The National Ski Area Association (NSAA) announced that the Arizona Snowbowl has won the prestigious “Best Overall Safety Award” for ski areas across the nation with less than 250,000 skier visits. This is the third consecutive year the resort has won this award. Additionally, Snowbowl participated in NSAA’s 12th Annual National Safety Week, which was held January 15 – 23, 2011.“This is a huge honor to have our program named a “Best in the Industry” three years in a row,” states Amanda Finch, Snowbowl’s Safety Co-Coordinator. “We couldn’t have done it without our dedicated staff and supportive community. The result was selling 350 discounted helmets, giving away 10 helmets to children contest winners and our young riders being educated on slope safety.”
Snowbowl’s Safety Initiative is “BAAH”, Be Alert, Accidents Hurt, with Sammy the Safety Sheep as their mascot. They accepted their award at NSAA’s National Convention Awards Ceremony on May 5 in Carlsbad, CA. Snowbowl was one of twelve resorts chosen out of the 326 NSAA member resorts to win a Safety Award.
The Safety Program is sponsored by local partners: Concentra Urgent Care, Northern Arizona Orthopedics, Dr. Nathan Avery, MD; SCF Arizona and the YMCA. Through these sponsorships, Snowbowl was able to purchase additional signage, handouts and equipment for their Safety Camps which were held around the resort throughout the season. Their Safety Committee is comprised of one Safety Ambassador from each of the resort’s thirteen departments.
As Snowbowl continues to promote slope safety and education, the key message is that everyone needs to know and understand the rules of the slopes. If everyone followed them there would be less injury and more enjoyment.
