By Brian Low, Canadian Ski Patrol FIPS delegate (brian.low@skipatrol.ca)
Riksgränsen, (The national border in Swedish) is a ski resort in Kiruna municipality, Lappland, Sweden, 200-km north of the Arctic Circle. The skiing season is from February to June. From end of May the lifts operate under the midnight sun. One of the runs crosses the border to Norway and back to Sweden. No border control there. From April 21 to 28, ski patrollers from around the world will be descending on Riksgränsen where Ski Patrol Sweden Rescue will be host to the XXIV FIPS World Congress. https://riksgransen.se/en/
Twenty-three Canadian Ski Patrollers, spouses, and friends have registered to attend the FIPS World Congress. With approximately 130 attendees, our Canadian contingent is the largest national group attending. The group has been in contact with one another since the fall, sharing information on travel plans, session registration, considering FIPS-CSP special garments to wear, Canada social night planning and generally getting excited for this great opportunity for patrol professional development and learning about other patrol organizations and cultures. All costs for Canadian attendance at the FIPS World Congress are borne by the individuals themselves.
The FIPS executive, in cooperation with our Swedish hosts, has been planning for two years to provide a program that includes lectures, on-snow sessions and social time as well.
Upon arrival at the Kiruna airport or train station on April 21, getting settled and enjoying social time with other attendees, the sessions get started bright and early Monday morning. Following breakfast at 7 a.m., sessions begin at 7:45 a.m. with Monday focused on topics developed by the FIPS Medical Special Interest Group. Topics on Monday focus on resuscitation and also psychotraumatology (CISM). In the afternoon we put the “ski” in ski patrol and hit the slopes to stretch our legs and get to know the terrain around the resort. However, learning never stops and further meetings later in the afternoon are scheduled for each of the various special interest groups (SIGs) (medical, avalanche, technology, rescue dogs, disability, FIS liaison, risk management). Each evening the group dines together and enjoys a social evening, often hosted by one of the various countries attending.
The “Canada Night” is a highlight of the week with the Canadian team decked out in Canada clothing, the room decorated with a Canada theme, and many Canadian liquors, or even maple syrup, being transported to Sweden to share with fellow patrollers from around the world. With a Canada playlist, the party is a great time to celebrate ski patrolling.
Each day follows a similar schedule. An early start, presentations and workshops in the morning … with topics including avalanche survival, rescue, evacuation, spinal motion restriction and mechanical chest compression, rescue dogs and many other topics. Experts from around the world are invited to share their leading-edge knowledge with the attendees. Our own Dr. Marc Despatis, a member of the CSP, an instructor trainer, and member of the CSP Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), is presenting information on spinal motion restriction. Afternoons are either follow-up sessions to the morning on piste, or entirely new topics related to ski patrol protocols.
Before you know it, it’s Saturday night and our closing gala dinner and social. Another FIPS World Congress does its final sweep. Attendees say their goodbyes to new and old friends and depart of Sunday for home or further adventures before returning home to share new learning, the experience of attending a FIPS World Congress, and to begin to plan to attend FIPS XXV in 2026, somewhere in our ski patrol world.
Next in our FIPS series, we will share some of the learning (and some of the fun) we will have had in Riksgränsen. We will identify our CSP members who are part of the FIPS executive and board, and perhaps some of the pictures (that we can share) of our ski patrol adventure at the ‘top of the world’.