Snow King ski patrol wants you/Golf tourney to raise big bucks for St. John’s OB

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

By Sam Petri

Snow King ski patrol wants you
Jackson Hole is steeped in skiing tradition, and many of the first skiers in this valley learned to ride at the community hill where it all began – Snow King Mountain.
To this day Snow King continues to be the mountain where many locals learn to ski. It’s also where one of the oldest ski patrols in the West began, and this weekend they look to keep this institution alive by recruiting a few new volunteer patrollers.

Swing by the Patrol Room at Snow King at 7 p.m. on Friday or at 8 a.m. on Saturday for an orientation and sign-up meeting for the Volunteer Ski Patrol. No previous experience is necessary, just a positive attitude and the ability to ski or snowboard.

The volunteer patrol is trained in the same way as the paid patrol, by taking the Outdoor Emergency Care Course, the equivalent of an EMT Basic Certification. They patrol the same mountain and assist people the same way. According to veterans of the volunteer patrol, everyone who volunteers maintains another job – volunteering is a way to give back to the community, to be involved with the mountain, and to support the paid patrollers.

“Not too many people who start leave,” said Teton County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Weichmann, who has been on the volunteer patrol since 1989. “To many of us, Snow King represents the absolute nucleus of what is left of community in Teton County. It’s where we exercise at lunch, teach our kids to ski, and where many of us have learned to ski.”

Not only does Weichmann enjoy being part of the community resource, but through patrolling he has picked up a set of skills that he takes with him everywhere.
Weichmann noted he once used an automatic defibrillator on an airplane to save a person’s life, a skill he learned through training on Snow King.

Kevin Johnson, a 22-year veteran of the volunteer and paid Snow King patrol, enjoys the camaraderie  and meeting people from all walks of life. Because the Snow King patrol has been around for so many years, he says, the training is top notch.
“It’s more advanced than your average first aid course,” he said.

Snow King provides the textbooks, the training and some basic patrol gear during the 80-hour course for around $400.

Wyoming native Wally Ulrich, a geologist by profession, learned the skills it takes to patrol in 1967 through a Boy Scout program held in Alta, Utah. He’s been on the Snow King patrol since the early ’80s. You get a huge skill set that you get to use over a lifetime,” Ulrich said.

Some of those skills were pioneered at Snow King. Ulrich noted that Jenny Huidekoper invented the initial protocol that ski patrollers use to do a snow search for a person in avalanche terrain on the backside of Snow King Mountain. Even Ulrich’s daughter, Courtney Campbell, learned to patrol at Snow King under the instruction of Doug McLaren. In 1990, when Ulrich went into cardiac arrest, Courtney was there to perform CPR and bring him back. If she hadn’t gone through the training at Snow King, she wouldn’t have been able to assist her father. 

“We have a great training system that??s world-class,” said Ulrich. “The kinds of people we want are ... people who want to test themselves and give back to the community.”  
For more information contact Volunteer Ski Patrol Director Hal Richardson at 733-9625.


Golf tourney to raise big bucks for St. John’s OB
St. John’s Medical Center Auxiliary, a volunteer nonprofit group devoted to raising money for the hospital’s capital equipment, will hold its 16th annual charity golf tournament this Friday at Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis, Jackson Hole’s first golf and tennis club.

Pre-registration for this well-attended event begins at 11 a.m. when the driving range and putting green open for practice. A putting contest takes place right before the tournament’s 1 p.m. shotgun start.

The individual entry fee is $175 and, aside from helping raise money for important hospital equipment, participants will have two chances to win $10,000 on two separate holes and one chance to win a new car – if they can make a hole in one. Other contests include a traditional betting hole, longest drive and closest to green award.

All entry fee proceeds will go directly to St. John’s Auxiliary, which will use the funds to support the obstetrics department at St. John’s Medical Center by purchasing three oak bassinets, two Corometrics fetal monitors, and a radiant warmer for the treatment of bilirubin.

You do not need a full team of four players to participate; event organizers will help pair people together before the start of the match. If you are a business in town and would like representation at the tournament, sponsorship levels range from $750 to $1,500 and provide two and four golfing spots, along with a hole sponsorship, and your company name on the sponsorship board and in the tournament program. Sponsors also receive free visits to St. John’s Health Institute for a fitness evaluation and a Health Fair blood chemistry analysis.

Hundreds of Jackson Hole businesses have already donated items for a phenomenal silent auction, which will take place after the tournament during the awards party. The party also will include hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.

With a newly renovated golf course, a new tennis and pool complex, a new private events patio, and a gorgeous new clubhouse and fitness center, Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis is proud and excited to help raise money for St. John’s Medical Center.

For more information and to make reservations, contact Diana Brodie at 733-6730 or Linda Criswell at 733-9424.


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Snow King ski patrol wants you/Golf tourney to raise big bucks for St. John’s OB | Planet JH News Article: Sports & Recreation

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