Safety Week is here & you know what that means: Puppies!

Every year the National Ski Areas Association sponsors SAFETY WEEK.  At Crystal, we’ll have discount-price helmets available in the Right Angle Sports Shop, and tables in the lodges where patrollers will be available to talk with guests about safety.  After all, we’d prefer to help you understand ways you can AVOID injury, rather than just pick up the pieces after you’re hurt! 

We’ll also have for sale our "dog shirts" and "dog sweatshirts" that contribute to the fund that helps off-set some costs for avalanche dog handlers and provides Crystal patrollers with more-advanced avalanche education.

To lure-in families so we can talk about safety, we cleverly use cute dogs as bait to capture kids’ attention.  This year, in addition to the old favorites we’ll have Kala (pronounced Kay-la) the pup, and Newman the puppy.  (That’s Newman’s handler Lynn, with his big bro’ Schurman up at the top of the page!)

Here’s a photo of ‘teenager’ Kala being a good babysitter as she keeps Newman in line, early on a recent avalanche-control-work morning:

Truth in advertising statement:

Please don’t be disappointed if a dog isn’t available all day.  These are highly-trained animals and we avoid putting them in situations that can be emotionally unsettling.  Being mobbed by a zillion little petting hands can be hard on a pooch  that’s conditioned more to spend the day quietly alone without fussing!   Someday you may be glad he doesn’t have ‘issues’ if it’s someone you love he’s sniffing to find!

Stay Safe!