It has been, to say the least, an interesting season. I have been very busy training the Steeplechase candidates a few ski skills and toboggan handling techniques. Jodi Whitcomb, Steeplechase PR, did an excellent job recruiting candidates. I think about half are members of her family: husband, daughter, sister, brother-in-law, and niece. In all there are twenty-two new patrollers in the Steeplechase patrol. Five are snowboard qualified, nine are ski qualified, six are auxiliary, and two were late recruits who will be taking OEC training next Fall.
I am very thankful for the help Steeplechase received from Tony Anthonisen, Mary Beth Bernard, and Francis Cockeran for training the snowboard candidates. I don’t think we would have had the success we did without them. Still that left fourteen candidates for me to train in toboggan handling. I opted to train twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesday nights. At first I was wondering if this would work, and there were some problems like forgetting what I had trained the other group. Things did eventually work out and I’m expecting all of these people to become excellent patrollers.
When I was first told that Steeplechase Ski Area was not going to open this year I was disappointed. Now after spending the season training the candidates, I’m quite thankful. As it was it was a busy and exhausting season, I’m only now imagining how difficult it would have been to train candidates and open a new area in the same season. When Steeplechase opens next season I look forward to continuing to watch these patrollers and the Patrol grow and improve, becoming one of the best in the Region.
I have to finish with a huge debt of gratitude to the Welch Village Ski Patrol and Welch Village Ski Area for allowing the snowboard candidates to train there and providing the rest of the patrollers with a place to test after the abrupt end of the season. Included is also a huge debt to the Coffee Mill Ski Patrol and the Coffee Mill Ski Area for allowing the skiing candidates a place to train.
Please welcome the new snowboard patrollers from Steeplechase:
Charise Barden, Sue Landry, Stacy Rain, Jeff Whitcomb, Paul Schauer.
Please welcome the new ski patrollers from Steeplechase:
Kelly Chamberlain, Joe Druga, Jr., Randy Heineke, Patti Lancaster, Monte Lundeen,
Kevin Mandler, Linda Romocki, Mary Sapp, Mary Stenson.
Please welcome the new auxillary patrollers from Steeplechase:
Joe Druga, Sr., Mary Druga, Mike Landry, Rich Mehrkens, Brian Slowinski, Stephanie
Stumpf.
We also have two folks from Steeplechase who completed the Alpine skiing/toboggan-only
portions and will enroll in the OEC course next Summer/Fall:
Dennis Huffman, Tiffany Poncelet
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