It is the Ski patrol that has been vital in keeping the situation with non-disciplined skiers in the resort of Jasná under control. As the legislation does not support such kind of control on the slopes, the Tatry mountain resorts, a.s. (TMR) company has established their own Ski patrol in their resorts and the so called white patrol team has got a new member this winter – in the resort of Tatranská Lomnica. There are two TMR employees assigned to each ski resort operated by the company, all of them are great skiers. The ski patrol supervises respecting of basic rules of safety skiing, monitors the snow making situation in the terrain, educates skiers, warns them not to stand in the middle of the slope or sit behind the horizon, helps them find their bearings in the resort, cooperates with the Mountain Rescue Service if there are any collisions on the slopes, looks after keeping of the ski resort standard and notifies the last skiers on the slope not to ski down after 4:00 p.m. as there is a high risk of collision with snow groomers which are attached to a rope. If skiers do not behave properly on the slopes and endanger the safety of other visitors in the resort, they will be given the so called Red card by the Ski patrol, which contains basic FIS rules. Unless aggressive and reckless skiers accept the so called White Code or Rules on the Slope and do not slow down and change their behaviour on the slopes once being asked to do so by the Ski patrol, they will have their ski passes blocked for the given resort.
The Ski patrol watches respecting of safety elements on the slopes related to snow guns, snow lances and various supports that might be placed close to the slopes and are provided with safety mattresses, nets and information boards. The Ski patrol checks the snow making systems and markings of slope difficulty levels installed on them, maps and signposts that show the direction to individual trails as well as all artificial obstacles placed on the slopes or next to them that are provided with safety mattresses or nets.
Dušan Slavkovský, the director of mountain resorts, commented on the situation with undisciplined skiers as follows: “Each skier should know the Rules on the Slope and how to behave according to them. If we meet undisciplined skiers in our resorts who endanger the safety of others, they are asked to change their behaviour, reprimanded and given appropriate advice. If the situation happens again, we apply restriction measurements on reckless skiers, and as a last resort, we block their ski passes. Unfortunately, there is no law in Slovakia that would require ski patrols on the slopes. That is why we consider our ski patrol another step to improving the quality of services that we provide and increasing the safety of skiers, which is most important.”
Rules of conduct on the ski slopes or the so called White Code that is valid in Tatra resorts defines the following: respecting other skiers on the ski slope, controlling skiing speed and manner, choice of path, overtaking, joining and starting, stopping, ascending and descending along the ski slope, observing the sings, offering help, safe skiing equipment, entering the ski slope etc. For more information, please visit www.jasna.sk and www.vt.sk.
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Tatry mountain resorts, a.s. is a top subject in the field of tourism in Central and Eastern Europe, which owns and operates attractive ski resorts and hotels. These include the resort Jasná Low Tatras and the following hotels in the Low Tatras: Wellness hotel Grand Jasná, Boutique Hotel Tri studničky, Chalets Záhradky De Luxe, Mountain Hotel Srdiečko and Rotunda Hotel. TMR also owns Aquapark Tatralandia, the largest Slovak water park with all-year operation, which offers a lot of water and other entertainment, a Tropical Paradise – a special tropical hall with sea water, a Fun Park and accommodation in bungalows and suites of the Holiday Village Tatralandia. In the High Tatras, TMR owns and operates resorts Tatranská Lomnica, Starý Smokovec and cooperates the resort of Štrbské Pleso. It also owns the following hotels: Grandhotel Praha Tatranská Lomnica, Grandhotel Starý Smokovec and Hotel FIS Štrbské Pleso. TMR owns 19% of the Melida, a.s. company, which leases and operates the mountain resort Špindlerův Mlýn in the Czech Republic. In Poland, TMR owns the resort of Szczyrk. The company also owns and rents hotels Slovakia, Kosodrevina, Liptov and Ski&Fun Záhradky and Bungalows. More than 190 million Euros were invested by the end of 2013 in the above mentioned resorts, to support development and modernisation. The TMR shares are traded on three European stock exchanges – in Bratislava, Pra