Winter Sports Guide Ii Another Installment Of Ways To Spend The Snowy Season Outdoors

SKI PATROL By Debbie Polzin lewis & clark

“’Tis bitter cold and I am sick at heart,” whispers one guard to another in the opening scene of “Hamlet.”

These words have become part of an early morning ritualistic interchange for two teens who joined the Mount Spokane Ski Patrol this year.

Every weekend for three and a half months, Joel Wickre and Ryan Cassidy began their trek to the mountain at 6:45 a.m., blaring classic rock to jolt them awake.

The Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol has seen an increase in the number of interested teens in the past four years. But it takes a lot more than interest to be accepted to the nationally recognized patrol.

Potential candidates undergo a ski test in mid-February wherein they must prove their alpine and nordic skiing ability as well as exude a generally friendly and communicative personality.

In October, each candidate must successfully complete the Winter Emergency Course offered through the Intercollegiate Nursing Center. The course is highly rigorous, demanding eight hours of class time per week and many more hours of homework to prepare for a final.

Each student learns the same information that an emergency medical technician would, preparing them for complicated medical situations, plus first aid and responsive actions to outdoor emergencies such as avalanches, rock injuries and drowning. Daly Cooley, a 15-year-old patroller from Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Academy, encourages anyone to take the course, regardless of their interest in the ski patrol. He says it is an excellent way to be prepared for accidents that can happen anywhere and at anytime.

On-site training atop Mount Spokane begins before ski season and continues through early January, when the final testing and a “cut” of sorts takes place.

Daly, dubbed a “ski patrol brat” because he is a second-generation patroller, became interested through his mother Storm Cooley.

In the “old days,” Storm Cooley joked, ski patrol meant throwing the injured person on a sled, pushing them down the mountain, and grabbing a drink afterwards.

Today, “you have to know what you’re doing,” she says.

The Mt. Spokane Ski patrol stands out among ski patrols because it is so well-trained. For every eight hours, five are spent in training.

Dramatized scenarios, complete with screaming, fake blood and protruding bones, replace the real-life accidents they hope will be few and far between.

“You get a lot of crazy people crashing into everything,” Wickre says with a hint of sarcasm. More seriously, he explains that in reality there are quite a few accidents, “and big injuries, too.”

Frostbite and varying degrees of hypothermia aren’t uncommon on the mountain, but the patrol is prepared to deal with everything from a broken thigh bone to spinal injuries.

“You’re either on the patrol or you’re not,” Cooley explains.

So, whether you’re the 15-yearold auxiliary “brat” or the 70-year-old patrol veteran, you are responsible for the same quantity of medical knowledge.

Young adults have always had a place on the Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol, but teens are in the minority. Of 120 patrollers, only 16 members are under 18.

Kathi Tribby-Moore, treasurer and adviser to the younger members, sees young people as an essential part of the mountain’s responsibility to skiers.

“Part of our job is to relate to those people on the mountain,” and a large percentage of skiers are teens.

“The younger members have great skills,” she explains, but often they have a hard time socializing with the average 37-year-old patroller. For this reason, Tribby-Moore has made an effort to reorganize the old Junior Ski Patrol program for the younger members of the patrol.

The program is a branch of the National Ski Patrol, with the purpose of fund-raising, offering leadership courses and creating camaraderie among the core group of teens. “We want the younger members to feel like they are competent members of the patrol,” as they most certainly are, she insists. After all, those members are “the future of the patrol,” she says.

She encourages anyone interested in the patrol to stop by the ski patrol building located on the mountain. But do it soon, as tryouts take place in February.

An added incentive is the free season pass and membership in the national ski patrol organization, members say.

SNOWMOBILING By Tammy Scholz colfax

“It’s a complete adrenalin rush.”

That’s how Colfax senior Terra Cloke describes snowmobiling.

Jump on a motorized toboggan and you are set to glide over the smooth white snow.

The sport of snowmobiling is exciting, competitive, dangerous and thrilling. Whether it’s racing in competition or riding for recreation, snowmobiling appeals to young people.

