What being a High School Ski and Snowboard Chaperone really means.

[teachski]

Last night at about 6 a student in our school group fell and whacked his head. He was a little out of it when his buddy dragged him into the lodge. As a chaperone for the schools club, and a former ski patroller (soon to be one again), the only thing we could do was summon the ski patrol. The school nurse was also on the trip and decided that he was well enough to be walked to patrol, but should be checked out.

Being the chaperone with a car (a plan we worked out after another student got injured at Okemo last year and the bus and all of the students had to wait for the chaperone who went to the hospital), I accompanied the young man to the hospital. Through out this, his Level of Conciousness continued to deteriorate.

We arrived at the hospital at about 6:40. Mom had been called from the ski area but I decided to give the home a call to see if she had left. It's a good thing because she had not. She did not know how to get from her home to the hospital. She still had not arrived at the hospital by 8:30, a trip that should have taken 45 minutes to an hour max.

On my signature and with the boys medical card, which mom had provided to me via the phone, they completed all of the exams and concluded (what we already knew) that the boy had a concussion. Fortunately, that was it...so they thought...and they took him off of the backboard and moved him to a room to await his mother. As we were entering the other room, and he was getting on to the bed he screamed..."my knee, My knee"...they took xrays and determined it was only a bruise.

Mom arrived at about 8:50 and I turned her son over to her. His symptoms from the head injury had not lessened as the doctors thought they might and he was admitted for observation.

Now, this morning, I am preparing to chaperone a day ski trip to Mt. Snow. It's not my day to bring a car though. I am exhaused, having arrived home at about 10 and having to get up at around 4:30. Maybe I can sleep on the bus.(yeah, right). It will be worth it though...if it wasn't for the club, most of these kids would not get to try skiing or snowboarding.

 

[bvibert]

Sounds like a long night. I hope the kids and parents appreciate your devotion.

 

[Vortex]

Hope you get some turns today.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Teachski,
I hear ya. I chaperone kids too. I've spent many a night waiting at the Berkshire Medical Center for parents to show up for their kids.

I use to run a weekend trip to Stowe each season, until one time some kids got caught with vodka and pot. All had to be sent home and I had to wait up all Fri. night and most of Sat. for the parents to make their way to Stowe. Most were understanding, but a few were pissed and complained to the principle of the HS and the superindentent, even though they had to sign a permission slip agreeing that if their kids were caught with alcohol or pot this is what would happen.

All the following week I had to meet with kid's parents and school administrators explaining what happened, how they got caught, parents saying it wasn't their kid, it was other kids, etc., etc. What a nightmare, that was the last Stowe trip for me.

 

[teachski]

I shoulda just rolled over and gone back to bed this morning!

I left my house right after I made the first post in this thread...plenty of time to take the 1/2 hour trip from my house to the school and be there by 6 with time to stop for a coffee and goodies for the kids (we always bring some extra stuff in case kids get hungry on the bus.) I drove to the center of town (.2 miles from home) and was pulling into the convenience store to get my coffee. As I turned to enter the parking space I heard a little popand a hiss type sound and my car felt funny. When I got out of my car I noticed that my left rear tire was FLAT and had unmounted from the rim.

I didn't know what the heck to do...I had no way to get in touch with the bus to let them know what happened and who do you call at 5 in the morning to fix a car (donut spare only, very cold out too). I asked the clerk to use the phone and called my sister. She was not too thrilled getting a call at a little before 5, but came to the center to get me, 12 miles from her house). We went back to her house and my brother-in-law, who had been still in bed when I called was waiting there. He drove me to meet the bus. He also took my keys and called a garage to get my car and fix it.

Mean while, I am at Mount Snow. Shortly after opening the lifts (it's my turn to sit in the lodge to monitor the kids) one of the kids comes in to tell me that another kid fell just below the terrain park, slid off the trail, hit a tree and was hurt, the other kids were with him but there was no ski patrol with him (and he wanted me). I called over the radio to one of the other chaperones who was on the trail and she went to where he was. I also had the ski school notify the patrol where the accident was.

The kid's not hurt too bad, but since he did not have a helmet on (which we later found stuffed in his bag hidden under the table) and he hit his head, they wanted to transport him back to the hospital in Brattleboro to have him checked out. Another teacher rode to the hospital with him in the ambulance because we could not locate the chaperone with the car (radio was either turned off or not working).

