By A.P. Crawford, Kawartha Zone and Dagmar Patroller, Life Member No. 87 (ap.crawford@skipatrol.ca)
Charlie Turner was a true builder of the Canadian Ski Patrol. In the CSP Kawartha Zone and at the Dagmar Patrol, we knew him for all of his contributions to make us the successful group that we are today. Saturday mornings at Dagmar often saw the three most venerable patrollers (146 years of service among them) plus a first- or second-year patroller as the assigned team, and yes, we did have pity for that fourth person! Anyone else who happened to be at the hill learned much more about the CSP than what’s in the manual. This year will be very different. What most people didn’t see was all the work that Charlie did behind the scenes at so many other levels, nor did we all know of his extensive contributions prior to arriving in Kawartha Zone in the late 1990s.
Charlie joined the CSP in 1973 in the CSP Eastern Townships Zone and over the years held most positions within the patrol, including zone training officer, zone president, Quebec Division vice-president of administration, national vice-president of operations, member of the board of directors, and national president, the office he held when he joined us in Kawartha Zone! He had already been recognized as CSP National Life Member No. 39 by then.
In many ways, Charlie was truly ahead of his time. When he was national president, he was an early leader in promoting and appointing female patrollers to the senior management of the CSP. His mantra was to appoint the best person for any position regardless of gender. This was 25 to 30 years ago and much of the CSP was still an old boys’ club, something Charlie was responsible for breaking down.
When Charlie was national president, he and his wife Carol relocated to southern Ontario, and it was through his fellow board member Stu Jarvis (Life Member No. 51) that he wound up joining Kawartha Zone. In his first year there he took the first-year course in Oshawa with the new recruits to learn the culture of his new zone and to meet the local patrollers at their level. (Remember that at the time he was a fully qualified instructor-trainer.)
From that point on he volunteered (or should we say he was pulled in) to assist wherever he could. Once he had completed his term as national president, he suddenly had more ‘free time’ – which we quickly consumed.
Charlie’s historical knowledge of the CSP was often described as that of a walking encyclopaedia of the ski patrol. In discussing why past initiatives may have gone off the rails, his perspective was always to figure out what did not work and how to tweak the process to get the desired results. He was never afraid to speak his mind and did not deal in back-room politics; if he had something to say, he said it!
In the early 2000s there was a need for a records documentation, storage and retrieval system that would also support the functions of the CSP. Charlie and Pierre Charest from Quebec Division had the programming skills and expertise so they created the national database system (NDS) that we relied on for more than 20 years.
Charlie was an integral part of Kawartha Zone’s training and development department almost since his arrival. He was an instructor-trainer, in class and on snow instructor, coach and mentor to everyone. The year following the pandemic, the Dagmar patrol found itself with only one on-snow instructor who was limited by health issues and a zone decision to have every patroller redo his or her on-snow certification. Charlie stepped up to help put the necessary training and evaluation program in place, and at the same time qualify three on-snow instructors to fill the gap. One of those individuals now has the lead role at the hill. Charlie worked closely with Brian Low at the national level supporting the development and updating of the instructor certification program (ICP), including the changes that are being implemented this season. Having a direct pipeline to the source has been a huge benefit to everyone.
Because Charlie came to the zone and division and jumped right in to help with whatever he was asked to do, it only made sense to recognize his contributions in his new environment. It is for that reason that an existing national life member subsequently received all of the available Kawartha Zone and most of the CSP Ontario Division awards, which are normally requirements for being recognized at the national level. But then again, he was one of a kind.
Another of Charlie’s pet projects was to keep the national life members in touch with each other and in the loop with respect to the latest happenings within the CSP, whether or not they happened to be retired from active service. More recently, Charlie was usually the first to welcome new members to the group. He was one of the coordinators behind the group of life members that has made itself available and assists with projects as asked (that succession plan has already been addressed). Wherever he travelled, he always made certain to look up any life member in the area and encouraged others to do the same.
Charlie was devoted to the CSP. He put in more time, more energy, and more effort than almost any other patroller. He was known and respected from one end of this country to the other by not only patrollers, but also area managers and other members of the ski industry, and around the world through his work with the Fédération Internationale des Patrouilles de Ski (FIPS) as the FIPS website administrator. Also with FIPS, Charlie provided support and leadership to the technology special interest group, chairing the meetings at the most recent congress held at Riksgränsen, Sweden. Upon arrival in Sweden he renewed old acquaintances from many previous congresses and made new friends, was at all the sessions and out on the snow capturing photos of activities. He was in his element and upon his return he regaled us with tales of his most recent adventures.
Charlie stood for everything the CSP is and is trying to accomplish, and he continued to give to the system at all levels when asked. He was the recipient of CSP No. 472 in 1983 and was recognized as national Life Member No. 39 in 1998. Since the news of his passing became known, there has been a plethora of ‘Charlie’ stories from all walks of his patrolling career that have surfaced. They are amusing, enlightening, and speak to his enormous contribution and dedication across the ski patrolling fraternity.
More than 50 years of continuous service to the CSP completed. Boots off Charlie; we’ll take last sweep for you.
(more information about Charlie’s work and the awards he received can be found in the zone’s history book updated to 2023, available on the zone website at https://www.skipatrol.ca/kawartha/history-book-project/)
This post is also available in: French