By Kirstie Simpson, Life Member No. 91 and head of mountain safety and ski patrol at Mount Sima (propatrol@mountsima.com)
Skiing in the Yukon starts early and stays late. At Mount Sima near Whitehorse, snowmaking starts in October and the hill is open to pre-season training from athletes from all over the world by the beginning of November. Alpine athletes arrive first as the long GS runs are ready and then freestyle athletes arrive as the mountain sequentially opens into the terrain parks. Mount Sima has hosted the first Canada Cup freestyle event of the season for many years.
In November 2022, Mount Sima hosted the very first-ever FIS race north of 60 degrees – in the world! And we enjoyed it so much we hosted it again this year. It is now called the Aurora Cup and it has been a resounding success.
Preparation by the ski patrol for the first FIS race was a lot of work and quite honestly a bit stressful. Its early season for CSP so we rely on a combination of highly experienced veteran patrollers along with the hill’s pro patrol team. Many of pro patrol wear two hats – doing their volunteer CSP patrol days on their time off from the pro patrol job on the hill. The hill is so busy with racers that it’s hard to squeeze in training runs for the patrol, so we make sure that the FIS patrol team comes with solid toboggan driving and ski skills and sharp edges!
In-service training before the race includes a “stop the bleed” course for everyone and a standalone deadly bleed kit in the top of every pack as we prepare for the possibility of ski edge lacerations. Even though we have all just been re-qualified, we review our vacuum mattress patient stabilizing protocols, as well spinal and airway management protocols to make sure we are all on the top of our game.
All hands were on deck as B-net was set on the sides of the very long course and when the FIS chief of race and TD (technical delegate) gave it their thumbs up as well as the thumbs up to the amazing grooming team, we all gave a collective sigh of relief that this key safety measure was done to regulation standards.
Planning for this event included the development of an emergency action plan (EAP) with racer down protocols and patrol response guidelines. These athletes ski hard and fast and start at 45-second intervals, so ensuring the race is stopped and the race course clear before the patrol enters is paramount. We looked to other FIS and World Cup events for guidance including the Lake Louise World Cup EAP kindly provided by Ken Lukaway, a fellow CSP patroller with many years of experience patrolling that race. The chief of race for our FIS race was a dream to work with and we had every confidence that the safety of the patrol, course officials and athletes was the most important thing about the race.
The race organizing committee made up of the visiting FIS officials, Alpine Yukon volunteers, our local sport governing body, Sport Yukon and of course the amazing Mount Sima team, ensured the race was pulled off without a hitch. The 2023 race benefited for all the planning that went onto the 2022 race and stress levels this year were much lower, as our team jumped back into the roles established last year.
The FIS race is a real highlight of the year for the patrol. We form a strong, coordinated and cohesive team and we all know that each and every one of us has each other’s backs and can jump into any of the patrol roles needed. Job well done to everyone!