The rest of the day went fine at Mt. Snow. I even ran into someone I had met at EpicSki's Eastern Tune Up in December and we chatted for a couple minutes at lunch time. Skiing was fantastic, there was hardly a spot on the hill that was not great, and the slopes were not crowded. We were the only bus there. On the way home, in the bus, as soon as we had cell phone reception, I started to call around for a ride home. My sister and brother-in-law had a dinner party, I knew that last night well before I had car problems. My brother was not home. My cousin that lives in the town where I teach was not home. Finally, I called my Aunt (81) and her daughter, who recently had a heart attack, came and picked me up (I felt just like a kid).

I shoulda rolled over and went back to sleep today.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Student ski trips

Hey Teachski it seems that "Murphy" likes to go on ski trips too! He's always around at the worst moments.

 

[teachski]

True, True...but the saga continues.

This morning, I walked out to get into my car to go skiing. After I put my skis in my car I did a walk around looking at my tires as I always do. I had another FLAT, different tire, there sitting in my yard (it was OK last night when I left the car.

Now, second in 2 days and 6 time since Christmas (a repeat of last year) and I am totally fed up with this. I call the dealer...he says to bring it up (after I get the tire fixed because it's a 32 mile drive). I get to the dealers at about 11. As I am pulling into the lot yet another tire goes flat and comes off the rim.

They get it into the shop and put it on the lifts, the plan is to check all wheels and tires and put new wheels on if needed. They find MORE than just the wheels and tires have problems...in all about $3500 in work needs to be done, and the warranty is out.

I came home with a NEW car! The heck with that one...I just put all new brakes in it in December and it seems like one thing after another is now going wrong.

I NEVER did make it skiing today.

The kid from Thursday night had a fairly bad concussion and a chipped bone in his knee. They kept him there until today.

The kid from yesterday had a mild concussion and was released yesterday.

 

[Terry]

chaperone

Hey Teachski, sorry for your troubles. What kind of car was it you were having troubles with? Also, what did they find that would have cost 3500 to fix? Just curious. I hope you have better luck with your new one!!!
:beer:

 

[teachski]

Mazda 626, needed 4 wheels, 4 tires to start - found a leak in the brake line(line needed to be replaced) and I believe they found problems with the differential too, these were the BIG things. There were some other things too, like the rear shocks, one was actually broken. I called my OLDEST brother, who works on his son-in-law's racecar crew and knows a lot about cars. He talked to the mechanic. He knew the questions to ask. He advised me to trade.

I bought a Subaru Impreza sport.

 

[rotorite86]

Wow, terrible week for you.

At least you got a new car out of it though - of course it costs money, but no more car troubles for a LONG time. Just curious, what year was the 626? My parents had one that lasted forever, never had any problems, and my Rx7 had hardly any problems up to about 202,000 miles (up over 265,000 now). Subaru Impreza Sport - good choice. Its Japanese, its got AWD, and its fun to drive.

 

[teachski]

It was a 2002, no way it should have had the problems it did. Mazda is now in the same family as Ford though, so that may explain it!

I took great care of it, all maintainance right on schedule or slightly ahead of time. It looked brand new and the motor ran like new. I had all of the records.


And other than going slightly off the road into a grassy area the first time a tire came off the rim, it was never in an accident.

 

[bvibert]

Sounds like a tough few days, at least you have a new car now though

I hope the two kids have a full recovery and continue to ski/board

 

[Bandit2941]

I didn't know what the heck to do..

Ummm......change the tire?

.I had no way to get in touch with the bus to let them know what happened and who do you call at 5 in the morning to fix a car (donut spare only, very cold out too).
.

So, you have all your gear on to go skiing in the cold, yet its too cold to change a tire? In the time it took you to call your sister and her to drive the 12 miles, you could have changed the tire. Plus, you wouldn't have had to wake her up. Then you could have worried about the flat the next day, no big deal.

 

[RossiSkier]

Hey Teach', did that kid who whacked his head have a helumt on?

 

[DEVO]

I used to run day trips to Attitash and every season I made at least two trips to the hospital with some kid who had broken his/her wrist snowboarding. We also had one concussion (no helmet).

All through high school I went on overnight ski trips and all we did at night was drink and smoke. I can't imaging chaperoning an overnight ski trip!!!!!!!

On the other hand I coach a mountain bike program in the spring/summer/fall for teenagers and we take a couple of overnight trips throughout the year. We have never had a problem with behavior (probably because it's a small group, 10-20 kids, and I have known all of them for years). We had also never had a trip to the hospital for any team rider in almost 10 years until this past season when we had a kid go with a concussion.

