Mine Rescue Provincial Competition

Mine Rescue...what started out as an extra-curricular activity and transformed itself in to Keith's "raison d'etre" in the mining industry (well, that and the money), is over for yet another year. Well, as much as it can be for a guy who is head over heels in love with it anyways


I have kind of a love/dread relationship with the Competition end of Mine Rescue. I love it because it brings out this passionate, educated, outgoing, competitive side of him and frankly, the perks that come along with competing, are in themselves enough for me! The freebies, the dinners, the trips, the schmoozing...wonderful! However, with all of this comes the long days training, the nerves, the stress, the politics, the change in schedules, the frustration, the woulda/shoulda/couldas, and all those mixed up emotions that manifest themselves in men competing against their co-workers and buddies.


They take this incredibly seriously. There is a lot of prestige in being the owner of the Mine Rescue World's Holy Grail, the Golden Hardhat (which used to be silver and were known as the ChromeDomes, but were recently changed to gold). It may sound ridiculous, but the bigger picture is that every employee, family member and friend of someone in a mine, benefits BIG TIME from this competitive spirit. Think about it...these are men who are willing to run in to a mine when everyone is running from it and they are this obsessed with knowing everything and getting everything absolutely right. You want men to become highly skilled...turn it in to a competitive sport!

But anyways, as you know, his team didn't win the District Competition this year, so they didn't go on to the Provincial Competition. However, since he was the Captain of the losing team, he was invited to come as a judge which he gladly accepted. The event was actually held at a training mine this year, here at home, rather than simulated on an arena floor. What a learning opportunity! Cameras followed the teams around in the dark, and spectators were able to watch the lamp lit feed on a big screen in a tent in the parking lot. The set up wasn't perfect, but it was by far the most interesting competition I've seen over the past 6 years. After their work at the mine was done, they were then informed that they were headed out to the Firemen Training Center half an hour away, where they were to rescue a man hanging by his harness on the side of a 5 story building. A team member had to repel down the side, hook up to the guy, unlatch him and then lower themselves to the ground. What a show!

Being on this side of the competition was actually a lot of fun and although I won't admit it to Keith, in many ways it was better than competing...for me at least. Ya, we didn't get the cash prize and Keith won't get the opportunity for the proposed trip to Ireland, but I didn't have to deal with Captainzilla studying and training for an extra three weeks, I didn't have to drop a pile of cash on a new dress, I didn't lose any sleep and I still got the nice dinner, the night in the hotel, a new coat, a bunch of other freebies and all the schmoozing I could handle! I was even give a personal tour inside the mine (at ground level) by one of the Officers...ya, picture me in coveralls, the belt, the hardhat and the cap lamp...sorry, no pictures. I've never been in the mines, so this was a soooooo interesting. I got to climb up on to a catwalk, and shown some of the equipment. It was cold, wet and the blackest black I have ever experienced when we turned off our lamps. Crazy. Being in there sure didn't make me any less comfortable with the idea of my husband being in a mine every day though. I was inside a mountain at ground level...he goes down 5900 ft. Ick.


And to top it all off this year, our company's other team won the competition. I think it was bittersweet for Keith since half of the team members were on the same team as him two years ago when they won all the techinal awards but not the Golden Hardhats. Then they had to be split up when one of the mines closed and didn't get to go back together. They lost last year and Keith's team got to go on to Provincials. They didn't win it. Now the other team got through and did. I'm sure it must have stung, but he sees the bigger picture too. He lost to these guys at the District's, but the overwhelming pride that this was his company's team more than took over. He helped with some of the training and some of them are now our good friends so it was impossible to be anything but happy for them.

I'm hoping someday we'll have a shiny golden hard hat on the mantel too.

(Oh and for those who don't know, he isn't a coal miner....I just couldn't think of any other fitting songs. They primarily mine nickel)

Here's some picture. I couldn't take any during the problem since, as mentioned, it was inside the mine, but the overcast skies were great for the outdoor shots.

Judge Keith...

coming out of the mine to get a fire suppression machine...bringing out an injured man...coming off of 2+ hours under oxygen...Mr. Dummie hanging out....a team of tired guys who have just been told the job isn't done yet... formulating the plan of attack...

Dr. Joe getting ready for his drop down the side of the building...
one last look....
almost there...
latching on to him..bringing down....
to safety!Something to pass the time while we waited for them to set up...since mine rescue isn't always the most exciting spectator's sport!