Season 1 in How Ski Patrol Broke Me

The rest of my first season on patrol was packed full of support from people outside of patrol. There were a select few that did support me on patrol, but they were few and far. I was told I couldn’t wear sweats or leggings to work in the office (because I was on workman’s comp but couldn’t ski). I tried to explain that buttoning pants with one hand wasn’t the easiest thing to do and wearing ski pants in an office was really hot. I got zero sympathy or understanding. I was told I would be written up if I did not correct it. So, for a few weeks I had to ask people to help me button my pants after I went to the bathroom. Talk about inconvenience.

Despite all of that, I was able to play a lot of catch up with patrol and got everything, but one thing, done on my checklist. That one thing was a toboggan certification that the trainer didn’t feel safe completing with me before the end of the season. I was alright with that decision because my shoulder was a bit sore still. I was still running patients down blue/green runs without difficulty though. I should have trusted myself to push a bit harder for that training. I had no idea what setback that was going to cause in my second season. It wasn’t a setback that should’ve been anticipated either, because I was more than capable of succeeding post injury. The injury was also not my fault. I finished season one as strong as humanly possibly but when the invites to return to patrol came out- people had some interesting commentary.