JH Underground – Jackson Hole, Wyoming news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Prolonged drought, hard-packed slopes, bone-brittling cold … Hmm, sounds like time for the National Ski Areas Association’s annual Safety Awareness Week.

In a cruel twist of irony, this designated week often seems to coincide with the highest-and-driest spell of the winter and has played host to a bizarrely disproportionate share of serious injuries in recent years. Most notably, in 2004 three skiers died after colliding with trees at Jackson Hole within the span of eight days.

Safety Awareness Week will run from Jan. 13-19, after which time it should be safe to go helmetless, ski the trees or boogie in ski boots across a beer-slickened dance floor again.

In all seriousness, the event was created following the deaths in ski crashes of Sonny Bono, the singer and congressman from California, and Michael Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, in January 1998. Sales of ski helmets boomed following those much-publicized fatalities.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will mark the week with a series of events. In a tent atop the Bridger Gondola, staff will be on hand to promote safety, answer questions and give away prizes such as an ‘07-’08 Weekend Warrior season pass. Avalanche dogs will perform rescue demonstrations, and ski patrol will host daily transceiver drills. Those who find a buried transceiver the fastest will win $50.

In general, the resort is touting the Skier’s Responsibility Code. It’s always a good idea to get a refresher on the code, no matter what week it is. (Particularly after Maryland snowboarder Greg Doda, 18, spent the holidays in Teton County Jail this year as part of his sentence for killing skier Heather Donahue in a crash in Laramie Bowl in 2005.)

As slopes become more crowded at mechanized ski areas, it’s remarkable how important rules 1-4 become for avoiding serious injury to yourself or others. So here, for everyone, regardless of age or ability level, is:

Your Responsibility Code

1. 1. Always stay in control.
2. 2. People ahead of you have the right of way.
3. 3. Stop in a safe place for you and others
4. 4. Whenever starting downhill or merging, look uphill and yield.
5. 5. Use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.
6. 6. Observe signs and warning, and keep off closed trails.
7. 7. Know how to use the lifts safely.

KNOW THE CODE. IT’S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

Posted under skiing, sports