 

[teachski]

I didn't know what the heck to do..

Ummm......change the tire?

.I had no way to get in touch with the bus to let them know what happened and who do you call at 5 in the morning to fix a car (donut spare only, very cold out too).
.

So, you have all your gear on to go skiing in the cold, yet its too cold to change a tire? In the time it took you to call your sister and her to drive the 12 miles, you could have changed the tire. Plus, you wouldn't have had to wake her up. Then you could have worried about the flat the next day, no big deal.

NOT THAT SIMPLE! I know it sounds like it should have been a simple problem, but it wasn't. I don't know how to change the tire (tisk, tisk on me). My sister was already awake, she had called me at 4:30 am to tell me to have a good trip and to remind me that I was supposed to stop at her house to "sit" with her 13 year old till they got home when I got back at about 8.

It was not only the inability to change the tire...it was the fear of driving and having this happen again as I was driving. My road to work is mainly back woods through sparsley populated areas where the cell phone has no reception. What would I do if it happened again, out there. (A woman would understand what I mean).

If this was a regular flat, and not something that had been happening repeatedly to all of the tires, it probably would have been changed right there and I would have been on my way. But it wasn't, it was the 2nd flat that week and the 5th since Christmas. (not the same tire repeatedly- effected all 4 tires on the vehicle).

Given the fact that the repair shop also fixed another tire and put air in the others, there is a good chance that I would have had a 2nd flat on the way there. As it was, the next morning another was flat as it sat there in my driveway.

When I went to pick up my registration yesterday, it was in the dealer's lot with 3 flat tires and 1 almost flat. They had remounted all 4 tires on Saturday. It was truly dangerous.

 

[Bandit2941]

NOT THAT SIMPLE! I know it sounds like it should have been a simple problem, but it wasn't. I don't know how to change the tire (tisk, tisk on me). My sister was already awake, she had called me at 4:30 am to tell me to have a good trip and to remind me that I was supposed to stop at her house to "sit" with her 13 year old till they got home when I got back at about 8.

It was not only the inability to change the tire...it was the fear of driving and having this happen again as I was driving. My road to work is mainly back woods through sparsley populated areas where the cell phone has no reception. What would I do if it happened again, out there. (A woman would understand what I mean).

If this was a regular flat, and not something that had been happening repeatedly to all of the tires, it probably would have been changed right there and I would have been on my way. But it wasn't, it was the 2nd flat that week and the 5th since Christmas. (not the same tire repeatedly- effected all 4 tires on the vehicle).

Given the fact that the repair shop also fixed another tire and put air in the others, there is a good chance that I would have had a 2nd flat on the way there. As it was, the next morning another was flat as it sat there in my driveway.

When I went to pick up my registration yesterday, it was in the dealer's lot with 3 flat tires and 1 almost flat. They had remounted all 4 tires on Saturday. It was truly dangerous.

That sucks. My ex g/f's cavalier had 2 flats. One of which she drove on after(so I figured it got a hole then she ruined it by driving on it). The second of which happened when we were in vacation in Jersey over the summer. We came out of a store to a flat tire - hadn't been driven on at all. I changed the tire and we were on our way. Since the spare was a donut and we were over a hundred miles from home, we went to a tire shop the next day to try to get the other one fixed - it wasn't fixable as the hole was a rip near the sidewall - just like the other one. Had to buy a new tire, just like the first time.

You should really learn how to change a tire though - it's not that hard and what would have happened if you got this flat in the woods where there's no cell reception?

 

[Ski93]

Bummer about the car!

That really sounds like a terrible way to start your day. Well, at least you got some good turns in. I work for a tour operator that specializes in student ski trips and adult group ski trips. We always make sure the chaperones have the drivers cell phone and vice versa. You never know what may happen.

 

[thetrailboss]

Re: Bummer about the car!

That really sounds like a terrible way to start your day. Well, at least you got some good turns in. I work for a tour operator that specializes in student ski trips and adult group ski trips. We always make sure the chaperones have the drivers cell phone and vice versa. You never know what may happen.

Hey, welcome to the boards, Ski93. Hope to see more of you in here!

 

[Ski93]

Thanks. I am glad to see that someone else is thinking about skiing! I haven't been to Burke in a few years but had a great time when I was there.