John LaPlante

Have you ever been in a ski patrol room?

There are many people who make a ski area work: snowcat drivers, snowmakers, maintenance experts, lifties, instructors, front office staff, back office staff, food service workers, and members of the ski patrol. The ski patrol is part cop (watching for out-of-control skiers and riders), part ambassador (“How do you get from A to B?”) and part medic.

I’m an occasional snowboard instructor, which has its own joys and challenges. Sometime last season I attended an open house for the ski patrol at that ski area, and I came away impressed with the kind of work they are prepared to do. (Responding to broken bones is not my thing.) Even more, I was impressed with the training they undergo. There’s a lengthy classroom component for what is known as OEC, or Outdoor Emergency Care. (You can read more about OEC on the web site of the National Ski Patrol.)

There’s also a physical requirement. The patrol has pre-season training, which includes walking up the hill. Granted, we’re in the Midwest so it’s not mountain climbing. Still, it’s a task, especially since most patrollers are wearing ski boots.

They also participate in drills to evacuate people from the chair lift, a subject worthy of a separate column.

Recently, I made use of the ski patrol at a local area (not the one where I teach.) I had stopped at a chalet to use the restroom. Upon coming out of the chalet, I was approached by two skiers who wanted help finding a particular slope. Knowing that maps were back inside, I said “Just a minute,” and turned around and started walking back toward the door.

Bad move.

I knew very quickly that something was wrong. I also knew that I could do nothing about it except perhaps utter a curse. I had stepped badly on a patch of ice, and soon I would be on my back. And on my back I was, with a jarring impact that immediately hurt.

I didn’t get a concussion or knock my head on the ice. But I did land on my back, with the most impressive force focused about my belt, near my right hip. Ow!

A member of the ski patrol just happened to be nearby, and witnessed my imitation of slipping on a banana peel. He invited me to take a snowmobile ride back to the base to get iced up. After thinking about it, I accepted the offer.

I could have made my way back to a lodge on my own, though it would take a two runs to do so. I decided “Here’s an offer, why not take it?” After all, I might have be afflicted with some unusually sharp pain on the mountain while snowboarding down, and then what would I do?

In a few minutes the snowmobile arrived. The driver seemed a bit disappointed that I didn’t need to recline in the toboggan, but I was quite happy to take a seat on the back of the snowmobile. It was the first time I’ve been on a sled since junior high. It didn’t take us long to arrive at the ski patrol building. The idea was to rest a bit and use some ice–though this time to relieve pain, not inflict it.

The patrol room was not much different from others I had seen as a casual visitor (not for my own treatment), and it had the typical cement floors, tables, and basic first-aid stuff.

There were two large rooms, plus a restroom. The room I spent my time in had several padded beds (like the one shown above) and several more beds without padding. There was also quite an assortment of bandages, compresses, and the like.

The original patroller left. Someone else gave me some ice, asked some questions and determined that there was nothing more to do. He did welcome me to rest for a while, which I did. Also, he filled out the requisite form with name, address, skill level, and all that.

After all those questions, he asked “Was there anything you could have done to avoid this?”

“Not use that door?,” I suggested.

Perhaps this was a response to the litigious society we live in. Perhaps too was that fact that the patrol has a rule: nobody can give skiers or riders drugs. Not even common, over-the-counter pain medication such as Advil.

After placing an ice pack on my back for a while, I walked the short distance to the main shop (not far away), bought a small packet of two tablets, and drove home. I could have gone back out, but this was God’s way of saying “Chill out. Go home.” And I did.

By the way, I feel just fine now.

Face it, snowboarding can be expensive, especially if you travel to a destination resort.

So what can you do to save a few bucks? One thing you could do is make your own lunch.

Peanut butter is a good standby.

You could pack a small jar in your luggage, or buy one at your destination. Slather some on crackers (such as Triskets or Wheat Thins) and put them in a sandwich bag, and you’ve got bite-sized energy sources that you can eat while on the lift. (In this case, use creamy; it’s hard to get two crackers to stick together if you use crunch.)

If you make a sandwich and put it in a pocket of your jacket, it can be smashed pretty quickly. A better alternative is the pita pocket, which is a stiffer form of bread.

If peanut butter isn’t your idea of a great lunch, use dinner leftovers. Most restaurant meals are supercalorific, even for snowboarders. Save some of your meal and stuff it in the pita when you get back to the hotel or lodge. Take the pita out with you the next day.

