NSAA Risk Management Seminar

Last weekend the “Wii Olympics” took place at the dorms. There were about 15 different events including bowling, golf, baseball, archery, and tennis.

Our current assignment in Snowmaking lecture is to write a 1-page paper about what we have learned in the class so far due to some not so outstanding grades on our last test. Snowmaking lab has been going well. Some people have almost completed their 30 hours while others have yet to start. At times we feel like we’re not accomplishing much while attempting to make snow because we seem to be blowing more ice than snow, but at least the snow is sticking around now.

Thursday, October 8th was National Depression Awareness day and there was a table set up in the lobby area of the building where the library and bookstore are at school, with information from West Central Mental Health about depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). They also had a screening form for depression, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and PTSD that was available for students to take and fill out.

Friday, October 9th was the National Ski Areas Association Risk Management Seminar at Copper Mountain, which 16 students in Colorado Mountain College’s Risk Management class attended.

There was a presentation on “A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words” and we were able to hear different people’s opinions of the pictures. Some examples of pictures were how different sign arrangements were or were not distracting, how wording on signs could be confusing, and how the eye is drawn to the words in big, bold, colorful letters and others may be ignored.
The question was also posed “Do you think most people actually read signs?”. It would be interesting to hear your answers- at a place such as a ski area, do you read the signs, or do you assume that you have a general idea of what the sign says? One person pointed out that while people may not stop and read the signs at the entrance to a terrain park, if you randomly picked some people out of the park and asked them what the signs at the entrance said, they could give you a general idea.

Next there was a discussion on different types of injuries and how they relate to the number of claims that are filed against a ski area.

After that, we walked over to the Woodward complex and had boxed lunches and looked around the facility. If you want to know more about Woodward, read Ali’s blog.

Once we had finished our lunches, we walked back to the conference center and a presentation was given on the “Top 10 Things that Impact Your Risk Management Program”. Then, after a break, a situation was demonstrated in which following those 10 guidelines could have made a difference in the outcome of a trial.

It was a long day- I got on the bus at school at 7:15AM and didn’t get back until 5:30, but it was well worth it.

Tomorrow a van is going to Denver for the day to visit the art museum and aquarium.

Thursday, October 15th, there is a ski/snowboard movie premiere night happening in the MPR.

Activities like the free swim, gym, and field nights, the trip to Denver, and the movie premiere night are all possible because of Student Government. I encourage any interested students to get involved. Meetings are on Monday nights in the back room of the cafeteria. They start at 4:30 and are generally over by 5. Both on-campus and off-campus students can join.