Members of the Junior Ski Patrol are Making a Difference

Members of our Junior Ski Patrol program have been meeting every week to learn the ins and outs of helping everyone stay safe on the mountain. Already, their training has come in handy.

On the third week of practice, the team was called to an incident on the mountain. A boy had fallen and needed to be carried down the mountain on a sled. While the ski patrol members were attending to the skier, members of the Junior Ski Patrol were stationed near the top of the run to tell skiers to avoid the area.

“It was pretty serious. We could tell the boy was in a lot of pain. He fell on a really narrow run with a tight turn. Anyone going down that run wouldn’t know what was happening until it was too late. It felt really good to know that we were actually helping by directing skiers to another area,” said Alice Luther (13), who joined the Junior Ski Patrol program this year.

One of her fellow Junior Patrolers, Sebastian Dunaway (12), put his new skills to use when he was free skiing with a friend just a couple weeks later. “We saw a kid in front of us take a really hard fall. I was able to get to him quickly and assess the situation while my friend skied down to ski patrol to ask for help. I asked him the concussion questions that I had learned, encouraged him to stay still and helped him stay calm until help arrived.

It felt really good to know that I was helping, even if it was just a small thing.”

Alice says her desire to join the Junior Ski Patrol came about after she herself was assisted by them last season. “On my last run of the night, I fell at the top of Buck and broke my thumb. My phone was dead, and one of my skis was gone. I was stuck. Luckily a nice man stopped to help me. He got ski patrol and also called my mom. I rode down the mountain on a sled. It was scary but also really cool.”

This year, Alice and her dad saw a boy take a tough fall while skiing at Shuss Mountain.

“We were riding the chair lift when this kid fell really hard. I was able to call to him and ask if he was okay, but he didn’t respond. I told him to hit the ground twice if he needed help, and he hit the ground twice,” says Matt Luther, Alice’s dad.

Alice and her dad rushed to the boy’s side as soon as they got off the lift, with Matt calling to the lift operator to get ahold of ski patrol. When they reached the boy, Alice directed her dad on what questions to ask and then managed traffic to keep the boy safe until more help arrived.

“Just the little bit that we know gives me more confidence to help people when they need it,” says Alice.

But the kids know more than just a little bit.

Already during their Junior Ski Patrol sessions, they’ve learned how to sweep a hill to close it down, how the toboggan works and some general first aid, including using a cravat, general bandaging, bleeding management and administering splints. They’ve also met with an avalanche guru to learn more about avalanche safety on the mountain.

“Alice and I are definitely going to do this program next year!” says Sebastian.

Nordic Race Team Places 4th in the State!

Congrats to the Crystal Nordic High School Race Team for placing 4th in the Michigan High School Nordic State Championship!

The Crystal Community Ski Club had seven athletes competing over the weekend, including Benzie Central sophomore Mylie Kelly, Benzie Central junior Ella Gaylord, Benzie Central senior exchange student Matilde Torgersen, Frankfort freshman Kate May, homeschooled sophomore Gloria Sobkoviak and Benzie Central junior Hunter Jones.  Representing our Middle School Team was 6th Grader Avery Kelly from Benzie Central Middle School. 

They raced in a freestyle 5k skate, 5k classic and 1k skate sprints.

Matilde Torgersen placed 6th in Sprint and Mylie Kelly placed 5th in Pursuit. Overall, the girls team placed 4th! Middle School skier Avery Kelly placed 3rd in the State Middle School Race. Special thanks to their great coaches and wax techs Ian & Ryan Durand. A generous gift from Benzie Sunrise Rotary provided our team with its own dedicated waxing equipment, an important element in racing!  Thank you Sunrise Rotary!

Thank you to the Manistee Community Foundation

Our friends at Manistee Community Foundation have generously donated funds that are supporting our Nordic Rocks programming for Kennedy Elementary School, Bear Lake Elementary School, and Betsie Valley Elementary School.

Our Nordic Rocks program will reach over 500 kids this season, giving them 4 completely free cross country sessions with equipment and instruction. This wouldn't be possible without the gifts from our donors!

The Manistee County Community Foundation is the only entity serving Manistee County that impacts all aspects of life: youth, education, human services, the arts, environment, community development and more.

Thank you to the PSIA/AASI-Central Education Foundation!

Special thanks to the PSIA/AASI-Central Education Foundation (CEF) for supporting our Nordic Rocks Program.

