By Ida Chipman Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — It appears that there may be only two volunteer athletes from Indiana involved in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics  – at least with the Ski Patrol.  
The 21st Winter Olympics will take place Feb. 12-28, 2010, in Vancouver, Canada, with some events held in nearby Whistler Olympic Parks.

Athletes from an estimated 80 countries will come to Canada for the event, in-cluding, Ghana, the Baha-mas, Gabon and the Cay-man Islands, some of whom are making their winter Olympic debut.
“For us, it’s a chance of a lifetime,” Richard “ Rich” Mah, South Bend, said.
“To be a part of the Olympic Games is a thrill,” Vera Tiani added.
“I am so excited to be a part of this team. We can’t wait to get there!”
Vera Belle Tiani, 64, grew up in northern Michigan and graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1975, before earning a master’s degree from Central Michigan in 1981.
Married to Dan Shuppert for the past 18 years, Vera was a guidance counselor at Urey Middle School in Walkerton (1981-1995) and at Argos Junior/Senior High School from1996-2001. Res-idents of Plymouth, Vera and Dan are licensed mental health counselors.  Both are trained in Guided Imagery and Healing Touch, practices that uses the power of the mind to influence the body.  She volunteers With the Marshall County Center for Hospice and Palliative Care and works with the Lindenwood Ministry and Retreat Center, at Ancilla Convent in Donaldson. A talented artist, she is president of Heartland Artists, Plymouth.
She and her friend, Richard “Rich” Mah, 61, have been patrolling Wis-consin’s Birkebeiner Nordic ski race for over 25 years,  in that event, a 55-mile run is held in late February and   attracts over 7,000 racers from around the world.
More than 10,000 people volunteered for the Olympic Medical Services alone.  Approximately 200 were chosen, based on knowledge and experience relevant to their venue and sport.  Their level of training includes more training hours than a  “First Responder” and less than an “ EMT.”  Their certifications are “Outdoor Em-ergency Care Technician,” CPR/AED for the Profes-sional Rescuer” and “Nordic and Alpine Patroller.”
Skiing is his passion, but volunteering is his life.  Rich is a full-time volunteer with organizations such as the Morris Performing Arts, Area II Agency on Aging and the American Red Cross. He often helps the Red Cross on late night house fires. He is a 1970 University of Chicago graduate and is married (to Nancy) with two grown children. A First Aid pro-vider at Notre Dame football games, he   retired three years ago from a career with the Social Security Admin-istration.
An outdoorsman, in addition to skiing, Rich is active with the National Ski Patrol, the Sierra Club, the Voyager Club and, in the past, the Boy Scouts of America. He enjoys caving, canoeing, backing packing and sailing.
Vera and Rich’s official job titles are “Ski Patrol: Athlete Care.” She patrolled the World Cup races in March of 2009, which gave the management an opportunity to train and evaluate prospective Olympic patrollers.
Medical services are provided to athletes, coaches, Olympic family members, dignitaries, spectators, me-dia, workforce and anyone else who is on the venue during operational hours.
“If an athlete is injured during a competition, touching him or her, without the permission of the coach or an official, will disqualify the participant from the event,” Vera explained. “They are very careful about that.”
Vera will be patrolling the Biathlon at Whistler Oly-mpic Park from February 12-28 and the Paralympics at Whistler Paralympic Park from March 13-21.
“Most of the injuries we see,” she said, “are head injuries: concussions and skull fractures.”
Both Rich and Vera are Nordic, Alpine and cross-country skiers. They frequent Potato Creek and the Bendix slopes. Vera also patrols the Swiss Valley Ski Lodge in Jones, Michigan.
Both skiers encourage young people to take up the sport.
“But take lessons first,” Vera said.  
When she was guidance counselor at Argos High School, students would clamor to go skiing with her.
“You can go,” she said,” but, unless you’ve had lessons, not with me.”
With new ski equipment design, skiing is much safer than it has ever been.
“Of course,” Vera said, “we still have to depend on skiers to ski responsibly.  As ski patrollers, one of our main functions is to reinforce safety.”
All ski resorts have “The Skier Responsibility Code” posted. Safety is mostly common sense.  
When skiers overestimate their ability or don’t think a lesson is worthwhile they can quickly get themselves in trouble.
“As patrollers,” Rich said, “we emphasize defensive skiing just like automobile drivers are taught defensive driving.  
“Predicting consequences while skiing is certainly a better choice than having to call a  ski patroller to carry an injured skier off of the mountain,” he said.