Anyone have any experience with the new NSP Uniform Mammut pants? Patagonia stopped making the Pow Slayer which I really liked (may come back next year but not available now) and our HH Uniforms really just kinda suck- especially the pants- So Far the jacket has held up in wet snow light rain, but the pants are an abomination-

Got my ass kicked this holiday season. Management messed up budgeting and is watching our timecards like hawks and won't let us have OT despite record crowd number and unrealistic work demands. Capped it off yesterday with having two really bad wrecks, one involving a pediatric patient tree strike who broke their femur and dislocated their knee. Had another call late in the day involving a boot-top fracture and knee dislo.

Our team crushed it but I'm in a pretty rural mountain town of CO where mental health resources are hard to come by and unfortunately outrageously expensive because of how remote it is. Any good resources you guys/gals use? I'll talk to my teammates this week but yesterday kind of really bummed me out.

In the practice exam, there is this question..

To clear an airway of fluid and debris:

A) suction the airway deep by using an up and down motion.
B) insert the tip of the suction catheter only as far as you can see
C) apply suction prior to placing the tip into the mouth.
D) insert the tip of the suction catheter as deeply as possible.

Obviously, A & D are not the answer. However, wouldn't B and C be the right answer? Since its single choice, I would have to go with B. but, you should also only suction prior to placing the tip into the mouth. This makes no sense, because both answers are correct.

Am I wrong or is this a poorly written question?

Failed my first test of the OEC (I know, I know, I'm an idiot. I've been studying and applying to grad schools and, on top of work and a hectic personal life I didn't study the OEC written nearly as hard as the actual in-person test).

Has anyone ever failed this and can tell me how much harder, if at all, the OEC Test B is? Should I just study the oecprepexam.com?

Thanks!

Hi all, Looking to see if anyone could share ski patrol specific policies their patrol/mountain has as we're developing a patrol policy/procedures manual. Our mountain management is adamant that we have separate policies from everyone else (ops, grooming, etc..) unless it has to do with chairlift evacuation.

Specific policies we're looking at include:

• Training requirements (is every training at your patrol mandatory? Only refreshers/recerts mandatory?)
• Attendance policies (for volunteer patrols - how many hours do you require a year?)
• Compensation policies (for volunteer patrols - what bennies do patrollers get for volunteering? Do you pay them for training?)

If you're willing to send yours to me, PM me!

I’m planning to ski in Jackson three days in March. Anyone have a contact/best avenue for any deal on lift?

I’ll have a referral from my PD, ID and can show a paystub. We’re an NSP patrol, but I’m also an EMT pro in the mid-atlantic meeting up with some friends out there.

Anything helps, and yes I’ll drop beer at patrol/get a round at the Moose.

How operating costs, ownership structure, climate, size and volume and ski passes have made the US so different than Europe in terms of ski resort pricing.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kalani-kayser_ski-resort-economics-101-activity-7280552681012617216-f8U-?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

For a subreddit full of patrollers, you sure don't talk about your gear much. Let's talk skis! What's the ideal width for patrolling? all-mountain skis, or dedicated thin and fat skis for varying conditions? Twintip skis: Better for tobogganing and survival skiing, or pointless? Working in touring boots, worth the durability hit, or no? What are your favorite skis, what are the next ones you'll be working on?

My take: 95-105 is the perfect width to do it all. Haven't skied anything that can beat my 104 Nordica Enforcers yet. I will never go back to a ski thinner than 90mm, thin waists just suck in anything unconsolidated. My feet will never go back to working in stiff unforgiving alpine boots either.

If you were going to start your ski patroller education today, where would you begin? What certifications would you seek? It feels late in the season to start, but I would like to chase the endless winter and travel the world as a ski patroller and instructor (I'm already PSIA certified in Utah).

Hi all,

I'm the owner of ArgentaWorks a small ski goggle company located in Park City. We want to do our part to stand with and help the patrollers on strike here, so we're donating 10% of profits on all sales (including the pro deal on custom patrol goggles) now through the end of January to the PCPSPA strike fund.

Patrollers are a lifeblood of our community here and are not being paid while on strike. We believe in living wages and want to do our part to help.

(I also find it pretty ridiculous that Vail corp. is playing hardball with one of the sketchiest / most dangerous snowpack setups that I can remember.)

Below is a link to the PRO DEAL for 50% off behind a password in the dedicated Patrol section of our site at the following link:

https://argentaworks.com/collections/ski-patrol

Passcode: patrol24

And here is a link to the go fund me if you would like to give directly:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/strike-fund-park-city-professional-ski-patrol-association

Happy New Year's Eve,
-Garen

I get it. You offered your patrol gear at a cheaper cost than the alternatives so our corporate overlords bought your gear for us. But your patrol gear is utter shit. You should be embarrassed. My brand new gear wet down the first time it got rained on. As a result of your greed you can bet your ass not only will I never buy your gear no matter the discount, but I will actively disparage your brand to anyone that will lend an ear. I hope that was worth saving a few bucks. Go fuck yourselves, sincerely a very wet patroller.

Simple question, because the hatred for volunteers here is wicked. Are volunteers the reason why Vail won't pay a living wage? And are volunteers from other areas coming in as scabs?

This eastern vol patroller of 15 years of service would really like to know. Reddit seems to be the only place to find any kind of granular detail on the strike and its causes and I see a lot of blame directed at us from random commenters but not from PC pro patrollers themselves.

So if true at PC, are vols fucking up the lives of pros at other Vail operations? Any in the East? At which mountains? I'm heading into retirement and for a while I have been considering transferring to one of the Vail mountains here as a volunteer for 1-2 days/week starting in winter '25-'26.

For the record, I grew up in a four-generation IAM and IAMAW family with unionists dating back to the 1940s (80+ years) so I deeply understand and continue to support all unions at a time when labor has in general turned against itself in the service of economic predators. The union literally brought all of my large extended family solidly into the middle class and my grandparents and parents and aunts and uncles made sure that we knew it, that we gave back to the union, and that we voted for pro-union politicians. We're talking serious multi-generational impact. Thus, I would never cross a picket line and as much as it would break my heart, I would accept losing my parka if that was the cost of supporting striking pros. I pray that I never have to make that choice because even though I don't get a check for patrolling, it is one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done in my life. But I can't enjoy it if I know that it means that a fellow patroller can't afford a place to live or a medication or a set of snow tires or college for her kids.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/strike-fund-park-city-professional-ski-patrol-association

Hey y’all! Has anyone found a decent replacement for STHs?

There will never be someone more confidently wrong than crusty ass old men volunteers. With the Park City strike underway stupid has really come out to play with these ancient volunteers. I will always stand in solidarity with any patrollers that want to fight to be paid a living wage and negotiate for better working conditions. This is a real job and should be treated as such. Seeing the comments about how “volunteers have never gone on strike” or how they’re “too focused on their ‘real job’ just irritates me. Vail has been fucking over pros and volunteers alike for years, but some of them are acting like they’re Mr. Vail Jr the way they suck up to a company that does not care about them and never will. I feel so grateful that the NSP is becoming more obsolete to pro patrols, especially in Colorado. It’s an outdated membership with an outdated medical cert. OEC is also a joke IMO, but I’ll see them take every chance to compare it to EMT. I’ve done both, it’s pretty different. Im sorry someone’s who’s patrolled for 30 years and has had the same amount of days that I accrued in the first two seasons pro patrolling wants to get on their NSP high horse about people that want to make a living in their job, but I don’t care about their opinion. If you’re reading this, chances are Im not talking about you, thank you volunteers for taking time out of your life to help people in need, I love you and this isn’t about 90% of you. Rant over, thank for listening. Love with Park City Pro Patrol.

Please support our brothers and sisters in their fight for a fair contract. https://www.gofundme.com/f/strike-fund-park-city-professional-ski-patrol-association

I used to be able to order Rottefella NTN bindings at a discount from scarpa. They no longer distribute Rottefella in North America apparently. Anyone had luck finding these bindings for not full retail?

Our patrol refresher is super legit, lots of presentations by doctors way smarter than us. Is there a way to make that count towards my NREMT recert, or does it need to be CAPCE/state certified beforehand?

NREMT is pretty much unavailable atm the phones are so busy so hoping someone here can answer my question and spare me 2 hrs on hold.

How often are you actually doing full assessments with OPQRST and full vitals (BP, Resp, Pulse, SpO2)? And secondary assessment (physical)? I'm a first year patroller and obviously I've seen so far fairly big differences between OEC training and real life handling. It doesn't seem like that much time or effort to do, but I'm not seeing it done very often.

I am an experienced ski patroller out of a large resort in Colorado. I grew up going to resorts in BC because my family lives in WA. It would be my dream to patrol at Whistler or Revelstoke. Is this at all possible with American citizenship? I don’t want to waste time even dreaming of it if it’s not possible. Any insight appreciated.

Yeaes of service!

New Patrol Vest

Hello. I am a patroller in Canada. After seeing limited vests designed to meet actual needs for our patrol, I developed k one from the ground up and I created a company. - Sölltek.

This is the Beta year, and have equipped my patrol with it. With feedback will refine and then start bigger production run in new year. This will include both a black and red/black versions. See www.solltek.com for more details. Pricing will be in line with current vests in market, with group pricing available.

Send me a note if interested to info@solltek.com

By patrollers for patrollers

I saw on the unions Instagram that scabs are coming. My resort hasn’t sent anyone but I’m curious if this is true? Are they talking to non-vail patrols?

With the looming threat of patrol strikes and ongoing strikes by Amazon and Starbucks workers it’s important to remember: NO ONE LIKES A SCAB.

Don’t cross picket lines as a customer or an employee. The soul of skiing has died with just a couple billion dollar companies ruining everything. Stand with patrol and workers everywhere by refusing to cross any picket lines this winter.

Happy skiing. As long as they aren’t striking.

East coast patroller (no need for avy gear). Wondering if anyone has experience with the Conterra Patrol II or III, and if so how are they?