JANE SPONAGLE
BIZ/TECH REPORTER

A former Humber student is looking forward to his volunteer job on the ski patrol team at the Vancouver Olympics.
Brian Bennett, who graduated from Humber’s now defunct ski area management and operations program, said he will spend his days on the hills in Whistler during the men’s downhill, slalom, super G and combined events.  
He will provide first aid care for athletes, volunteers and possibly some spectators.
Bennett said any type of injury is possible on the hill, from soft tissue injuries to fractures.
“It will be a great challenge,” he said.  “It will be kind of the highlight of my years in the skiing industry.”
Bennett said he started as a ski instructor and coach and has been on the ski patrol for 19 years.
He continues to work part-time on the ski patrol at Horseshoe Valley when not running his massage therapy clinic in Markham with his wife.
Bennett heard about the opportunity to volunteer at the Olympics two and a half years ago and his first step was to volunteer at the World Cup downhill race in Whistler in 2008.
The ski area management and operations program was offered at Humber from 1975 to 1997, but the college was looking at programs with more numbers, said former program co-ordinator and current hospitality management instructor, Paul Suda.
He said one-third of the program was the design of ski areas, one-third was management, and one-third was marketing and operations.
Humber’s assistant ski team coach from 1990 to 1995, Cindy Hughes, said, “It’s a very, very important role that the ski patrollers play.”
Hughes is now York University’s head athletic therapist and spent three years as ski patrol at Alpine Ski Club in Collingwood.
Hughes has travelled to Olympics in Nagano, Salt Lake City and Athens as part of Canada’s medical team, twice as chief therapist.
“It’s just an incredible, incredible experience to be a part of,” she said.  “To be in an Olympic city and involved is a very unique and very special experience.”