Tomas Sbertoli: Hi! I am Tomas Sbertoli, Director of Snow Sports here at Wintergreen Resort in Virginia. When talking about skiing or riding, it is always important to remember safety. There are seven responsibility codes in the area of safety that are universal to both skiing and snowboarding. The first and most important is that you should be able to stop and control your speed and direction in such a manner that you can look out for others skiers and objects as you move down the hill. Second is to make sure that you stop after the side of the trail where you don't obstruct the trail and make sure that you are visible from above.

The third is when starting down hill or merging with another trail, that you yield to other skiers who are already on the slope. Once you are on the slope, skiing, the fourth thing is that you are always aware of the skiers downhill from you and you are always making sure that you adjust to them because they can't see behind them.

The fifth thing is having a safety device, either a, a runaway leash on a snowboard or snow breaks on your skies so that if you do fall when they come up, they won't take off down the hill and become a projectile or unsafe missile for other people. The sixth responsibility code is the ability to load, ride an unloaded chair lift safely. And the seventh responsibility code is to obey all trail signs, postings and stay out of closed areas.