Golden – The brothers of the Beta Phi chapter of Beta Theta Pi are on a mission to get skiers and boarders to wear helmets.
For the ninth straight year, the Colorado School of Mines fraternity will hold its Ski-a-thon this winter to raise money and awareness for the St. Anthony Central Hospital’s InterMountain Neurosurgery helmet donor program.
The ski-a-thon, the fraternity’s largest charity event, offers a free day of skiing in late February or early March at a yet-to-be-determined resort; lunch; a lift ticket; and, of course, a helmet.
“It has been proven countless times that helmets save lives,” said Adam Noelck, chairman of the Ski-a-thon, “and the brothers of Beta Phi plan to continue convincing the public that wearing a helmet can be just as stylish as it is safe.”
Noelck said the nonprofit event, which includes sponsorships by companies and donations from individuals, also helps dispel “the stereotypical frat image.”
Mostly, it’s about putting as many buckets on as many brains as possible and having fun while being safe.
Through the years, the event has raised $37,000 for St. Anthony’s program, “It Ain’t Brain Surgery,” and has provided 3,500 helmets to 36 Christy Sports outlets so those who rent skis or boards can have a helmet at no cost.
Dr. Stewart Levy, a St. Anthony neurosurgeon, said every dollar donated to the 8-year-old program goes to buying helmets, the use of which is climbing.
One of the Beta Theta Pi brothers, Denver Haslam, 27, is alive today because of a helmet. “I owe my life to a helmet,” Haslam said of his Feb. 2, 2003, collision with a tree.
Name a part of his body – from his brain to his left knee – and it was shattered, bruised, ruptured, punctured, cut or broken. Haslam was in a drug-induced coma for six weeks and in the hospital for three months. But he lived.
Now, when Haslam – who has resumed skiing – sees someone on the slopes without a helmet, “it just makes me wonder how people can be so ignorant. I don’t mean that derogatorily. But think how easily you can wear a 1-inch piece of foam on your head.”
For more information about the Ski-a-thon, e-mail Noelck at anoelck@mines.edu or call him at 303-884-9490.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
