When someone is stranded 30 feet in the air, freezing cold, and nervous, he may lose all hope. However, employees at Bruce Mound are specially trained in getting you safe from those circumstances.

Bruce Mound staff has been recently trained on how to maintain a safe, fast, and successful chair lift evac system.  A chairlift is a very efficient way to get to the top of a hill, but sometimes the chairlift can have difficulties for many reasons.

“Adding the chairlift has had very good benefits to Bruce Mound,” said junior Dominic Vase.  Dominic is a part of the junior ski patrol program at Bruce Mound and has been skiing almost his whole life.

The chairlift evacuation training started out with a member of the fire department going through the basics of safety and of the equipment involved in chairlift evacuation.  He taught the staff how to tie safety knots and how to make harnesses out of different types of rope.  After practicing the knots multiple time, the trainer explained the basics of what to do in order to perform a successful evacuation.

After explaining the basics on chairlift evacuation the trainer had the staff go outside and have a hands on demonstration by performing a chairlift evacuation.  “It took awhile for everyone to understand, but after a couple tries the staff gotten the hang of it,” said Vase.

Every member of the Bruce Mound staff got to evacuate and be the ones evacuated.  “I was a little nervous at first, but once I was getting lowered I calmed down,” said Dominic.  Trust is one the main components in a chairlift evacuation because you have to trust the staff in order for them to get you down.

“Some people worried me at first, but once I saw them in action I realized they were responsible I felt safe,” Vase said.

“It was hard for the staff to get the hang of it at first, but after a couple tries they started to get the hang of it,” said Vase.  The staff worked very well as a team together and they learned how to cooperate in a very speedy responsible way.  The staff of Bruce Mound had a no slacking policy, but still wanted to have a fun time doing so.

“The total experience was very educational, and I learned that the staff at Bruce Mound is a very trustworthy crew, and I would trust them with my life in those circumstances,” said Vase.  The number one factor for a successful evacuation is trust, and to trust people who you don’t know.

As the final minutes of the training concluded the trainer taught the ski/snowboard instructors how to calm people in these circumstances.  “When people see dangerous circumstances, they can tend to freak out, but as an instructor we need to use our skills to talk to people and to calm them down,” said head instructor Keith Mavkie.

Bruce Mound is opening soon and is hoping for a successful safe year on the hill.  They are wanting people to be involved in new things, so come out for a night and try new things.