By Delainey Muscato
St. Bonaventure University
If you’ve ever been to Holiday Valley Ski Resort, you might have noticed some people in black and red jackets around you on the hill. That’s the Ski Patrol at Holiday Valley. They have been an institution at the resort since its inception. I spoke with Ansley Kelly this week about how the Ski Patrol functions at the resort. Kelly herself has been serving on the patrol for seven years. She was able to provide great information about how the patrollers are trained, their levels of certification, and their daily routines. Rest assured, when skiing or snowboarding at Holiday Valley, you are in good hands with the Ski Patrol.
Over the years, the Ski Patrol has developed in numerous ways. Each patroller has had training to provide the best care to guests in case of an emergency situation. Kelly said, “It evolved from very basic first aid all the way up to what we now call an Outdoor Emergency Training Technician level which has many of the same skills as an EMT. We’re able to respond to a variety of injuries and illnesses”. They’ve created a great system for transporting injured guests, “We continue to evolve in our training around what we call Outdoor Emergency Transportation. [We use] toboggans to transport injured guests around the mountain” Kelly explained.
Patrollers work every day to make sure they are fostering the best and most safe environment for guests at the resort. This work starts as soon as they arrive to the resort in the morning. Kelly told me, “We come in, in the morning and we do trail checks and slope reports. We check to make sure that the trails are all in good condition and we mark anything that might be an obstacle or a hazard for a skier or rider”. Once they do their initial trail checks, they spend the day skiing or snowboarding with guests to provide aid for anyone who is injured, assist guests with broken equipment, or share information. While each patroller has a certain amount of certification and skills, there are multiple levels of training available for them. Kelly said, “We have a number of different certification levels patrollers can pursue to grow their skills in both first aid and outdoor emergency transportation. Even within the patrol there is a lot of opportunity to continue to grow”. So, if you happen to be injured on the slopes, there will be no shortage of trained officials to help you out.
In addition to assisting guests on the hill, the Ski Patrol has hosted a food drive for 28 years to support the less fortunate in the area. Kelly told me a patrol member, Bob Barbu, recognized the need and started the annual event. Kelly made clear how meaningful the event is, “It just came out of a desire to connect with the community. A lot of what we do as patrollers is giving back to the sport that we love and any opportunity to support the broader Ellicottville community feels really important to us”. She also acknowledged how expensive the activity can be. With all the equipment needed as well as memberships to resorts, skiing or snowboarding expenses can very quickly add up. Kelly told me, “Skiing and riding tends to be a pretty expensive, sometimes prohibitively expensive, activity and those of us who are fortunate enough to participate have a responsibility to make sure the local community is taken care of”.
The food drive will be Friday, March 10th, from 5pm-9pm and Saturday, March 11th, from 9am- 5pm. Each year, the Tops Supermarket in Ellicottville is kind enough to allow the Ski Patrol to host their food drive. Last year they collected 90 cases of food and over $3500 in cash donations. Each year they’ve seen the donations increase and would love to see that trend continue this year. Kelly said, “My hope is that everyone would take the opportunity to get involved”. All donations go directly to the food pantry at the United Church of Ellicottville. If you miss them outside Tops, you can catch them in the Mardi Gras parade Saturday the 11th and drop your cash donations in their cans as they walk.
Quote: The food drive will be Friday, March 10th, from 5pm-9pm and Saturday, March 11th, from 9am- 5pm. Each year, the Tops Supermarket in Ellicottville is kind enough to allow the Ski Patrol to host their food drive. Last year they collected 90 cases of food and over $3500 in cash donations. Each year they’ve seen the donations increase and would love to see that trend continue this year.