A day in the life of Glenshee ski patrollers
Early last March I received an unexpected invitation from Helly Hansen to join a press trip going to Glenshee in the Cairngorms, ironically a place I had never previously skied. The idea was to follow Glenshee Ski Patrollers and observe them at work. Helly Hansen are a huge supporters of ski patrollers and supply all their red ski outfits – and the reason for the press trip. They also arranged for all four ski journalists to receive by post a new ski outfit to be worn on the press trip. However, mine never arrived and I ended up packing my own ski suit instead although after an emergency call HH PR, an outfit was hurriedly grabbed from one of their clothes rails and dispatched to Glenshee with one of the PRs accompanying us on the trip. Travel arrangements had been made for me to fly from Heathrow to Edinburgh where I was to be met by a driver called Graham who was to take me to Dalmunzie Castle, a two hour journey and where we were staying. As instructed, on arrival at the airport, I called Graham’s mobile as I headed for the baggage collection area.
Our conversation went something like this. “Hello, this is April, I’ve arrived and about to pick up luggage”. To which Graham replied, “Have you been to Edinburgh airport before”, “No, not for at least twenty years.”
“Well,” he said, “a lot has changed since then. Go to the Collection Point outside the terminal and call me back” which I duly did and to make sure I was in the right place I asked an official-looking gentleman dressed in dark blue who told me I was in the right place Reaching for my mobile, I re-dialed Graham’s number and at the same time a mobile started ringing belonging to the person I had just spoken to. Quizzically I looked over at him until suddenly the penny dropped, this was Graham, my driver and simultaneously we burst out laughing. It goes without saying that the journey was both amusing and entertaining.
Once checked into the hotel, I went straight my large tastefully furnished room to unpack and change for dinner and there lying on the four poster bed was the promised brand new navy blue ski suit which thankfully fitted perfectly. Half an hour later and I was in the hotel bar meeting up with the rest of the group, most of whom I already knew, enjoying a much needed drink before being ushered into a mahogany walled private dining room with a large open stone fireplace full of brightly burning logs and where our delicious Scottish-themed dinner was served.
A 7 am early morning start beckoned and duly kitted out in our new Helly Hansen gear we assembled outside the hotel where a mini bus picked up us and drove us for about twenty minutes to Glenshee. First we collected our skis, boots and helmets from the local ski hire shop before meeting up with four Glenshee Ski Patrollers, including head ski patroller Jim Wood, who gave a small speech about the roles of ski patrollers including the ‘sweeping’ runs and how accidents on slopes are handled.
We then peeled off with two ski patrollers, Will and Chris, who accompanied us up a couple of lifts and we followed as they skied down a couple of runs ‘sweeping’ slopes before they opened to the public. Now and again we stopped and watch them place red sticks crossed on places where potential hazards could be found and closed runs that were deemed to be dangerous.
Glenshee is the UK’s premier ski centre with the largest lift system – 22 in all serving 36 trails across three valleys and four mountains, offering the most extensive skiing and snowboarding in Scotland with terrains reaching 3,504 feet. There are lots of varied and interesting runs, some easy, some surprisingly steep, but thankfully a heavy snowfall a few days prior to our arrival leaving most runs in fairly good condition.
The only drawback was the weather. Visibility was poor which meant skiing needed a lot more focus but it felt really good to be on skis again after a three year hiatus. I was somewhat surprised how easy it was to fall back into the sport with little or no difficulty.
After a quick self-service lunch we were again escorted up the mountain but this time to a different area to experience first hand a mock ski accident.
After skiing for about ten minutes we came across our ‘mock’ victim lying in the snow with a supposedly broken leg. Here the group of ski patrollers demonstrated how they handle these types of ski accidents. First making the victim comfortable, then placing the injured leg into wooden supports before carefully placing him onto a plastic sheet with handles that was lifted on the awaiting blood wagon. We then followed the blood wagon all the way down to the village and watched the injured victim being carried into the Patrol Centre where he was laid out on to a bed and attended by a local doctor.
I have a lot of admiration for these guys, most of whom are volunteers but all enjoy their work immensely.