The Foundation

David’s friends, his siblings, and his parents have formed The David Pettigrew Memorial Foundation, which has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Foundation’s mission is to promote awareness, safety and education for participants in outdoor recreation and sporting activities, especially in the mountains and wilderness areas of the Pacific Northwest. 

A major aspect of The Foundation's mission is being accomplished through safety classes for people of virtually all ages.  A detailed discription can be found on the Classes Page.

Its mission includes providing skiers and snowboarders with rescue equipment. To this end, the Foundation has donated  Backcountry Access Tracker Beacons and accompanying safety backpacks with rescue equipment to the ski patrollers at Ski Lifts, Inc., which operates the Alpental ski area at Snoqualmie Pass, and to the ski patrollers at Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort. In addition, the Foundation provides the same equipment for it safety courses.

Both Alpental and Mission Ridge have advised the Foundation of their use of the beacons and safety packs during 2009.  Rob Gibson, Patrol Director at Summit at Snoqualmie reported that they used the backpacks for backcountry orientation tours probably on over 100 occasions and they were a very effective means of reinforcing the concept of "preparedness" as well as being true safety equipment for those occasions.  He also reported that they were utilized in several avalanche awareness level 1 courses and, of course, in the Foundation's Mountain Safety Classes.  Brad Whiting, Patrol Director at Mission Ridge, reported that the Mission Ridge Pro-Patrol issued packs approximately 30 times over the 2008-2009 season and that they were used on 2 separate search and rescue missions.

In 2008 The Foundation gave six tuition scholarships to local ski patrollers to the International Snow Science Workshop ("ISSW"). which concentrated on skiing and snowboarding activitied, and two scholarships to ski patrol courses held by the Association of Professional Patrollers ("APP").  In 2009 The Foundation granted a major scholarship to one of our teachers to attend the ISSW in Europe.  Another major scholarship was given to one of our teachers to attend avalanche safety training (level 3) in California.  In both 2008 and 2009 se gave two more scholarships to local ski patrollers for APP training.  The APP is comprised of nearly 500 patrollers from ski areas and resorts throughout the United States.  Its certification requires its members to pass exacting written and practical tests in a variety of areas like avalanche science and rescue and first aid.

As part of  the Foundation's mission, it and the APP have formed an informal coalition with the ski patrols at Alpental, Steven’s Pass and Mission Ridge to give free structured awareness classes on skiing and snowboarding safety. The first classes were given in 2009 at Alpental and Stevens Pass.  In the winter of 2010 the Foundation in conjunction with the APP is offering 3 different levels of mountain safety courses.  The first is an introductory class on basic mountain safety, which will be offered 5 times.  The second is an intermediate mountain safety course on avalanche awareness, which will be offered 4 time.  The third is Proper Beacon, Probe and Shovel Usage, which will be offered 5 times.  See Safety Classes Brochure.

 In addition, the Foundation made donations to Stevens Pass for purchase of a safety beacon check point sign and to the Steve Burchett Memorial Foundation, which provides financial support for Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort.