Region News
Waterville Valley Patroller School
Summer is a great time to kick back with friends & family and reflect on our past season as we give our feet a nice break from our ski boots. It is also a time when many of us look ahead to the upcoming season and more immediate, the upcoming refresher season. During that process, the idea of offering an expanded training session surfaced. This article details how this process unfolded, our agenda for the weekend and some takeaways for those considering a similar offering to their patrols.
The idea for this type of event came from the Certified Boot Camp that Eastern Division Director John Kane holds each summer in Maine. It is an amazing camp that the division certified group holds. The weekend consists of many of the modules of the certified program, some high-level training, creative scenarios and great food & camaraderie with some amazing instructors.
The thought of taking the idea of this event and tailoring it to our entire patrol was born, now to plan it. The first consideration was whether our patrollers would be willing to give up an additional weekend in the fall to training. We still had our OEC refresher, CPR re-cert, and our lift evacuation training ahead. We are sensitive to the fact that we may be asking a lot of our patrollers as most of them are volunteers. The decision was that we would work up a syllabus for our weekend, present it to the patrol as an “optional” training and gauge their interest. Turns out our patrol was quite excited to have this opportunity and nearly all were . . .
read moreThe Eastern Division Slate is Ready to Work for You!
Eastern Division has done their usual research to help find the Ski Patrollers dedicated to our profession and to the needs of our volunteers. This season’s elections, four National Board seats are up for election. One incumbent, Brian Rull, a volunteer Patroller from Missouri (in Central Division) has been an effective National Bard Member and needs your vote to return for another term. Brian is completing his first term on the National Board where he chairs the National Audit and Fundraising Committee and serves on the National Governance Committee. His fellow board members appointed him as the Assistant National Chair.
In Eastern Division, our own Bob Scarlett is running for his first term. He has been a long-time Eastern Division leader who dedicated ten years to the National Board of Directors as the National Legal Advisor. As the legal advisor, Bob has helped the National board navigate many organizational situations, now he is ready to take his experience and expertise to the board. He is running for a board seat and needs your vote.
Julie Stone is also a Missouri based volunteer Ski Patroller (from Central Division), asking for your vote, says “As a woman, an experienced Senior Alpine Patroller, an Instructor in 4 disciplines (OEC, OET, MTR, and PSIA1), I am a creative-strategic thinker and a doer! I would like your vote.”
Richard Yercheck is from Southern Division. He has dedicated 28 years to Ski Patrolling and the volunteering for leadership positions in the Southern Division. He is running with the same dedication to improve OEC and to bolster the National Ski Patrol brand. He asks for your vote, “Vote for me and I will make sure the board is doing good for our members, our industry partners, the general public and the future of the National Ski Patrol.”
National Ski Patrol will email all NSP members an invitation to vote. Voting occurs between . . .
read moreAvalanche Professionals Workshop
The annual Eastern Snow and Avalanche Workshop in Fryeburg Maine, has been scheduled and posted. Follow the link to ESAW.ORG, buy your tickets and join New Hampshire’s avalanche professionals for a one-day snow sciences seminar.
The “White Mountain Avalanche Education Foundation” organizes the event every year. A portion of ESAW ticket sales goes to bringing snow science into to local middle school classrooms as well as supporting awareness classes designed to give middle school and high school teens time in the field and a foundation to start their avalanche education.
This season’s line-up of seminar speakers has been set. Ragged Mountain’s own Ski Patroller Sam Colbeck starts the seminar early in the morning. Mr. Colbeck is an Emeritus Researcher at the US Army’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL). He will present a session on “Snow Metamorphism and Structure.”
Frank Carus, Avalanche Specialist and Director of the Mount Washington Avalanche Center will present a session on “The evolution of avalanche forecasting on Mount Washington.” Flying in from Colorado is Brian Lazar, the Deputy Director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. He will present two sessions
read moreThe OEC Senior Program is Changing…
It takes a special patroller to step up to the challenge of the senior OEC program. They subject themselves to a whole lot of scrutiny as they train with fellow patrollers working their way through difficult scenarios designed to improve their decision making, problem solving and leadership skills. Being involved in this program is a learning opportunity for all of us. We learn from each other and grow as a team. For most of us, this isn’t a one and done, learning experience. It’s a process that is refined over the years.
Each year we kick off the senior program with an informational meeting in early November and begin scheduling events after the holidays through mid-March. This year’s season will start earlier than past seasons and commence with a final exam on February 10th. Great care has been taken to plan events around holidays and hopefully avoid the end of year burden on patrols with…
read moreIn Memoriam: Janis Albrecht – Whaleback Patroller
Janis Albrecht, 60 years old, passed away peacefully May 10th 2018. Raised in Fairfield CT, graduated class of 1975 Andrew Warde High School. A longtime resident of Gaysville, VT.
Janis was a professional Ski Patroller, EMT and volunteered with the adaptive ski program for people with disabilities. She patrolled at Killington Resort, managed the Mountain Ambassadors then took over as Patrol Director for a few. During the summer months, she worked with the horse show circuit.
Janis loved traveling, adventure, hiking, sailing and being with family, friends and her dog. She loved going to concerts and music festivals from Jazz Fest, Bluegrass, Grateful Dead shows, and Zydeco. Janis was a happy, caring, joyful person who loved to have fun and filled her life with wonderful experiences. Ski Patrollers and ski area customers will remember her ever-present smile. She will be dearly missed by her family, her friends, the Ski Patrolling community and never forgotten.
After Killington, she went to Loon Mountain and Black Mountain before settling close to home at Whaleback in Enfield NH. Janis joined the Whaleback Patrol in 2010. Patrol Director Dave Rancore remembers, “I offered her a paid position and made her my assistant. She brought so much knowledge and experience. Over the nine years that Janis was at Whaleback she help me get my instructors certification and we moved refreshers in-house. She was a true patroller first on last off every shift. Yet you might see her giving lift attendants breaks by covering a lift; working in the kitchen; training patrollers on the toboggan and anything else that the ski area might need.”
She will be missed by Whaleback — the Ski Patrol will hold a “Celebration of Life for Ski Patroller Janis Albrecht” at . . .
read moreAwards Delivery Adventure
Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol officially closes down operations on Memorial Day weekend every year. Making it the latest operating ski area within the New Hampshire Region. Every year, the Patrol throws a party on the Saturday evening of Memorial Day weekend to thank its volunteer staff of 20 plus the US Forest Service Snow Rangers for their season of service. The adventure I describe in this article was my trek to Hermit Lake Shelter to deliver the NSP Awards destined to Mount Washington.
The patrol disbands on Memorial Day as the operating agreement with the US Forest Service comes to a close. The next time that these Patrollers will gather again will be the first Saturday in March for their refresher — to start a new winter season. Delivering awards just in time was my mission as the Northern Section Chief in the Region. The easy part was visiting with NH Region’s Awards Advisor Alison Potito. She handed over two awards framed on folders with pins attached.
The weather report looked bleak for the weekend. I headed home to pack my gear. Knowing that multiple rain showers were in the forecast for Mt. Washington, I carefully wrapped the awards into two-gallon zip-lock bags and carefully nuzzled them into my day-pack. Around them I packed insulation layer, not knowing how cold it might get at high mountain elevation. No need to stow my Gortex jacket, I expected to be hiking in the pouring rain — the jacket would be worn the entire way up.
The weather did not disappoint — rain was sprinkling from the start. Tuckerman Ravine Trail from Pinkham Notch to Hermit Lake Shelter was approximately a two-hour walk for my family and me. I decided to bring the kids and Erin for the walk and to meet the . . .
read moreNH Region Elections During Fall Refresher 2018
During the Fall Refresher season of 2018, NH Region will be running elections for Region Director and Northern Section Chief. A contest for Region Director has developed between Carl Chaplin and Christopher Rousseau. Both candidates have served the NH Region with dedication for many years and are now asking for your vote. In the Northern Section, 0rest 0har is running unopposed for his second term.
Please read their Platform Statements and consider downloading their NSP Curriculum Vitae. Ballots will be available at the Fall Refreshers of each member patrol unit.
read morePatroller Awards Luncheon at Waterville Valley Village
The Section Chiefs have been listening; the membership wanted a different, more casual awards presentation. Our mission was to create a less formal affair, seeking warmer weather during daylight hours with family-friendly activities to include the kids.
Please set aside the afternoon of Saturday, May 5th, 2018 to gather at the Waterville Valley Village Conference Center for a casual BBQ luncheon, followed by NH Region’s Awards Presentation. Our goal is to open the village to NH’s finest Samaritan’s. Meet Ski Patrollers from all over the state, enjoy the comradery of fellowship, exchange stories about the season, honor those deserving of awards for their hard work and effort.
1:00 – 2:00 PM Reception and Cocktail Hour
2:00 – 3:30 PM BBQ Luncheon Buffet
3:30 – 5:30 PM Awards Presentation
After the event, feel free to visit the Village and its many restaurants and pubs with both old friends and new acquaintances. Please save the date on your calendar. Registration is officially open, at any time you may click this link to purchase tickets:
Buy Tickets Now
We worked hard to price this event affordably. Register early to receive a discount. Children fourteen and younger attend for free.
$29.95/person (children 14 and under are free)
read moreOff-Season ID Course for 2018
The 2018 winter season is rapidly coming to a close. There is still time to squeeze in an On-The -Snow ID course at your home mountain, but you need to hurry, sign-up and complete the NSP Hybrid soon so that the face-to-face meeting can be scheduled before the last...
read moreNominations for 2018 Election — Region Director and Northern Section Chief
New Hampshire Region Election Notification Fall 2018, the New Hampshire Region will elect a new Region Director and a Northern Section Chief, who will take office on April 1, 2019. Position qualifications and job descriptions are included below, along with New...
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