The CEF provided funds for 78 grade 5th grade students in Manistee, MI, to receive PSIA-AASI certified nordic instruction at their school over a series of four sessions. This program is targeted at providing access to cross country skiing without barriers (no cost to the students), and at growing inclusion in the sport.

Little River Band Outreach: The Central Education Foundation also provided funds for children from the the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians to come to Crystal Mountain two times to provide PSIA-AASI certified nordic instruction at no cost. Nine students will get to receive the benefits of this program.

Thank you to The Share Winter Foundation!

The Crystal Community Ski Club is excited to announce that we are the recipient of a generous grant from The Share Winter Foundation.

Share Winter is a grantmaking organization working to improve the lives, health, and fitness of youth through winter sports.

Share Winter works closely with carefully selected grantees to build efficient, effective, sustainable winter sports programs and pipelines to ongoing winter sports participation.  Through their generous support, we are able to bring the Nordic Rocks program to over 500 elementary school students throughout the community.

Third, fourth and fifth graders are provided cross country ski lessons. They receive four, one-hour sessions at no cost.

Rocking the Community with Nordic Rocks!

Our coaches have been hard at work this year in classrooms throughout the community introducing 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes to the sport of cross country skiing. The goal is to visit each classroom for four different sessions of cross country skiing. At the schools, special skis are utilized so that the kids can strap the skis onto their own snow boots. The skis are also shorter for easier mobility and storage.

New this year: bringing several 4th and 5th grade classes to the Nordic Training Center at Crystal Mountain to use real nordic skis and experience groomed trails. The kids loved this experience, especially the hot chocolate at the end.

Special thanks to Bear Lake, Betsie Valley, Buckley, Crystal Lake, Frankfort, Kennedy and Onekama for participating in this program.

And huge thanks to Share Winter, Manistee Community Foundation, PSIA Central Education Foundation and Every Kid Sports for helping to fund this important program.

Winter Starts Now - Warren Miller Film Festival at Crystal Mountain

Warren Miller’s 72nd ski movie “WINTER STARTS NOW” will be showing at Crystal Mountain!

Date

Friday, December 11, 2021

Time

Movie starts at 5pm.

Doors open at 4pm.

There will be a cash bar, popcorn, and light snacks available for purchase. Door prizes will be announced during this event. All proceeds from this event will go to the CRYSTAL COMMUNITY SKI CLUB.

Location

Crystal Mountain

12500 Crystal Mountain Dr.
Thompsonville, Michigan 49683

Film will be located in Northwest Territories on the main level of the Crystal Center.

Price

$15 / ticket, purhased in advance online. $20 / ticket at the door. All proceeds will benefit the Crystal Community Ski Club.

Questions?

Contact Hunter Steinkamp at huntersteinkamp@crystalmountain.com for more information.

Register Now for Holiday Race Camp

Stay tuned for details on our 2022 Holiday Race Camp!

Dates

Tuesday, December 21 (Slalom)

Wednesday, December 22 (Giant Slalom)

Thursday, December 23 (TBD / All camp race on Cheers in the afternoon.)

Students can sign up for one, two or three days.

Time

9 am - 3:30 pm

Morning Session: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Lunch: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm*
Afternoon Session: 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm

* Lunch for the athletes is “on your own.” Coaches and athletes will NOT be eating together.
Athletes may bring their own lunches or get food from one of Crystal’s dining venues.

Location

Crystal Mountain

12500 Crystal Mountain Dr.
Thompsonville, Michigan 49683

Students will meet at the base of the Loki Lift each morning.

Support CCSC with Amazon Smiles

Did you know that you can support the Crystal Community Ski Club just by shopping on Amazon? When you designate CCSC as your Amazon Smiles Charity, and you shop through your Amazon Smiles dashboard, a percentage of your purchase will be donated to us!

Signing up is Easy!

1. Visit smile.Amazon.com and log into your Amazon account.

2. Hover over Account & Lists on the top, right-hand side of the page, and click on Amazon Smiles.

3. Click Change Charity.

4. Search for Crystal Community Ski Club and select it as your chosen charity.

Moving forward, anytime you want to purchase something from Amazon, be sure to visit Smile.Amazon.Com. When you shop using that link, a percentage of your proceeds will benefit CCSC.

Want to Make an Additional Donation?

We rely on the generosity of our donors to help serve our community. Click here for more information about how your gift can have a huge impact.