Congratulations Award-Winners, OEC Mid-term Tomorrow, NMR Summer Program

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR AWARD-WINNERS

Congratulations to our Award-Winners at the EMR Region Banquet. Heather Cambare, Doug Nass, Kevin Dietrich, Jon Torvinen, and Joe Johnson received the Central Division Critical Care Award as a result of their excellent backboard skills exhibited to care for a man with a severe spinal injury who presented on his hands and knees in the terrain park. In the opinion of hospital personnel and the region medical adviser their skills may have allowed the patient to retain use of his limbs. They did a great job of exemplifying the abilities of our patrol.

OEC MID-TERM TOMORROW

Our OEC candidates will undergo their first major trial tomorrow, Saturday, June 1, as they take their mid-term examination. If you are a OEC instructor or just want to help, you could take part as an evaluator or a mock patient or by-stander. I think Allison has all the slots covered, but the test will be held fro 8 AM until lunch-time. If you can’t make this one, the OEC Final will be held on Saturday, June 22. Call Allison if you can help out.

NMR OFFERS SUMMER OEC PROGRAM

The NORTHERN Michigan Region of the NSP is offering a OEC program this summer open to all patrollers who wish to improve their OEC skills. It is particularly designed for those who want to take the Senior SEM evaluation, but it offers credit for two OEC Enhancement Seminars and is open to everyone.

The courses will be held on three weekends in June, July, and August and the cost is $25 for all three. You must attend all the sessions to receive OES credit and your skill sign-offs. Dates are June 22-23, July 20-21, and August 17-18. All sessions will be held in the Schuss Mountain patrol building. Schuss Mountain is south of Bellaire, Michigan.

If you are interested, contact Megan Thompson at megnsp@comcast.net and ask her if they have space for you. The registration deadline was a couple days ago, but you may get lucky if you ask politely.

Spring Meetings and Banquets Approaching

EMR SPRING MEETING AT GENESYS

On Wednesday, May 1, The Eastern Michigan Region of the NSP will hold their annual spring business meeting. Officers and advisors will recap the season and begin planning for next year by setting refresher and event dates for next fall and winter. All patrollers are welcome. The meeting will be held in one of the meeting rooms in the Genesys Conference Center at 6:30 PM. Please contact Region Director Derek Werner for more information. You can reach him at(248) 342-1970 or derek.werner@usa.net

MHSP SPRING MEETING and AWARDS PRESENTATION

On Saturday, May 4, the Mt. Holly Ski Patrol will hold their annual Spring Meeting and Awards Presentation at the ski area in the Lift Lounge. This year’s meeting will be offered by the Tuesday Crew, and the theme will be “ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.” Please come dressed in your best zombie or zombie hunter attire. Kevin asks that you RSVP to kadietrich@charter.net by April 26. There is no cost to attend the meeting.

Mt Holly Spring Awards Meeting Flyer

Following a scrumptious dinner (we hope they don’t serve zombie fare) the election committee will announce the results of balloting. Ballots have been distributed via email and we have posted a plain-text ballot copy on the site (in the panel at the right) for those who may have had trouble (as we did) reading or printing the version distributed in MS Powerpoint format. Then the PD and his staff will recognize members and others who contributed to our long, successful season.

EMR SPRING AWARDS BANQUET

On Saturday, May 11, The Eastern Michigan Region of the NSP will hold their 2012-13 Annual Awards Banquet at Pine Knob. Cocktails will be served at 5:30 PM with dinner following at 7 PM. All patrollers are welcome to attend. Cost for the dinner will be $25 for the member and $20 for a guest. Deadline for reservations is April 30. We have included a copy of the reservation form in the panel on the right. After dinner, the Region Director and his staff will present awards to those who have helped make his tenure as our RD a success. He will introduce his successor (presumed, as the election has not been completed, although he is running unopposed) who will take over the reins this summer.

Season Ends, OEC Class Starts, Congratulations Steve, Coming Events

SEASON ENDS

On Sunday, March 24, 2013, Mt. Holly closed for the season at 5:30 PM. Patrollers removed toboggans and signs from the hills and stored everything away until the start of next year’s season. We want to thank everyone for helping to make this a memorable season.

OEC CLASS STARTS

Just because the ski season has ended here at Mt. Holly, that doesn’t mean that our patrollers are not busy with patrol activities. Last Tuesday, March 19, our Outdoor Emergency Care class for our incoming candidates began. The class will meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings with some additional Saturday practice sessions. The class should be completed in late July. All OEC instructors on our patrol are invited to participate. Anyone wishing to become a OEC instructor is welcome to be mentored after they have completed the NSP Instructor Development course (one will be held at Mt. Holly soon). Contact Allison is you have any questions.

CONGRATULATIONS STEVE!

Steve Roberts passed the EMR Senior OEC Evaluation this month which was held at Pine Knob. When Steve completes his senior ski and toboggan evaluation and the three required senior electives, he will be awarded the rank of Senior Alpine Patroller.

COMING EVENTS

Date and time TBA, NSP Instructor Development Course, Mt. Holly, contact Lynn Hunt.

Wed., May 1, 6:30 PM, EMR Spring Meeting (all patrollers welcome), Genesys Conf. Center

Sat., May 4, 5 PM, Mt. Holly Spring Meeting and Awards Presentation, Mt. Holly

Sat., May 11, EMR Awards Banquet, Pine Knob?

