You see them everywhere. On the slopes at Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Area, their red jackets are unmistakable. At local sporting events and festivals, their red tent is equally visible. Always, they are ready to spring into action in a medical emergency or mishap.<\/p>\n
They’ve been there to help you; now the Canadian Ski Patrol Muskoka Zone needs you. With declining membership over the past few years, they are reaching out to find community-minded people looking for a rewarding way to give back. And you don’t have to be a skier.<\/p>\n
“We do so many events in the summer now that we are (out there) 12 months of the year,” says Jodie Marc Lalonde, President of the Canadian Ski Patrol Muskoka Zone. Ski patrollers are the first responders at the ski hill, providing first aid to skiers and snowboarders who take a tumble. While some patrollers need to be able to get to accidents high on the hill, others can be stationed at the chalet to provide care there or nearby.<\/p>\n
The ski patrol also provides medical assistance at sporting events and festivals like Ironman Muskoka, Band on the Run, the Algonquin Outfitters Muskoka River X, local triathlons, and the recent ONtour outdoor concert, tending to competitors’ injuries and assessing their ability to continue, or treating festival-goers’ ailments. “You don\u2019t need to be able to ski to help,” says Lalonde.<\/p>\n
Those events also function as fundraisers – the fees paid by event organizers help to purchase equipment so that the volunteer patrollers can continue to do the good things they do. “That’s where we make our money to sustain ourselves.”<\/p>\n
The ski patrol’s major fundraiser – the annual Ski Swap and Sale<\/a><\/span> on the Thanksgiving long weekend at Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Area – isn’t far off, either.<\/p>\n\n\t\t