The First Ever Celebration Patroller and Alumni Celebration was held from February 11-16, 2024. A total of 32 people attended the event including active patrollers, alumni, partners, and family. Many who participated for more than one day stayed at the Grand Summit Hotel slopeside. Some participated for a day and others commuted. Mount Snow’s central location because of its central location. We had attendees from throughout the division.
We got the opportunity to tour the Summit Patrol station and meet some of the on-duty patrollers. On Monday we got together after dinner a
t the American Flatbread with a group of their patrollers and got to see their contributions of patrol equipment they have used to help decorate the restaurant including a very early transport sled.
The event was fortunate to have three special events, two planned and one last moment. On Tuesday evening, Scott Launt, a dedicated patroller who has been working with the 10th Mountain Division team talked about the growing relationship between our organizations and how NSP’s expertise in winter skills is helping the army build their skills.
Division Safety Supervisor Kathy Fitzpatrick and members of her team and the Critical Incident Stress Team led by Melinda Mingus joined us on Tuesday afternoon for discussion with both the general sliding public and our participants on Mountain Safety and Incident Stress Management.
Thanks to our CNY Alumni Advisor Scott Launt we had the new National Board Chair, Richard Pietrafesa, join us for dinner. Wendy Aarnio, a 
recent national board member, also joined us. We took the opportunity to have a conversation with them about the latest news from the national office. Getting more insight into headquarters operations was very well received and appreciated by all.
The weather treated us to four very good days on the snow with all areas open on the mountain. We received great service from all the Vail Corp people including the hotel staff, the restaurant team, and all the people on the mountain. We all agreed the event was a great start to what will now be an annual event in the division.
Many thanks to Alumnus Doug Reddy from Tussey Mountain in the Western Appalachia Region who is now on the Mt. Snow School Staff, for the incredible help making this event happen and to all the Division Alumni Advisors who added their thoughts and suggestions to make the week a success.
