Some questions about ski patrolling...

twintipteles

twintipteles

Active member
Alright, so I'm trying to get some serious skiing in the next couple years. I also need health insurance. I've been thinking ski patrol seems like a pretty good option as far as maximum mountain time. I've got a couple questions and figured there might be a patroller or two on here.

1. Do full time patrollers get health insurance?

2. What kind of certification do I need, I know EMT is required, and am enrolled in a course starting in a couple weeks, anything beyond that?

3. I'm planning on being in the western US, utah, colorado, cali are all possibilities, do I need any kind of prerequisite avalanche training or is that something that I can learn on the job?

4. Will I even be able to get a job out west without any prior patrol experience?

Finally, this is for next season, I'm not skiing this season so any advice as far as things I can get done now in order to be better qualified would be appreciated.
 
you have to be kinda bad ass and fast enough to chase the speeders down and snip their passes and be a jerk and stuff.
 
This is only what i've seen, I'm no patroller

If you wanna be on ski patrol you have to be willing to put in a lot of training hours. i work at a 400 foot hill in indiana and i always see the patrollers there after hours going through medical exercises, then when the snow gets here, they're always training on the hill.

but from what i've seen you dont really have to be a good skier, a lot of the patrollers at my hill blow hard, but they know their medical stuff and can get you down a hill.

 
i think you are gonna have a lot of trouble finding a job with no medical or patroling experience. especially out west.
 
I patrol, but its at a eastern molehill, so I can only tell you what I've heard. With EMT you can probably get a job a one of the megaresorts because they need a lot of bodies. I don't think avy is required, but it will certainly help. Either way, don't expect them to hand you bombs for the first few seasons. Starting pay is normally decent (for a ski bum job) and as far as insurance goes, it depends on the corporation I guess.
 
It is not that hard to find a partoling job, but it is for what your looking for. You would have to take a part time Patrol job, at a small mountain to gain experience. And of course this wont provide heathcare. However they will hire almost anyone with the qualifacations at these places, you dont have to be a great skier.

Then in a year or two, maybe you can get on with a legit mountain, full time. However you do need much more training for this. Avi training and explosives training. By then you should be able to ski every thing, and VERY well. As well as good referecnes and background.

I´m not a patroler, but have seriously considered it and looked into it a lot. decieded it was just not some thing I wanted to do. Is better suited for someone who wants to make it a life long carrier.
 
Thanks for the info. I've been thinking alot about this, and am looking at ski patrolling as a way to get a couple full time skiing years in now and then later on in life have a working retirement skiing all the time.

For the patrol haters, shut the fuck up, Patrollers at real mountains out west put their lives on the line all the time in order to open the terrain you want to ski and to keep you safe.
 
patrolling sucks, they own your ass. just be a dishwasher or cook. u get to ski waaaaaaayyyyy more.

but u should be able to find a job somewhere...unless u suck at skiing and are kind of a dumbass. but thats yur deal.

just remember when u catch somebody, be sure to challenge them to a race to see who the top dog is, like they did at alta for my friends and I.
 
I'm not a ski patroller, but I have a number of friends who are patrollers at Winter Park, CO.  So I can only speak from what I have observed.  Every spring, patrol has a series of interviews and a ski test, which involves skiing a number of the mountain's longest and steepest bump runs without stopping.  There are a limited number of openings each season.  Those that finish the best in the interviews and ski test are offered jobs and training.  However, there are some spots open for sled patrollers, usually people who have previous EMT training but are unable to successfully complete the ski test.  Typically, the candidates go through Outdoor Emergency Care training in the summer and fall and begin at the begining of the season.

As far as health insurance goes, I believe you need to complete three full-time seasons in any job at the resort before it is available through the resort.  The only people who receive it immediately have year-round, full-time positions.

The ski patrollers I know started at the resort as ski instructors, improved their skills during their first season, took the test and became patrollers during their second season.  However, after going through training to be a ski patroller for a small resort in CA (but never taking the volunteer position), I can vouch for the fact different mountains have completely different policies. 
 
I dunno, I think that snowmakers get the most time on the mountain.

I made snow at Keystone Colorado.

I worked the night shift that starts at 11pm and ended at 11am. Sometimes when you do a gun run (make sure all the guns are making good snow and have not froze themselves) you can ski and not worry about any people being on the hill, cause it's night and the hill is closed. Plus you can ski all day if you wanted to. When I work at Keystone I skied EVERY day that it was open, even at the end and the beggenning when it was not open yet.
 
Look at these also.

Mountain Safety Lead

Keystone Resort - Mountain Watch

Keystone, CO

Description:

Monitor

and enforce appropriate speed in designated areas on the mountain.

