A common issue causing confrontations between snowboarders and patrollers involves the use of snowboard runaway leashes. As patrollers we know that these devices are intended to prevent the personal injuries and property damage that could result from a runaway snowboard. However, because snowboard bindings don't have a "safety-release capability" like Alpine skis, their use is often considered an arbitrary and useless "hold-over from skiing" by snowboarders. Today's young people are the most sophisticated and skeptical that the world has ever seen. Their lives are filled with warnings for the dangers of everything from cigarettes to guns in school. Should we be surprised that some will cast a deaf ear to explanations about the need for leashes based upon /"the dangers of runaway snowboards?"/ From a snowboarder's perspective the rationale against using a safety leash is based upon the fact that snowboard bindings don't have a safety release function and thus don't need leashes because their bindings won't come off in a fall. In their minds only a failure of the binding's attachment screws could cause them to separate from the snowboard and set the scene for a runaway. In that extremely rare event, a leash attached to the binding would have no utility. We need to be aware that a snowboard safety leash is *primarily intended to prevent a "runaway" when the snowboarder is initially getting into or out of their bindings, AND when they are walking back up the slope in a snowboard park or half-pipe.* These are the times when the unbuckled snowboarder is in an awkward position. One slip at these moments and the board can take-off down the slope alone........ The correct technique for getting into snowboard bindings has the safety leash being fastened BEFORE any attempt is made to step into, let alone buckle the binding. Likewise the leash should be the LAST item unfastened after both feet are removed from the their bindings. Snowboard leashes vary from those that were once used on Alpine skis in a crucial aspect; length. A snowboard leash is designed to be fastened around the knee, NOT around the ankle. By designing the leash to be worn around the knee it has sufficient length so that it can remain fastened to the snowboarder while they are walking back up the slope. Thus, if the snowboarder slips/falls while walking back-up a slope, the snowboard doesn't become a runaway! Thoughts about tact and relevancy; many people have never witnessed the personal injuries that can be caused by a runaway snowboard or ski. Hence they may not be able to relate to a patroller's safety directives based upon such examples. However, most snowboarders can readily relate to the concept of their cherished $500 snowboard being destroyed after crashing into a tree or rock on the side of the slope following a runaway. (In my patrol experience this example has often been the best motivator.)

Snowboarders, like all people, respond better to safety suggestions if they understand the /*reasons and rationale*/ for our mountain's policies. For patrollers this means showing that we are not arbitrarily trying to reduce someone's fun of the mountain but rather taking essential actions to assure the enjoyment and safety of *ALL* of our customers. /(This document was originally developed for the "Snowboard Liaison Project" within NSP's Eastern Division. The costs for its distribution were paid for by snowboard manufacturers acting through Ski Industries America (SIA)./