have the additional responsibility to ensure that their family members and guests are aware of the Alpine Responsibility Code and follow it.
The primary responsibility for addressing breaches of the Alpine Responsibility Code rests with the management of Alpine and their staff, who are expected to speak to badge holders and their guests when they witness breaches of the Alpine Responsibility Code or when those breaches are brought to their attention. In addition, members of the Ski Patrol are expected to either address breaches of the Alpine Responsibility Code that they witness directly with the individuals involved, or report those breaches to Alpine management.
Badge holders and their guests have a responsibility to be respectful when any member of the staff or of the Ski Patrol addresses them with respect to any violations of the Alpine Responsibility Code. If the badge holder or guest disagrees with the Ski Patroller or staff member they should voice their disagreement with Alpine management. Under no circumstances should a badge holder or their guest be rude or offensive to a Ski Patroller or staff member. Being respectful and courteous to each other is an important membership value of the Alpine Ski Club and an underlying principle of the Alpine Responsibility Code.
Isolated breaches of the Alpine Responsibility Code will warrant a reminder to the person of their obligations under the Alpine Responsibility Code and a caution that their conduct is unacceptable and must not be repeated. Further incidents of misconduct by that individual would warrant a progressive level of discipline, appropriate in all of the circumstances of the particular incident. In circumstances where an incident can't be resolved between the parties there is a formal discipline procedure under the By-laws that can be invoked. However, before invoking the formal discipline procedure the parties and management should attempt to resolve the dispute amicably.
Slow Zone Update
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Alpine is a family club and, as such, all runs should be considered family runs. While there are varying uses of the different terrain at Alpine, the Club has never permanently dedicated a hill for the exclusive use of one particular group.
Alpine has a vibrant junior program and the Board and Safety Committee recognize the need for Slow Zones to provide and maintain an environment where our younger and beginner members feel safe. ABC and Lower Alpine are best suited for this purpose and, accordingly, these two areas are designated as Slow Zones.
Although the Alpine Responsibility Code applies to all areas of the Club, we all need to remind ourselves, our children and our guests of the importance of respecting others in the Slow Zones.
The Board and the Safety Committee have discussed a variety of methods to regulate conduct in the Slow Zones. As the layout of the South Side makes it difficult to entirely restrict access to ABC and Lower Alpine to beginners, we have determined that education and environmental controls are most likely to achieve the desired result of controlling speed in the Slow Zones. In this regard, we will continue to educate program staff and team coaches of the importance of going slow in the Slow Zones. In addition, we have been and will continue to experiment with environmental controls (including signage and fencing) during the balance of the season.
Badge Removal
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The management of Alpine has always had the authority to suspend on hill privileges by requesting a badge holder or guest to surrender their badge or guest pass for up to two operating days for a breach of Club rules including breaches of the Alpine Responsibility Code. This authority is intended to address those situations where an immediate response to an incident is appropriate having regard to the fact that a decision to suspend on hill privileges is a serious matter that requires the rights of all involved in an incident to be respected. Any member or guest who witnesses an incident of reckless behaviour on the hill may report the incident to management and fill out an incident report which is available in the administration office. Where appropriate, the General Manager will meet with the individuals involved to investigate and address the situation as the General Manager deems necessary or desirable. Where an incident involves a child member, the parents will be contacted. Where an incident involves a guest, the full voting member who signed in the guest will be contacted. Alpine staff may ask those involved in an incident to report to the administration office. A refusal to attend will be taken into account in assessing the appropriate response.
Members of the Ski Patrol have been asked to address breaches of the Alpine Responsibility Code where they are comfortable in doing so failing which they have been asked to report breaches to management. That being said, it must be remembered that all members of the Ski Patrol are volunteers whose mandate is primarily to deliver first aid.
When a member is addressing a breach of the Alpine Responsibility Code it is important to adhere to the Club's communication policies.
Safety First for Our Guests
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It is important for members who invite guests to the Club to alert them to Alpine’s Safety First program and to encourage them to visit the Safety First section of Alpine’s website.
All guests should familiarize themselves with the Alpine Responsibility Code. Make sure that your guests are aware that Alpine’s instructors are available to provide lessons and that these can be arranged through the Ski Programs office in the Main Lodge. In addition, it is important to alert guests to the existence of Alpine’s Terrain Park Safety Program and encourage them to participate by clicking here.
It is strongly recommended that all who enter the Terrain Park view the video and take the quiz, which can be done on Alpine’s website, before entering the Terrain Park. There are rules of the terrain park that all guests should know even if they are not intending to utilize the features.