Teenagers who snowmobile often do it with friends, but mostly it is a family affair, as it is in my family.

Many who get into the sport are encouraged by their parents. They begin cranking the throttle as early as 4 years old. And those who race feel that their teammates are such close friends they are almost family.

In winter, dedicated sledders (snowmobiles are often referred to as sleds) hit the trails nearly every weekend.

Those involved in the Washington State Snowmobile Racing Association turn out every few weeks on Saturdays to compete in snow cross and hill climb. Snow cross is similar to motor-cross racing and is run on a course. Hill climb, also called high marking, is when riders battle to see who can get higher on a hill.

Tyler Hedlund, 14, of Newman Lake, was the second-place junior at the state level in snow cross last year. He has been racing for 10 years and said, “It would be pretty cool to be on ESPN.”

This can be a beginner’s sport, too. Curtis McNeilly, a Colfax, Wash., senior, said, “Beginners should start with a low-cost machine. Then it’s easy to get started. Someone with experience should teach you. Later on you can get a feel for it and expand on your own.”

Anyone can do it, and it’s a nice hobby that gets you out of the house. You can buy into the sport as cheaply or expensively as you want. Snowmobiles can be found for less than $100 or up to $10,000. “Everything depends on the level you want to be,” McNeilly said. If you are thinking about trying it, experienced riders suggest that a general interest in motor sports and being mechanically inclined are helpful.

Snowmobiles have received criticism because they are dangerous. Capable of reaching more than 120 miles per hour, with nothing but a helmet as protection, concerns are warranted. (Helmets are a necessity.)

Riding a snowmobile is most dangerous when you’re not sure what you are doing. The biggest risks are getting lost, crashing into trees, hitting other snowmobiles and getting caught in avalanches. There are many places to ride in this region. Students picked their favorites to be the Blue Mountains (the Pomeroy, Wash., side and Mount Misery in particular), Lookout Pass (behind Mount St. Regis) and McCall, Idaho.

Other recommended spots include Fourth of July Pass, Priest Lake (Idaho), Elk River, Dixie (Idaho), Riverside State Park, Moscow Mountain (near Troy, Idaho) and Mount Spokane State Park.

And, many rider enjoy riding in areas right around their homes.

If you are interested in the sport, find out if someone you know does it and get them to take you along. Or check out the listings under Snowmobiles-Rentals and Tours in the Yellow Pages for more information.

DOWNHILL SKIING By Allene Callen sandpoint

Give me skis or give me death? Well, it sounds a little silly, but this is the battle cry for some area high school students.

I, having gone downhill skiing a grand total of once in my life, can only say that there is some thrill to hurtling downhill at speeds far faster than one likes to think about and even to tumbling head over heels over your ski tips.

Apparently, about the hottest thing around this season are K2 skis, at least that what other teens are telling me. Ski equipment is really fairly basic.

One skier said, “You gotta have the skis and you gotta have the boots.”

And several layers of clothing that you can peel off as needed.

If you’re willing to make the drive (given that for some of you it is some hours away) the favorite ski resort for many Sandpoint teens is (go figure) nearby Schweitzer Mountain Resort, the town’s main winter attraction.

For beginning skiers, Musical Chairs and, so I’ve heard, Midway are both good runs. If you’re looking for a little more of a challenge, though, Big Timber, Siberia and the North Bowl all come recommended.

If you happen to be in southern Idaho or near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and are willing to go to a little extra effort for some excellent skiing, check out the Hobacks in Jackson Hole and the Christmas Bowl in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Let us not forget safety. While you’re out cruising the slopes and pulling daredevil jumps and turns, don’t forget to be at least somewhat careful.

Just last winter we had two celebrity deaths - a Kennedy and singer-turned-Congressman. Both died in ski accidents last January. There is indeed the thrill of danger on the slopes, but the most dangerous thing you can do would be to get caught up in it and do something stupid.

You could end up dangling by your skis from a tree, as happened to a teenager from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, last year.