‘You fall, we happily pick you up’

All invited

Mon, 01/14/2019 - 8:15pm

Join the Ragged Mountain Ski Patrol for a fundraiser to support the Camden Snow Bowl’s local patrol organization. The event will take place Jan. 22 at Flatbread Pizza, on Route 1 in Rockport, from 5 to 10 p.m.

The 43-member volunteer ski patrol is on duty at the Snow Bowl throughout the winter, helping skiers who suffer minor inconveniences to major injuries. Patrollers assist and transport skiers, boarders, or whoever may be in distress from all ski trails on Ragged Mountain, in all conditions.

They are also on duty throughout spring, summer and fall, when off-season events, such as outdoor running challenges and leaf-peeping chairlift rides, are underway at the Snow Bowl. And if the lifts ever stop running, the patrol is nearby to help passengers evacuate.

While the patrollers pick up the cost of their own training, and devote many hours to keeping their outdoor medical care and rescue skills honed, there is not a lot of money for other expenses.

That’s where the fundraiser comes in. Funds donated at the pizza night at Flatbread (which dedicates a percentage of pizza sales to the fundraising effort) will be put toward paying National Ski Patrol dues, ski and binding checks, and Lids for Kids (an effort to get helmets on the heads of young skiers).

Patrollers also paid for and worked to rehabilitate both Ragged Mountain summit buildings during the mountain’s redevelopment, paid for and built the shed that houses the rescue toboggans, and are covering the cost of the materials and labor for the new deck at the summit.

Patrollers average between 2,500 to 3,000 volunteer hours per ski season on the mountain.

Add to this time spent prepping for, and attending, Outdoor Emergency Care refresher courses and hosting refreshers for patrollers from other mountains, paying for CPR courses, and costs associated lift evacuation training — well, there’s a lot that the volunteer-driven Ragged Mountain Ski Patrol funds!

Please consider adding pizza to your menu Tuesday, Jan. 22, and join the patrol in Rockport for a fun evening. And bring a few extra dollars to put toward raffle tickets for a future drawing of fun items.

“You fall, we happily pick you up,” the patrol says. “Come hang with us and enjoy some really good pizza. See you at Flatbread's.”

If unable to attend, feel free to donate to the Ragged Mountain Ski Patrol at any time, with a check. Stop by the patrol room at the mountain and say hi. The door is open!