Page 10 - Winter 2018 Journal

Safety

A TRAIL MAP FOR GUEST SAFETY

California & Nevada Launch First-Ever Mountain Safety Guide

BY DAVE BYRD, NSAA DIRECTOR OF RISK & REGULATORY AFFAIRS

THE CALIFORNIA SKI INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (CSIA) launched ty programs from the industry—was a rising tide that lifted
an unprecedented guest safety initiative this season for skiing all boats (or in this case, all resorts).
and riding guests at its member resorts, the Ski California “No matter which particular area you ski, nearly all of
Mountain Safety Guide. The guide embraces a novel approach: the risks involved with skiing or snowboarding—except
using the traditional trail map found at all resorts but creating maybe avalanches—are common across all resorts, regard-
a universal safety message along the same familiar concept, all less of their size or their audience,” Cohen explained. “Tips
printed on sustainable, environmentally-friendly paper stock. and strategies for skiers to better understand how to stay
It’s a one-stop educational effort for both seasoned skiers and safe and to be aware of these risks is something all resorts
families with children. can get behind.”
And its remarkable early success—both with the skiing Given that the ski industry has always been especially
and riding public, and with local and state media—may collaborative, Cohen pitched the idea to Michael Reitzell,
provide a blueprint for resorts all over the country. the newly appointed president of CSIA, who took over the
CSIA, which includes 20 downhill California ski areas association in 2015 after longtime president Bob Roberts
and three in Nevada, had been looking for a way to increase retired after 40 years. Reitzell—a former litigation defense
its guest education outreach. For years, individual resorts attorney who represented ski areas in liability lawsuits—was
have been educating their guests through a wide variety immediately open to the concept, particularly given years of
of separate initiatives, including NSAA’s National Safety inflammatory media stories misrepresenting, if not outright
Month, the ski areas’ own resort websites, local programs ignoring, the great lengths ski areas have gone to for overall
with schools and community groups, and ski patrol and guest safety.
mountain host programs. “The broader strategy was first and foremost to help us
The challenge, however, was that the efforts were not en- educate our guests, and our Mountain Safety Guide achieves
tirely uniform in their messaging, and not as effective overall that incredibly well,” Reitzell said. “But it also has a second-
with the resorts’ varying degrees of outreach, despite the fact ary benefit that underscores with the media our sincere com-
that most of the inherent risks of skiing and snowboarding mitment to safety. This outreach effort is going to resonate
are pretty similar at most resorts. extremely well with families new to the sport and seasoned
But Ron Cohen, chief administrative officer and general skiers alike.”
counsel for Mammoth Resorts in California (Mammoth, Reitzell had the added benefit of a particularly passionate
June Mountain, Snow Summit, and Big Bear), knew that board of directors at CSIA who helped champion the project,
NSAA, and other resorts across the state and country had including Amy Ohran, president and general manager of Boreal
excellent individual safety programs that could be better uti- Mountain Resort; John Rice, who leads Sierra-at-Tahoe;
lized and packaged into one uniform program. Several years and Sally Helm, the CSIA chair and owner of Dodge Ridge.
ago, Cohen hatched the idea of developing something initially Along with strong support from all CSIA member resorts, as
called “Safety Mountain” or “Mt. California,” a fictional area well as NSAA, the CSIA Executive Committee and a team
and its trail map-like concept with a uniform safety message of outside experts tackled the challenge of trying to reduce a
tool that could be embraced by everyone. Safety, Cohen felt, multitude of safety education pieces into readable, digestible
is not something that resorts use as a competitive edge—all
resorts, no matter their size or their resources, deeply care | CSIA’s new safety guide folds like a trail map and contains
about guest safety. A uniform approach—using existing safe- recommendations on how to avoid the inherent risks in the sport.

8 | NSAA JOURNAL | WINTER 2018