Weekend Events were a BIG Success, More Great Weather Coming

WEEKEND EVENTS WERE A GREAT SUCCESS

Last weekend, MHSP held an anniversary cookout and several patrollers participated in a water rescue seminar.

NSPS 75th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

On Saturday, February 23, the Mt. Holly Ski Patrol celebrated the 75th Anniversary Season of the National Ski Patrol System with a cookout on the patrol building deck from 11 AM until 2 PM. Patrollers roasted hotdogs and served them free to the skiing public with chips, cookies, and pop.  The celebration was a great success, particularly as a local radio station and a national coffee shop chain were also sponsoring events at the same time right next to the ski patrol building. For more pictures of the event, please check out the album on our Facebook page. You will find a link to it in the column on the right.

ICE/WATER RESCUE DEMONSTRATION HELD

Jon O’Dell, our latest alpine senior patroller, and also Patrol Director at Independence Oaks Nordic Ski Area invited all patrollers to an ice/water rescue demonstration and training exercise that was held on Sunday, February 24, at Interdependence Oaks County Park in Oakland County. Several MHSP patrollers attended and participated in the exercise by being rescued from the icy water. For more pictures of the event, please check out the album on our Facebook page. You will find a link to it in the column on the right.

PATROLLER CELEBRATES 70th BIRTHDAY

Last Friday, Cal Chase, one of our more active patrollers and a past patrol director and many of his patrol friends celebrated his 70th birthday at a local restaurant. Although he has been retired from his career for several years, he says has no plans to retire from patrolling. I hear he wants to sail his boat back down to Florida this summer but it’s not a scheme to take advantage of the lack of hardness in winter Caribbean waters. Again, check out the photo album on our Facebook page.

MORE GREAT WEATHER COMING

We got some snow this week, and some rain, and some ice, and some wind; you name it, we got it. But the temperature is dropping into a more wintry range for the weekend. Next week, we can expect several sunny, warm days with evening temperatures below freezing. That should make for great daytime ski conditions with good evening flying conditions in the parks as practice continues for the Big Air competitions coming up in two weeks.

7 Potential Patrollers Accepted, Big Weekend Planned

SEVEN POTENTIAL NEW PATROLLERS ACCEPTED

Last Saturday, February 16, the Mt. Holly Ski Patrol conducted the ski-along evaluation and interviews for potential candidates for the ski patrol. Seven of those trying out were accepted. They have committed to a rigorous, 2-year training program that will begin with a 16-week NSP Outdoor Emergency Care training course beginning in March. Two years of ski and toboggan training will follow before the candidates will take their test to become an alpine patroller. Watch for these people to be in the patrol building, observing how we do things. When they introduce themselves, congratulate them for their acceptance and try not to scare them off with your horror stories about how hard it is to be a patroller.

BIG WEEKEND PLANNED

More snow is forecast for Friday followed by warm temperatures (mid 30′s F) for the weekend with clouds on Saturday and a mix of sun and clouds on Sunday. We have some big events planned for patrollers this weekend:

75th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION THIS SATURDAY

This Saturday, February 23, the Mt. Holly Ski Patrol will celebrate the 75th Anniversary Season of the National Ski Patrol System with a cookout on the patrol building deck from 11 AM until 3 PM along with games for patrollers, family and friends. Come on out and celebrate this milestone with us and the 27,000 other member patrollers throughout the USA. Allison is still looking for patrollers to assist with cooking and running the games. Please sign up on the bulletin board or give her a call if you want to help.

ICE/WATER RESCUE DEMONSTRATION PLANNED

Jon O’Dell, our latest alpine senior patroller, and also Patrol Director at Independance Oaks Nordic Ski Area has invited all patrollers to an ice/water rescue demonstration to be conducted on Sunday, February 24, at Independance Oaks County Park in Oakland County. Contact Jon for more information.

Congratulations Dave and Jon, Brief Weather Interlude Expected

CONGRATULATIONS!

This Saturday at Boyne Mountain, free-heelers Jon O’Dell and Dave Boboltz successfully completed their Senior Ski and Toboggan Proficiency Evaluation on telemark equipment. Great Job, guys! Jon had previously completed his Senior Nordic Patroller requirements, so he automatically becomes an Alpine Senior Patroller, having acquired his senior electives and passed his ESM.

BRIEF WEATHER INTERLUDE EXPECTED

A brief period of showers or light rain is forecast from mid-afternoon Sunday, Feb. 10, through the early morning hours on Monday. winter is taking a short break (must be tired after serving up Nemo in the east) but will be back before you know it. In the mean time, enjoy the soft, easy-to-edge conditions.

Cold Weather Warning, Check Your Attendance On-line

COLD WEATHER WARNING

After last week’s warm, sloppy weather, we are back in the deep freeze. Be sure to dress appropriately for patrolling in cold weather and be on the lookout for patrons who might be experiencing frostnip, frostbite or hypothermia.

CHECK YOUR ATTENDANCE ON-LINE

Some of you may have seen the new, computerized attendance reports on our sign-in computer. There are several options. You can see which days you patrolled and the hours you were signed-in. You can see where your attendance stands on your shift. You can see where your attendance stands in relation to all the other patrollers on our patrol. What you may not know is that this information is on the Internet and that you can access it from home (or anyplace else you have access to the Web).

To see this information on your computer, you will need to sign onto the website with the appropriate user-ID and security code. Those you will find posted on the Member Notices page in the members’ area of this website. If you have any problems or if you feel your attendance data is in error, contact Don Tyrrell.