Classes
2010 Mountain Safety Courses
This year The David Pettigrew Memorial Foundation and the APP sponsored three different courses in mountain safety. The first was for Basic Mountain Safety and was addressed to 10-15 year olds. These classes were given at Stevens Pass, Alpental, and Mission Ridge. The second class was Intermediate Mountain Safety: Avalanche Awareness, which was presented at Steven Pass and Alpental. The final class was Proper Beacon, Probe and Shovel Usage. This class was given only at Alpental.
Initially, we scheduled a total of fifteen classes split among the three courses. We added an additional three Proper Beacon, Probe and Shovel Usage classes because the first five filled almost immediately. The last three filled as well.
Over 175 people signed up for the classes, which was more than we expected.
The basic and intermediate courses given at Steven Pass were taught by Corey Rubinfield (who is an APP certified ski patroller, professional ski patroller and medical trainer at Stevens Pass, and an AIARE avalanche instructor). Kevin Marston taught those two basic classes at Alpental (Kevin is a long time professional ski patroller currently at Alpental and an avalanche forecaster for the WSDOT, as well as a dog handler). Both Corey and Kevin were assisted by other very able ski patrollers at their respective venues. Brad Whiting, Mission Ridge’s ski patrol director, taught the Mission Ridge basic course.
The Proper Beacon, Probe and Shovel Usage class was taught by John Stimberis (a professional ski patroller at Alpental for 18 years and an avalanche safety instructor, who also supervises avalanche forecasting and control for the WSDOT.) He was assisted by Rob Gibson, Alpental patrol director and risk manager, and other Alpental ski patrol members.
This year’s program was a tremendous success. It was the first year we have concentrated virtually all of our efforts on safety courses and on scholarships (one of which was given to Corey Rubinfield and another was given to John Stimberis). As a result, everyone involved feels that we made progress towards saving a life. Our Foundation is dedicated to that goal and everyone involved worked extremely hard to make this year’s classes a success.
“I just wanted to give you some brief feedback from the beacon class some friends and I took several weeks ago up at Alpental. I wanted to tell you that all three of us thought the class was excellent. The two instructors were totally knowledgeable and totally cool. They didn't talk down to us and they were super fun to be with. In fact, they were the type of dudes I would love to ski with. I also thought the "lab" area was wonderful. Although I have some experience with beacons the hands on digging was really worthwhile. Again, thanks for providing such excellent teaching.” - Peter
“Ten of us joined Stimberis and Rob Gibson (Risk Manager at Alpental, yikes what a job!) for beacon and (wo)manniken search exercises at the Beacon Park today. The setting, tools, weather and instructors were perfect for optimal training, thanks to all. Afterward we were honored to meet David Pettigrew's dad and sister, and had a chance to thank them personally for this valuable snow safety educational resource.” -Silas
2009 Mountain Safety Courses
The APP and the David Pettigrew Memorial Foundation (“Foundation”) partnered in sponsoring mountain safety classes that were given at Stevens Pass in Washington on March 14, 2009 and at Alpental in Washington on March 21, 2009. The classes were geared towards the 10-15 year-old age group and covered the skiers responsibility code; ski area safety, warning signs, and park etiquette; fist-aid basics and injury reporting; off trail safety, skiing with a buddy, tree wells; back-country gear essentials; avalanche and avalanche rescue; and beacons, probes and shovels. The instructors were Cory Rubinfeld (an APP certified ski patroller, professional ski patroller and medical trainer at Stevens Pass, and avalanche instructor) and his co-instructor Kevin Marston (a member of the Foundation and a professional ski patroller at Alpental, a Washington State DOT avalanche forecaster, and the current president of the Back-Country Rescue Canines Association).
The course was free to all participants and class size was limited to 25 students. All of the activities occurred either in classrooms or walking around areas at each location. Each class lasted 4 hours. Corey stated that the students were absolutely thrilled, quoting student comments as “great”, “fun”, “enlightening”, and “cool”.
*DISCLAIMER: Skiing, snowboarding, and all other activities conducted in the mountains are inherently dangerous. The mountain safety classes sponsored by The Foundation and APP with the support of the ski areas will discuss some of those dangers. The classes are, however, limited in time and the amount of information that can be presented. While this information is important and should be helpful to the students, The Foundation, APP, and the ski areas cannot and do not assume any responsibility for any accidents or injuries the students may sustain either skiing, snow-boarding, and in other activities in the mountains now or in the future.
