Keeping Yer Skills Up

This ramble is part of my National Patroller submission, and a bit of a self-reflection on how both Covid and poor winters have affected our side of Snowsports. In thinking about it, it has highlighted to me how important it is to get out as often as you can and to ‘Keep Yer Skills Up’.

This short reflection and getting my National Patroller sign off, is something I should have done years ago, but like changing the brakes on my van, never quite got round to doing it when I should have! In putting pen to paper, it’s given me time to look backwards as well as to the future and to remind me of the importance of taking time to practice the mundane as well as the exciting, and to work as a team to keep your skills sharp.

What now seems like a long, long time ago I started my patrolling at Glenshee in 2009/10 with Kate Hunter. The season started on the 17 of December and ended on the 22 of April, ah…those were the days!

Although I’ve spent the majority of my time here, I’ve also managed to patrol at Nevis, Glencoe and even taken part in a chairlift evacuation at the Lecht! never patrolled at Cairngorm but I have boarded there a few times. Almost as soon as I started, I’ve was lucky enough to get to be one of the patrol jobs at Glenshee, and over the 15 years I’ve been here I would like to think that I’ve done a bit, seen a bit, and been lucky enough to build up quite a bit of knowledge and experience.

5 years ago, when it first appeared, none of us I’m sure would have expected or foreseen the effects that Covid would have on our lives, or how two years of Covid followed by three successive poor winters would have affected the number of days many have managed to get in patrolling, or how this might have affected the familiarity we have with a job that many of us have been doing for a while and taken for granted would always be there.

Patrolling’s as easy as riding a bike some would say, but 3, 4 or even 5 years is a long time not to be involved or doing an activity regularly, it would be wrong for anyone to think that their skills and abilities have stayed sharp over that time, especially if they haven’t been putting in a bit of work and effort.  If you haven’t, just like riding a bike, when it comes to doing something for real there’s a good chance it’s going to hurt (believe me I’ve got the scars) and leave you and those you work with wondering if you could have done it better.

It’s easy to say – I’ve done this before; I passed the course; been doing it for years so I don’t need to do it again; or my personal favourite – it’ll be fine….! However just like a car MOT, that sign off is only good for the day it was done and there’s always a need to ensure you keep checking the competencies you need and work on them, improving where you can. A wee bit like checking the oil, tyres, lights and horn on your car to make sure the basics are still there, but as I found out recently (with valid MOT in my pocket) sometimes you might want to have a look at yer brakes to make sure they are still attached! as running down the Slide on the A93 can be a bit exciting when they’re not!

Practiced familiarity, talking it through after a job and gaining trust and knowledge in your own abilities and those about you is something that needs to be worked on, and it doesn’t come without an effort or a willingness sometimes to admit to your own short falls. 

Since we came out of the shadow of Covid, here at Glenshee we have been lucky to be supported by a team of dedicated medical professionals who have given of their time, knowledge and enthusiasm to help ensure that the patrolling team here have support and access to some great training and have easy access to years of medical experience and a wealth of knowledge to dip into. 

In addition to this medical support, within the team itself there was also a willingness to recognise that the patrolling skills need to be refreshed regularly to be kept up to speed, and that the best way to do this is to do a little often and to learn to do the basics well.

Hopefully this helps to ensure those coming along to patrol, are comfortable, confident and competent in their own abilities, and importantly, we as a team are confident that no matter who’s working that day, you know the knowledge and skills are there with you.

This is even more important with the large number of new trainee patrollers coming onto the books, and we’ve used the ad hoc sessions we run as a way of adding to the basic training provided on the initial course, with sign off of the patrol competencies being made part of the season start up and with everyone being encouraged to complete them, from Patrol Chief down. Since Covid at Glenshee we have used the opportunity and skills provided by our medical training team to run shorter, more focused training sessions of 1 – 3 hours in length where we target both medical and patrolling skills through scenario-based learning or during shorter practical medical sessions.

These have included; Sledging sessions; Avalanche awareness; Casualty handling and movement; Knee trauma assessment; Shoulder trauma assessment; Back trauma assessment;

Head trauma; Piste setup and lift operation; Use of oxygen and Entonox; Splinting – short and long

The sessions have been open to anyone to attend, and free of charge. Along with these formal sessions we have also supported informal trainee/patroller shadowing when conditions have allowed, pairing trainees or those returning to patrolling with different experienced patrollers and rotating them to develop teamworking and sharpen skills. All competency work is recorded and signed off by the Patrol Chief, allowing him a good picture of who is up to speed on their competencies.

It’s good to see that me and the others taking part have had their skills, knowledge, and team working tested, and in doing so this has strengthened and developed us as individuals. With the patrollers as a team getting their skills and understanding of the systems and SOPs refreshed, whilst also being given a chance to review their own strengths and weaknesses and identifying areas to work on.

From a personal point of view, with poor winters and reduced cover there can sometimes come an apathy towards putting yourself through the basics (I’m as guilty of not carrying my transceiver on the Plastic, Rope Tow and Dink Dink as the next person). However, in poor seasons especially, there is a need to work against complacency. Even in a snow lean winter there are always injuries, and this perhaps makes it more important than ever to keep motivated and working on developing our skills and teamworking rather than sitting back and taking it as it comes.

The 2023/24 season hasn’t been great, however even with a poor season at Glenshee we saw over 90 casualties, with injuries from knees to backs, and breaks to burns. Some potentially serious and lifechanging. As front line, first responders we are the first point of contact and need to be professional, confident and competent in our abilities to do the best for those we are there to help. Hopefully by training to the needs of the incidents we are likely to attend, we will meet this challenge, and with it continue to provide a service which gains professional respect.

Andy Blair (BASP Member/Glenshee Ski Patrol) Apr 2024