For Immediate Release 
January 7, 2006 

Media Contact: Nicole Belt
(530) 543-3132 or nbelt@boothcreek.com

SIERRA & NORTHSTAR CELEBRATE NATIONAL SAFETY AWARENESS WEEK JANUARY 14-20, 2006

South Lake Tahoe/Truckee, Calif. — Sierra and Northstar will again participate in the seventh annual National Ski Area Association’s (NSAA) National Safety Week from Jan. 14-20, 2006. Throughout the week, ski areas nationwide will advocate slope safety by promoting the NSAA’s Responsibility Code and Smart Style campaigns to guests and resort staff.

At Sierra-at-Tahoe, the following activities will be held throughout the week to highlight the various slope safety themes:

• The Circuit Smart Style Trivia— Guests can win a free sticker when they take a lap through Sierra’s terrain park loop dubbed “The Circuit” and answer all of the questions on Sierra’s Smart Style questionnaire. Clues to the answers can be found at each of Sierra’s terrain parks. All completed safety questionnaires will be entered into a drawing for great prizes, including T-shirts, food coupons and more.
• Kid’s Poster Contest — From 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Jan. 14, Sierra will host a children’s poster contest at the Aspen Café, where kids can illustrate one of the seven responsibility codes or the three Smart Style codes for great prizes.
• Backcountry Awareness Day will be held on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. and includes a mock avalanche dog demonstration, beacon and transceiver training and avalanche awareness education. All guests and employees are invited to attend this complimentary clinic on backcountry awareness and avalanche procedures, led by Sierra-at-Tahoe’s professional ski patrol staff. The clinic will meet at the trail map by the Easy Rider Express lift.
• Equipment Maintenance and Safety Sale — Because a large part of staying safe includes regular upkeep and repair of equipment, Sierra’s Repair Shop will offer 50 percent off all mini-tunes throughout Safety Week. The Sierra Mountain Sports retail shop will offer 50 percent off all safety-related gear including helmets and leashes and the ski and snowboard shops will offer 50 percent off helmet rentals. 

Northstar will also encourage its guests and employees to “Know the Code” through the following incentives and education throughout the week.

• Captain Safety — Northstar’s own safety super hero will cruise the slopes awarding prizes to guests who can recite the NSAA Responsibility Code. Captain Safety wears a yellow cape and has a special super-hero phone booth located at mid-mountain where he dispenses his safety tip of the day.
• Cheers to The Code — Guests who can recite one part of the Responsibility Code to the bartenders at The Summit or The Day Lodge will receive a free hot chocolate.
• Safety Whistles — Ski patrol will educate guests on the importance of safe tree skiing and staying in bounds by distributing whistles with key safety messages attached.
• Employee Safety Fair — Various community organizations will educate employees on safety, health and well-being at Northstar’s safety fair.

Your Responsibility Code includes the following:
• Always stay in control, and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects.
• People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.
• You must not stop where you obstruct a trail, or are not visible from above.
• Whenever starting downhill or merging into a trail, look uphill and yield to others.
• Always use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.
• Observe all posted signs and warnings. Keep off closed trails and out of closed areas.
• Prior to using any lift, you must have the knowledge and ability to load, ride and unload safely.

Smart Style is the NSAA’s terrain park safety initiative that includes “Look before you leap,” “Easy style it” and “Respect gets respect.” Sierra-at-Tahoe has incorporated Smart Style codes into many of its logo and retail items such as trucker hats and T-shirts and resort representatives will award them to guests and employees throughout the week. These three initiatives will also be handed out on oranges to represent the orange oval—the NSAA symbol for freestyle terrain.

The resort’s snow reporters will record safety tips on the daily snow report, safety messages will be found at various lifts, and employees will cover Your Responsibilty Code at weekly safety meetings. 

Those seeking further information on safety week can call log onto www.SierraAtTahoe.com or www.NorthstarAtTahoe.com. For more information on the NSAA’s National Safety Awareness Week, log onto www.nsaa.org.

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