HIGHLY LAUDED SNOWBOARDER Barrett Christy will present “Visualize Your Strengths,” the keynote speech at Saturday’s second annual Jefferson Healthcare Athletes Symposium in Port Townsend.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the hospital, located at 834 Sheridan St. Attendees are asked to park on the water side of the facility.
Christy will speak in the Dirksen Auditorium (second floor) at 11 a.m.
Christy is one of the most accomplished female snowboarders in history, winning two U.S. Opens and 11 X Games medals, as well as competing with the first-ever U.S. Snowboarding team during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
Barrett’s pro model snowboard, the Gnu B-Pro, is manufactured in Carlsborg by Mervin Manufacturing.
For more than a decade, proceeds from the sale of each B-Pro have helped support Boarding 4 Breast Cancer, a nonprofit foundation formed to promote the importance of early detection and a healthy active lifestyle as the best means of breast cancer detection.
Christy will donate a snowboard for a raffle at the symposium.
Medical professionals from Jefferson Healthcare and Swedish Medical Sports Medicine of Seattle will offer sports health information to help athletes prepare for physical activity, including the upcoming Jefferson Healthcare-sponsored Rhody Run in Port Townsend or the North Olympic Discovery Marathon between Sequim and Port Angeles.
All presentations, unless otherwise noted, will be in the Dirksen Auditorium.
Jefferson Healthcare, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David King and physical therapist Mitzi Hazard will present “The Benefits of Cross Training — Improve Performance and Reduce Injuries at noon.
At 12:30 p.m. Jefferson Healthcare chef Arran Stark will offer healthy cooking demonstrations and registered nurse Annie James will talk about sports nutrition in the hospital’s cafe.
A class ideally suited for area high school football and soccer coaches on sports concussion identification and management will be presented by Swedish Medical Center’s Dr. Renee Loo at 1 p.m.
Dr. Sean Colio will follow Loo and present “Sports Medicine and Musculoskeletal Ultrasound.”
Another Swedish expert, Dr. Michelle Arnold will offer some pearls of wisdom in the sea of health-related publications at 2 p.m.
Kitsap Cardiology’s Dr. David Tinker will discuss high-intensity interval training at 3 p.m.
Tinker served as my father’s cardiologist for a number of years, helping him recover from a heart attack with cardio rehab.
The good doctor knows his craft, I assure you.
On the main floor, physical therapy screenings for functional movement, foot screenings and hip assessments, along with shoe recommendations, sports massage demos and chair massages will be ongoing all day.
Port Townsend bike shop The Broken Spoke will be on hand doing bike fit assessments and more.
There will be vendor booths, raffle prizes and time to register for the Rhody Run and the new Rhody Run Kids Marathon.
For more information, visit www.jeffersonhealthcare.org/events.
Strapless results
It’s too bad Christy’s visit doesn’t coincide with an open weekend up at Hurricane Ridge.
I bet she would have enjoyed the Strapless Weekend happenings that occurred on the Ridge’s final weekend of ski-area operations for the season late last month.
Snow skaters from across the nation visited and were surprised with nearly a foot of fresh powder.
The snow skate jam was pushed back later in the day, and Jake Tomlinson won the golden snow skate shot ski.
Pat Bonzer claimed the Baked Slalom and the Poma cat track downhill race.
A video of the weekend’s happenings is available at tinyurl.com/pdn-straplessweekend.
Ocean Stewards
Ocean Stewards, a new addition to Olympic National Park’s Junior Ranger programs, was recently introduced by the park.
The free self-guided program is aimed at families with children ages 4 and older.
Like the original Junior Ranger program, Ocean Stewards is designed to be a fun and hands-on way for children to learn about the web of life within the park and how to explore safely, as well as understand how they can help protect the park.
The program includes a hands-on activity booklet that was designed and authored by park staff.
The booklet is full of activities and information about the coastal ecosystem of Olympic National Park.
Booklets are available at park visitor centers and ranger stations throughout the park and online at tinyurl.com/pdn-stewards.
Upon completion of the booklet, children can earn an Ocean Stewards patch.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
