Welcome to the FIPS / Beijing page. On this page we want to honour those FIPS ski patrollers who dedicated up to three months of their life to helping out with the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Some were involved from the concept with helping to train with the Chinese medical teams while other joined in later to participate in the training and Olympic and Paralympics events. Below you can find out who they were and share their experience.
Ni hao (Chinese for “hello”)! My name is Sue Elder. I am a proud member of the Canadian Ski Patrol, and this is my 30th year of patrolling. I live in Kamloops, BC, Canada, and patrol at Sun Peaks Resort. I work as a paramedic. This is my report on the 2 months I spent in Yanqing, China, as a paid ski patroller at the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics.
Beijing 2022 was not my first Olympics/Paralympics. I also volunteered at the 2010 Olympics/Paralympics at Whistler. After getting hurt early on, I was given a desk job as a team leader. It was a wonderful, fulfilling experience and I have very fond memories of my time at Whistler, even though I did not get to be a patroller out on the mountain.
Before and since 2010, I have volunteer patrolled the yearly Winterstart World Cup speed events in Lake Louise, Alberta. I have loved every second of it and have learned so much from this high functioning, professional, funny and friendly team.
Fast forward to January 2020. A team of us from the Lake Louise Winterstart patrol were set to fly to Beijing in order to work the pre-Olympic “test events”. I went early in order to tour around China. While I was in the air, the pandemic exploded. All tourism in China was shut down and the races got canceled. I got one of the last flights out.
Beijing_2022_account_from_Sue_Elder.pdf (710.8 KiB, 223 hits)
Erik Lidström, a.k.a Lidas
I am a Swedish ski patroller from the north of Sweden, 300km north of the arctic circle.
I started as a patroller here in Riksgränsen in 2015 and I bumped up to ski hill operations manager in 2018, and now I am our company’s mountain manager. I run our two small ski hills with a total of 11 lifts and a staff of 65 people during high season. Ski patrol instructor since 2019.
I am also an alpine mountain rescue operator, licensed for winch rescue and trained in technical rope rescue operations in the Swedish mountain rescue organisation. I am also a volunteer in the local fire department. Doing emergency responding around Riksgränsen. As you might understand I have now dedicated my life to work with rescue and emergency responding.
I got asked to join the international team of patrollers for the 2022 Olympic winter games by my dear friend Marie Nordgren. Big warm thank you Marie!! She talked me into sending my application and so I did, and I am glad I did.
Lidas_FIPS_2022_Olympics.pdf (89.0 KiB, 833 hits)
Erik_Lidas_FIPS_2022_Olympics.pdf (93.3 MiB, 873 hits)
