The goal of this project is to produce an exciting and educational sports action video that will teach 14-18 year old kids essential winter mountain survival skills. The video will be incorporated into TNSAR’s education program and will be shown to Junior and Senior level high school students in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. Ideally, the topic of winter mountain survival skills (not necessarily just the video) will be incorporated into TTUSD’s curriculum and will be required before completion of high school. The long-term goal of this project is to expand video coverage (and the associated educational curriculum) to include other school districts in the Tahoe basin and eventually other school districts outside of the basin.
The basic concept of this project is to produce a winter survival skills video with accompanying (take-home) written materials. The video would initially be presented in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District and would hopefully become incorporated into TTUSD curriculum. The long-range goal of the project is to build a winter survival skills curriculum that would be incorporated into TTUSD main curriculum and would be a requirement for graduation. The video and associated curriculum could then be expanded to include other school districts in the basin, and then coverage could be expanded outside of the basin, particularly in the foothills and eventually in the Bay Area communities. The target audience would be Junior and Senior level students in the local area high schools. Currently TNSAR’s 4th grade education program has been a great success. This video project would expand TNSAR’s education program to include the older kids who are more likely to be going out into the woods without adult supervision and may potentially be at a greater risk of getting into trouble. The basic premise of the video would be “how to avoid getting into trouble in the mountains in winter.” The goal of the video would be to educate juniors and seniors about winter mountain survival, specifically addressing things to do in order to keep oneself from getting into trouble in the first place, and what to do in case one becomes lost. Topics would include such things as: what to do before you go, the 3 W’s, what to bring, what to watch out for, the basic do’s and don’ts in case you are lost, basic avalanche information, terrain safety issues, weather issues, etc. We also want to incorporate issues regarding peer pressure and how to avoid getting oneself stuck in a dangerous situation. The total running time of the video would be approximately 24 minutes. This would give enough time for questions and answers from classroom presenters. The video would most likely be shown in P.E. classes and would be presented by volunteers from TNSAR and/or other interested community members. The style of the video would be sports action. It would need to be as entertaining as it is educational. Therefore, participants in the video would be local athletes, hotshot skiers and snowboarders who already have a reputation, either through films, magazines, or competitions etc., and would most likely be recognized and respected by the target audience. Again, the goal would be to keep the students awake and not to bore them to death with just nuts and bolts about how to stay alive in the woods. Hopefully the video will teach kids to respect the mountains and instill the message that it is not ‘cool’ to go out into the woods in winter without being prepared.
TNSAR will not be responsible for producing the video. TNSAR will supervise the production, but the goal is to produce a video of exceptional quality, professionally produced and edited, using state of the art equipment and filming techniques. Therefore, an outside filmmaker will be hired to make the video. TNSAR will be involved in the entire process e.g. writing the script, assisting in editing the content, etc., but will primarily be responsible for incorporating the video into the existing educational program and taking the video to TTUSD classrooms.
The estimated cost for the entire project is $35,000. Given the importance of the subject matter and overall issues that will be raised, the video needs to be top-notch. Expenses can be minimized by using local volunteer talent, donated footage from ski resorts, etc., but the overall quality of the images and the educational material needs to be of the highest possible caliber.
Ideally the video would be ready for classrooms by Fall 2002.
The primary way to fund this project is by hiring a consultant to write grants to private and corporate foundations. Secondary funding can be accomplished by approaching local area businesses for financial and/or resource donations, and approaching corporations for project-specific, tax-deductible donations.
"Winter Mountain Survival Skills Video"
To educate kids (14-18 years old) about responsible wintertime recreation and provide critical emergency survival skills.
1. Teach students to respect the mountains
2. Give them the skills they need to be “responsible”
3. Show them how to stay out of trouble
4. Provide essential survival skills in case of an emergency
Approximately 24 minutes
Sports action
Local area athletes who have an established name/reputation that would be known (and respected) by young skiers, snowboards, snowmobilers etc.
Junior and Senior level high school students (14-18 years old)
Approximately 500 students (initially)
North Tahoe High
Truckee High
Sierra High---continuation school
Cold Stream High---continuation school
Washoe County---Incline High
Lake Tahoe Unified South District---Mt. Tallac High & South Tahoe High
Douglas County---Whittel High
Squaw Valley Academy
Local businesses
Local restaurants
Ski Clubs/Organizations
Claire Tappaan Lodge, Modesto Ski Club, Palo Alto Ski Club, many others
Ski Resorts
Squaw Valley, Sugarbowl, Alpine Meadows, Northstar
Diamond Peak, Homewood, Donner Ski Ranch, Heavenly
Kirkwood, Royal Gorge, Sierra at Tahoe, Boreal
Tahoe X.C., Spooner Lake
Foundation grants
Corporate giving programs
Local restaurant fundraising dinners
Corporate and business sponsorships
Advertising trailers on video
Direct mail donations to TNSAR
Ski resort donations (via tickets given to TNSAR and sold)