News
Bottineau Winter Park holds rescue exercises
Matthew Semisch
11/18/2014
Ski area chairlifts are skiiers’ and snowboarders’ means to the means to an end. Riders catch a lift to the top of a hill in order to propel themselves back down to the bottom.
Before the riders depart the lift, they’re also treated to spectacular views of the hill on which they’re soon to descend.
That’s the idea, anyway, and the whole process runs smoothly almost every time.
Very rarely, though, problems can arise. Inclement weather conditions or lift engine malfunctions can leave riders stranded in midair and in need of someone to help them down safely.
That’s why employees and ski instructors at Bottineau Winter Park (BWP) take part in annual chairlift rescue exercises.
Their most recent round of practice took part on Saturday at the park. BWP personnel were joined by members of the Bottineau and Lake Metigoshe fire departments as well as by Bottineau ambulance workers.
This wasn’t the first time several of the people on hand on Saturday had taken the rescue course. Many were new, though, and everyone involved was able to take something good from it.
“This is kind of a refresher for everyone that’s been through the course before,” said Brad Knudson, who has served as BWP’s manager for the past 38 years, “But we do have an awful lot of new people that came out for this this year, too.”
In order to safely rescue riders from stalled chairlifts, rescuers on the ground use a pulley system. A rope is tossed up and around the lift’s cable, and a small wooden harnessed chair is sent up for riders to get onto and be pulled down.
Disabled riders using bi-skis or mono-skis can also be brought down safely using a similar method
“We’ve only had one time in which we had to do a chair evacuation, and that was over 10 years ago,” Knudson said. “Now, though, we’re doing this as we do every year.
“It’s good to train with bi-skis and mono-skis, too, so that, if we have a disabled person on the lift, we wanted to make sure we know how to bring someone on one of those down.”
Regardless of the situation, though, many people are inevitably involved in rescue efforts. If any riders are stranded on a chairlift, a BWP employee will call 9-1-1 for assistance, and a group of rescuers will work to bring the riders back down safely.
“If we had to perform a chair evacuation, we would notify 9-1-1 and get their assistance here,” Knudson said. “We have an awful lot of people that help with that kind of thing from the assigned evacuation manager on down, and it cannot be a one-person job.”
Communication between rescuers and rescuees is also vital. Stranded riders who begin to develop hypothermia on the chairlifts can become desperate and require a calming outside influence in order to reach the ground safely.
“You need to be ready when you’re doing this,” Knudson said. “Because the tendency of the person you’re rescuing is that they’re cold, they’re hyperthermic, they’re shivering and they’re desperate. You need to know where their minds are at so that you can help them.”
Those taking part in the rescue training course on Saturday first took part in a two-hour classroom session. After that, a lunch was served and then practice began.
It’s practice, Knudson said, that’s important if problems arise.
“Like with anything, continued practice is best practice,” he said. “So we’re going to do this every year and just hope that we never have to use it.”