Even if the pita approach doesn’t entirely replace your on-mountain lunch, it should reduce the amount of food you’ll need to buy at inflated prices.

For those of us who live in the flatlands, mountain towns can be a bit unusual. Consider Aspen, Colorado.

According to the January 23, edition of the Wall Street Journal, Aspen now faces “a glut of luxury stores downtown.”

Walk through the mall and you’ll find high-priced merchandise, to be sure. It’s a tail-end-of-the-bell-curve kind of place, as far as the prices that people pay. (Then again, you can buy ordinary stuff at Carl’s pharmacy or the grocery stores a few blocks away.)

Is this a problem?

The Journal says that the city is considering a law that would require “new commercial building projects set aside a percentage of space at affordable leasing rates.”

(Main Street, Aspen)

Now that’s an interesting situation for economists to ponder. Presumably luxury goods stores can pay higher rents than those that sell mass merchandise–though whether luxury goods sell at a higher margin is an empirical question, not one that can be answered ahead of time.

In any case, what would such an ordinance mean for visitors? It all depends on one’s chosen activities. For non-shoppers, not much.

There would be a logic of bifurcation that would reinforce itself, though. Here’s what I mean: assume that you own some land suitable for retail. The city council says you must rent one-third of it at below-market rates. So what do you do with the rest of our land? You rent it out (market conditions permitting) at an even higher rate, in hopes of offsetting the lost opportunities imposed by the mandate.

One of the principles of keeping warm in the extreme cold is to layer up (and no, wearing one bulky piece of clothing in place of several lighter pieces isn’t recommended).

Around here the temperatures have been rather cold of late–cold as in “The high today will be 2 degrees.” So when I went out to the hill the other day, I put on plenty of layers. Here’s what I wore on top:

• A base layer with wicking properties;
• thin pull-over shirt with a mock turtleneck;
• A light zip-up cardigan;
• A heavier zip-up cardigan;
• A jacket

Despite all this clothing, I was not overheated.

For my legs, I took no special measures. I wore my standard snowboarding pants (a two or three-year old pair from Ride) on top of some comfy base layer pants.

Remember what your mom said about heat escaping from your head? Believe her. That’s another reason why a helmet is useful, but you might need to supplement it, as it I did, with some ear warmers.

The weak part of the outfit? The gloves. I don’t like the “helpless” feel of mittens, so I normally go with gloves. When I teach, I wear a ratty old $10 pair from Wal-Mart, and put a leather palm guard on top to keep the tow rope (used in our teaching area) to keep them from getting instantly sliced.

Gloves are lightweight and easy to pack. If you leave some stuff in your car or in the lodge while on the hill, it might be worth your trouble to bring along several pair of gloves, some heavier and some lighter. Swap them out as conditions warrant.

There are a lot of places to enjoy snowboarding, from large resorts such as Vail and Whistler that draw from a global market, to the small day areas that predominate in the Midwest and much of the mid-Atlantic states.

Likewise, in ownership there is a great deal of diversity. You might buy a few shares in Vail Resorts, a publicly traded company (ticker symbols MTN).

But rarely can you buy shares in a company that operates a ski and snowboarding area. Some are fairly large private companies, such as Boyne USA, which owns operations in British Columbia, Michigan, Utah, and Washington.

Some areas are owned by state or local units of government. Others are co-ops.

Some, though, are true small-scale family operations. The other day I was at one such area, where I occasionally teach snowboarding. I approached one of the owners, and she greeted me by name.

I was impressed. Our most extensive exchange was at an end-of-season banquet last season. Yet here it was, months later, and she remembered me, though I am one of perhaps 200 people (ski patrol, snowsports school, back office, etc.) That’s not the kind of personal knowledge that you’re going to find in a mega-sized resort.

Snowboarding with trees in view is an integral part of many people’s mountain experience. Whether the trees are deciduous or confers, they can offer a fantastic visual component to snow sliding. As a bonus, riding near large strands of trees can provide much-needed clarity of vision on a day with flat light.

But trees can also offer something else that’s much less enticing: death. On her blog, Shayboarder, one of my favorite snowboarding bloggers, offers advice on the dangers of tree wells. Be sure to read through to the link she provides to a site on tree well and deep snow safety.

Sadly, the most enticing kind of terrain–deep snow, lots of trees–can also be deadly. Be informed, and act accordingly.