Educate trail users about safety awareness and responsibility while

skiing/riding. Interact with the guests in a courteous, professional,

and friendly manner at all times. Assist management in administrative

duties and different projects as assigned.

Requirements:

Candidates

must posses the ability to ski/snowboard at an advanced level,

excellent verbal communication skills, ability to lift 50 lbs and

desire to work in all weather conditions. Prior supervisory, guest

service and conflict resolution experience required. Must have a

flexible schedule, including days, evenings, weekends and holidays.

Must be able to ski/ride Blue and Green runs all day. A skiing/riding

interview is required to ensure ability level.

Terrain Park Manager

Keystone Resort - Terrain Park A51

Keystone, CO

Description:

This

position will be responsible for overall delivery of the terrain Park

experience to include development of vision with other stakeholders,

design, construction and management on a daily basis. Terrain park

manager will work closely with a wide variety of operational

departments like Ski School, Marketing, and industry departments.

Responsibilities will include developing and managing budget to meet

operational and corporate goals, overseeing the P&L to ensure

financial accountability, all aspects of training, staffing, motivation

of Terrain Park crew, building, designing park features, as well as

managing all resources devoted to terrain park to include snowcats,

snowmaking equipment maintaining a safe environment working closely

with director to establish a safety culture.

Requirements:

Candidate

must have five or more years of Mountain Operations experience,

including designing and building terrain park features and snowcat

operation. A Colorado valid driver license is required along with MS

Office proficiency and a flexible schedule. Supervisory experience is

preferred.

 
What patrollers do is rescue people, treat injuries, and save lives. How is that being a "party pooper"?

If you ever get seriously hurt skiing (which is pretty likely to happen at some point if you ski a lot and push your limits), then it will be a ski patroller who saves your ass, gets you down alive, and gives you medical treatment.

Maybe you're confusing ski patrol with the "slow police" who stand around yelling at anyone who can ski faster than a snowplow.....
 
dude patrolling was a lot of fun, i definitely miss it. i did it at winter park/mary jane. i did it as a volunteer in high school but i was held to the same standards as the pros. the pros got hooked up, the made the same salary that a school teacher makes in fraiser.
 
haha dude teachers don't make shit, everyone knows that. my mom is a teacher. and now a realtor becuase making jack shit sucks. a cashier at albertsons makes more then a teacher. if u want to make good money I suggest not working as a patroller. even the head patroller at snowbird doesn't make that much. and if he does, its becuase hes worked there for like 25 years.
 
at my hill the people doing all the yellin are the ski patrol. maybe in about 10 years they won't be so ghey because right now its filled with 50 year old people who think twins are stupid and skiing switch is dangerous
 
You definately need EMT. EMT has 3 levels - basic intermediate and paramedic. The higher the better. If the mountain you want has any backcountry, At least avy 1 will be required. Avy 2 is a more advanced class usually required to be a lead patroller or guide. The basic rule on ski ability is you have to be able to ski the entire mountain in any condition. So depending on the mountain is how good a skier you have to be. There is a national registry of ski patrollers kinda like a PSA cert for ski instructors, but you can't get certified until you get a patrol job. I did it for a few seasons in college and it was a great way to get extra time on the mountain and cut in lines. You do have to do work though, it isn;t all fun.
 
I was a patrol for one year than quit. For me it took the fun out of skiing,,,to many rules....ie no park.

also a lot of patrolers have a dick attitude. I dont know why they just do.

 
I am actually going through training right now... I live and ski in Wisconsin though so I'm sure that there is a lot less required of us and it's volunteer. Basically I started my OEC (outdoor emergency care) training in early august and it goes until mid november when the hill opens, at that point we start on the hill which goes for most of the season. OEC class is every sunday night for 4 hours and im not sure about on the hill but i think its about the same. Then theres the CPR certification that you have to get... not a big deal but definitly another time commitment. Ski patrol is definitly a huge time commitment, but i definitely feel that im getting something out of it.

And too those of you who flame patrollers... im partially on your side, There are definitely some patrollers who are complete assholes. But, there are definitely some very chill patrollers. So try not to think that we're all uptight pricks. I for one will probably be messing around as much as my friends... im sure ill get yelled at for breaking rules and being stupid, but hey im volunteer so unless i do something to really endanger someone they aren't going to do anything about it. My hill lets us still ride park and do whatever we want. So i guess if you decide to go through with it make sure that you are cool and just don't miss class because its not easy to make it up.
 
dude...all im sayin is that you can make a living doing something you love...what can get better than that mang?
 
Umm, depending on the area and school alot of teachers make well over 50 g's a year, which is substantially more than pretty much any cashier, though still extremely low pay for the level of education most teachers have. Also, I harbor no expectations of getting rich being a patroller.
 
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