Alpine’s Terrain Park Safety Program
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Alpine’s Terrain Park is a progression terrain park with signage that differentiates features into small, medium, large and extra large based on their characteristics. One of the purposes behind a progression terrain park is to give riders and skiers a choice over what size feature they are going to use so that they can fit the feature to their skill level.
The features in Alpine’s Terrain Park are not as challenging as those found in the parks at Blue Mountain and Mount St. Louis Moonstone or the other terrain parks at public resorts. However, one of the advantages of a progression terrain park is that, as the sign says, the “Designations are Relative to This Resort.” At Alpine even our most challenging features would only warrant a medium, or at most large, designation at a public resort, but providing the progression not only educates our park users on safe park conduct, it prepares them for when they go to public resorts and encounter larger features, so that they can make smart choices about what size feature they will use.
Although the physical features in our terrain park are moderate by industry standards, there are still inherent risks associated with any terrain park that can be reduced through education. One of the fundamental goals of terrain park education is to impress upon terrain park users the importance of riding or skiing in control within their skill and ability level. Start small and work your way up. Another fundamental goal of terrain park education is to reduce the risks associated with people entering the terrain park who are unfamiliar with terrain park etiquette. This is more of a concern with guests and badge holders, who are not regular users of the Terrain Park, than with the kids in our snow programs that are getting adequate training in terrain park etiquette. However, everyone needs to be educated in the proper terrain park etiquette and their responsibility to avoid creating a hazard, through their own conduct, for the other users of the Terrain Park.
In the process of educating the occasional users of the Terrain Park in terrain park etiquette, we are also be able to reaffirm with the regular users the terrain park rules and the importance of taking it slow, by skiing and riding within their limits, and the importance of respecting both themselves and the terrain park environment by remaining in control both on the ground and in the air. In the end many terrain park accidents arise from the failure to follow one or more of the terrain park rules and the best way to reduce these incidents is through training and education.
Alpine’s Terrain Park Safety Program includes an on-going educational component that encourages all badge holders and guests, who intend to enter the Terrain Park, to view a terrain park safety video and take a short written quiz in order to obtain a terrain park safety sticker to be placed on their badge or day pass. The viewing of a terrain park video on safety and etiquette and the passing of a short terrain park quiz is strongly recommended for all who enter the Terrain Park. This not only includes those children in snow programs who are likely going to use the Terrain Park, but also all adults, children and guests who may wish to enter the Terrain Park.
Those who participate in Alpine’s designated snow programs will get an opportunity to view the video and take the quiz as part of their program orientation. Others will be able to view the video and take the quiz in the North warming hut, where it will be shown periodically throughout the day. This season we will be using the Smart Style video, which is available by clicking here.
It is important for members who bring guests to the Club to alert them to the existence of the terrain park education program and encourage them to participate. It is strongly recommended that all who enter the Terrain Park view the video and take the quiz, which can be done in the North Warming Hut, before entering the Terrain Park. There are rules of the terrain park that we all should know even if we are not intending to utilize the features.
Look Before You Leap - Progression Levels
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Attention all Terrain Park Users!
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Skiers and Boarders alike need to read this. We have a Terrain Park Orientation Program for anyone wishing to ride or ski in the Terrain Park.
The primary purpose of this orientation program is to get the message out about riding and skiing smart in the parks and on the hill!
The program is as follows:
It is strongly recommended that all riders and skiers should view the Smart Style video and take the Terrain Park Quiz.
Upon completion of the above, a TP (Terrain Park) sticker will be issued at the club to be placed on your membership badge or lift ticket.
How do you participate in the program?
All junior program registrants in snowboard programs will receive the orientation as part of the program agenda. All skiers who are 6 and older in programs will also be viewing the video and the older children will be given the Quiz.
Adults in Snowboard Programs will also receive the orientation.
Because it is strongly recommended that everyone watch the Smart Style video and complete the Quiz we have made it easy and timely to do so. Whether pre-season or in-season, members and guests are encouraged to watch the Smart Style video and complete the Quiz at home. It's as easy as clicking here to view the Smart Style video and by clicking here to download the Quiz. Once you have watched the video and completed the questions, sign and date the bottom of the Quiz and bring it with you on your next visit to the club. An ideal time would be when you come to pick up your badge or guest lift ticket. During the season the video will be playing in the North Warming Hut. You will receive a TP sticker for watching the Smart Style video and successfully completing the Quiz.
This Terrain Park Orientation is strongly recommended for both members and guests. Working together keeps everyone safer!
Below is the Freestyle Terrain Park Quiz to test your Terrain Park Knowledge. Don't forget to watch the Smart Style video by clicking here prior to taking the Quiz.
Ski Club Terrain Park Quiz
1. Freestyle terrain may include:
4. Upon entering a terrain park you must first:
