Staying cool under pressure

Editorial and photography: Stephanie McLean

A day in the life of a police officer is vastly different from one day to the next, but for alpine police, moving across snow presents an additional challenge.

It’s for this reason that each year, police officers from across Victoria’s alpine region undergo an intensive alpine skills training program, preparing them to work operationally at alpine resorts throughout the snow season.

Victoria Police has three seasonal snow stations – at Mt Hotham, Falls Creek and Mt Buller – which open on the King’s Birthday weekend and are staffed by local police 24-hours a day until late September.

Wangaratta Senior Sergeant Dan Hilton, who leads the training program at Falls Creek, said officers must learn to convert the basics of everyday policing into an alpine environment.

“It’s still policing – there’s still burglaries, assaults and public order issues,” Sen Sgt Hilton said.

“The spectrum of incidents is broad and mirrors what we see in other parts of the state, but the decisions we make before attending an incident are unique in alpine environments.”

The annual alpine skills training course covers an array of important snow skills, including navigation, four-wheel driving, and cold-climate and alpine awareness training.

An integral part of the program is learning how to operate a snowmobile which, according to Benalla Senior Constable Kiera Leach, who completed the training program in 2022, is harder than it looks.

“It’s a challenge trying to get your weight proportions in the different directions just to be able to manoeuvre the snowmobile,” Sen Const Leach said.

While learning how to operate a ‘ski-doo’ is a physical challenge, the theoretical side of the course is just as taxing.

“You’re concentrating so hard and trying to absorb all the information, because it’s very possible that you might have to use those skills,” Sen Const Leach said.

Victoria Police’s Search and Rescue Squad plays a key role in the course, preparing alpine police officers for challenging search and rescue situations.

Search and Rescue Senior Constable Michael Littleford said time is of the essence in snow environments and alpine police officers need to know what actions to take in the first minutes and hours of a search and rescue situation.

“It’s pretty hard and the conditions vary a lot,” Sen Const Littleford said.

“There can be sunshine one minute then a whiteout, so while navigating and looking after yourself in those conditions is hard enough, looking after someone else is an extra challenge.”

Abundant snowfall and pent-up travel demand led to one of the busiest snow seasons in a decade across Victoria’s alpine resorts in 2022. As winter approaches, police are gearing up for another busy season in 2023.

“A lot of planning goes into staffing the seasonal stations and ensuring all members are fully trained,” Sen Sgt Hilton said.

“We hope we don’t need to use these skills, but if we do, we’ll be ready.”