There are a number of issues I believe need addressing and some of the blogs posted to date address this. I know for a fact that Boyne Mountain does in fact value the service of it's volunteer patrol so let's make sure that as todd has stated that the value we add continues to be recognized by Boyne Mgmt. As a volunteer organization, the issues we face at a local patrol level are no different than those faced by any other patrol in the national organization. The difference in how those issues are managed is more a reflection of the patrol leadership than the leadership of the sponsoring ski area management. I consider it a privilege to be a part of the boyne organization and not an entitlement and hopefully we can stay focused on that mindset.
Having said that, there are a number of opportunities that if addressed properly by our leadership, and with the right structure can be resolved with little or no financial investment by Boyne. Todd is correct in stating that Boyne mgmt has been and continues to be very supportive in ensuring that we have the proper equipment essential to the execution of our mission. If one took the time like I have to visit other areas in our section, region, and division I can tell you that we are 90% better off than most patrols.
What I feel we lack is a defined plan of approach on how to sustain a quality level of service to an organization (Boyne Mountain) that is in a progressive state of growth. How we have been lead in the past will be sufficient to sustain the level of service Boyne will expect as it continues to grow. What I would like to outline is several of these issues that might perhaps serve as a foundation of a plan that could be used as a roadmap to the future.
1. Membership: The demand on patroller's and their families are much different than they were 10 years ago. Perhaps the requirement of every other weekend is to much. The additional nights required to ski can be a real hardship if folks need to take vacation on a Friday to drive up to work a 4 hour shift. We cannot sustain with a patrol level of 40. If we increased membership to 60 or 70 and had the requirement of every third weekend and 3 nights that might solve the problem. We could experiment with flexible shifts but we would need to talk with other areas that do this to understand the problems they encounter and how they deal with that.
2. Equipment: There are a number of concerns here; Old lift evacuation ropes with the improper pulley ratios, toboggans that are in need of replacement, Old and potentially unreliable oxygen regulators, traction splints in need of repair or replacement, un-reliable radio communication to disciples ridge, snowmobiles that are unsafe and unreliable for operations, BP cuffs that don't work. These are not new concerns but concerns that have been around for several years and have not been properly addressed. A solution to this was alluded to by John Bennett, I know that Boyne will donate 4-6 season passes that we can raffle. I would give each patroller 10-15 tickets to sell. We would use the proceeds from these sales to finance a capital management maintenance/replacement program. For example, if we have 40 patroller's selling 10 tickets each at $100 per ticket it would generate $40,000 annually. With these funds we could then start a defined capital replacement program that would buy 1 new snowmobile every 3 years, replace 2 toboggans every year, replace lift evacuation equipment as needed, and upgrade our radio communication ability, etc.
3. Operations: I would suggest a leadership team that was comprised as follows:
1 patrol director, elected by the patrol and approved by management. This be a 3 year position with no term limits.
1 Assistant patrol director, again elected by the patrol and approved by management. This would be a 3 year position with no term limits.
2 team leaders, appointed by the patrol director, 2 year rotating assignment, renewable
1 capital manager, appointed by the patrol director, 2 year rotation assignment, renewable
1 hill trainer, appointed by the patrol director, 2 year assignment, renewable
1 lead off-hill trainer, appointed by the patrol director, 2 year assignment, renewable
This structure would ensure accountability, control, and commitment. An annual capital plan would have to be approved by the patrol at the annual meeting with a majority vote. Job descriptions would be written for each of these positions. This committee would meet formally monthly from November thru March and have a planning session in August for the upcoming year.
4. Uniforms: As much as I like the rusty parka, the reality is that we are the only patrol left in the region wearing them and I would guess less than a handful of patrols nationally. Our sister resorts within the Boyne family are all red/white and it is only a matter of time until we are required to change. We might be proactive on this and come up with a jacket that is more fashionable than the Red/White. Perhaps a small team to do some research on what other areas are doing and come up with a recommendation might be appropriate.
5. Patrol Room: It is just a matter of time before our existing patrol room is demolished. We should be talking with Ed/Dave to either integrate into the new day lodge design or come up with an independent design and location to build one. We have the skill set within our patrol to do this. The Otsego patrol room might serve as a starting design. What is critical is a basement that contains lockers and is family friendly. This would also allow us to re-vitalize the socialization of the patrol and would allow for the weekly Saturday morning meetings.
6. Training: We have perhaps one of the best on the hill training programs in the region and everyone in the patrol benefits from this ongoing activity. However, off the hill training is non-existent. We have several qualified OEC instructors on our patrol that are underutilized. When we recruit, we are dependent on other downstate patrols to provide this training in the off season. I would propose that we run our own OEC classes on Sunday mornings during the season. This would help with our recruiting efforts and ensure that we are teaching to Boyne Mountain patrol standards. Additionally, we should have quick interactive refresher sessions at the Saturday morning meetings. This would allow each of us to stay current with equipment, we could also review past accidents to determine what we could do better in the future.
7. Diversity of the patrol: It is no secret that for years we have had trouble retaining a diverse patrol. The reasons are varied but unfortunately we have a reputation of not being female and/or minority friendly. In the future this has to change and a strong leadership team is required to make this happen. Another aspect of diversity is our current requirement that if you don’t make ‘senior’ in 2 years you are asked to leave. I would challenge that we should be flexible enough to allow both basic only and auxiliary patrollers. There are many who have a strong medical background that would be happy only working in the patrol room, perhaps we need to re-visit the ‘mix’ of patrollers we want and determine how this would fit into the mix.
In summary, my view is that this is not just about two many night patrol duties, bad snowmobiles, or ‘Boyne’ not doing enough for us. Boyne does plenty for us. Perhaps we need to honestly look inward to determine what the root cause of some of the perceived problems are and be proactive to solve our own internal problems before seeking solutions elsewhere.
This past ski season was perhaps one of the best for snow in the past 10 years, but this is the only year that I can recall so many open slots in the duty roster. Perhaps we should do a root cause analysis on this.
Mike Costa