One of my favorite types of news articles are the ones about adult snowboarders. They have this “Holy Cow! Can you believe that?” quality to them.

I’ll grant that it’s a rather old story now, as adults have been snowboarding for years now. Then again, you’ll always find stories telling you that winter is here and guess what, there’s an outbreak of the flu. In both cases, old news can be informative (get that shot! give snowboarding a try!), and at least with snowboarding, it can make the winter go (too) quickly.

The latest publication to catch on to the grays on trays phenomenon is Crains Detroit Business. It features Patrick Becker (age 40); Greg Flowers (42); Brad Hynes (44); and Oliver Dixon (42). These men are no slackers, working (respectively) as a vice president of sales and marketing; an automotive designer; a vice president of operations; and a marketing manager.

They’ve got some pretty good skills for grown-up riders. Becker is an experienced instructor; Hynes teachers a snowboarding team at a local high school; Dixon has participated in USASA competitions; and I suspect that Flowers is no slouch, either.

The story offers several benefits of snowboarding:

• Innovation is the spice of life;
• It’s a resume boost [really?];
• A thrill of competition;
• A rush from big air [sorry, I can’t relate];
• Joy of playing in the snow;
• Families can enjoy it together;
• The equipment is lighter (no back strain!);
• There are plenty of opportunities to try something new;
• A community of people with a shared passion.

So dads, moms, and just anyone 30 and up, if you haven’t tried snowboarding but find it interesting, find a snow sports school and take a lesson or three. (You might benefit a lot from getting a private lesson from another adult.) It may be one of the best purchases you’ve ever made.

Got an itch to buy some gear for your next snowboarding outing? I’ve heard some people say good things about the web site steepandcheap.com.

Not all the stuff is related to snow sports, by the way, but much of it is.

It’s got an unusual (though not unique) business model: One item is sold, at a discount (at least 50 percent off retail) until its gone. Then another item goes on sale. Downside: no browsing possible, you’ve got to know your stuff since there’s little time to look at other options.

Upside: you could save some dough and get the stuff you need, or at least want.

Success in snowboarding depends in part on having strong abdominal, or core muscles. There are lots of exercises that you can do to develop a stronger core.

Are you pressed for time and can’t make it to the gym? Here’s one thing you can do without even leaving the office: Replace that office chair (at least temporarily) with an exercise ball.

The Wall Street Journal has the story, which you can read on its free site Career Journal.

“Devotees,” reports the Journal, “say exercise balls, whose diameter ranges from about 18 to 30 inches, help improve posture and concentration. Sitting upright on them requires using abdominal and lower back muscles.”

As an adult, you may not be as fit as when you were at a younger age. But that’s no reason for sinking into the living room furniture and becoming a couch potato. The exercise ball can be one tool for improving your fitness, and making that on-the-snow experience less of a workout, and more a sheer session of enjoyment.

For the best snow and most interesting terrain, snowboarders need to get high–that is, high in elevation. But traveling from sea level or the flatlands to the mountains can give a person altitude sickness.

Last March I took a trip to Crested Butte, which has a base elevation of over 9,300 feet. Before going there, I did some research into altitude sickness. I’d like to say that it helped me, but I don’t think so.

One thing I did is get a prescription for Acetazolamide, which WebMD says is used to “prevent and reduce the symptoms of altitude sickness.” The National Institutes for Health has more.

The information sheet that came with my prescription had this to say, in part:

“This medicine is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor used to treat glaucoma or to remove excess body water.”

I was a bit startled when I read this. Nothing about altitude sickness. So I kept reading:

“It may also be used to treat other conditions as determined by your doctor.”

So there’s the altitude sickness, I guess.

The information sheet had the typical warnings about alcohol use and operating heavy machinery. I was struck by another line, though:

“This medicine may cause increased sensitivity to the sun.”

Crested Butte, we have a problem. At least I had a problem: I burn rather easily, and here my new helper would make that even more likely. After all, I would be (I hoped!) spending a lot of time in the sun, and at a high elevation. A word with the pharmacist gave me some relief though: use plenty of sunscreen and you’ll be fine. Same old, same old.

By the way, did it help? It’s hard to say. You’re supposed to take it a day or two before you head to higher ground, but once there, I forgot to take it on the first or second day. I didn’t get the same intensity of a headache that I had during a trip to Summit County (the elevation in Breckenridge: 9,600 feet), but on the last day I was so wiped out that I came inside for a quick nap.