Winter is in the air! I am so excited to be your new Patrol Rep in this very exciting new era of Dodge
Ridge. Right before the Refresher training weekend, I wanted to collect some thoughts on where we
are and how we got here. Last year was maybe the toughest year we have ever had both individually
and collectively due to Covid. We had an amazingly productive Patrol year last year. If you recall, we
opened with 5 feet of snow which was unprecedented in my years of patrolling. And that pretty much
lasted all season, that first dump. We had the snow immersion incident right off the bat, which
perfectly illustrates why we exist as patroller’s and why we train. A life was saved!
I follow in some very big shoes. Bill, took on the task last year of persevering through all the Covid
challenges, all the personal struggles relating to that (myself included) and serving the mountain so we
could have a successful ski season. And we did! We covered the mountain well, trained well and
recruited well. Thank you so much Bill, for teaching me about perseverance.
This year we have new ownership. I want to welcome Karl Kapuscinski to our wonderful ski resort. I
am so excited about the prospects of expanding the resort to an all season resort, whether it’s mountain
bike riders or sledders, maybe a little snow making. Oh yea! There really are endless possibilities and
we as patrollers can and will bring great value and service to the mountain.
So let’s train hard this weekend and have fun. You will see that there is excitement and energy in the air.
I look forward to a great ski and patrol season with all of you. See you in a few days.
Chris Petersen DRNSP Patrol Rep.
