“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…” I didn’t want to start my report with a quote from Charles Dickens, but there’s much truth there.
I believe the ski season, now winding down, embodied “the best of times” in many ways. Good snow and snowmaking weather in many regions, and abundant natural snow in a few, including to the south. Our outstanding Eastern Division teams delivered programs as planned. These included six Patroller Schools with 335 participants and 77 instructors, 14 Women’s Clinics, over 75 Safety events, the Young Adult Patroller Summit at Smugglers’ Notch with 83 YAPs and 78 adult chaperones, and the annual Certified Weekend at Jay Peak. Hearty congrats to our four new Certified members.
In addition, our Safety team and Historian coordinated many special events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the 10th Mountain Division’s assault on Riva Ridge. The division has over 20 new Instructor Development Instructors in process who will be key to future course delivery in all disciplines. And there was much more—too extensive for me to list here. Hopefully, you will see more program-specific articles in Trail Sweep in the months ahead.
I attended a face-to-face National Board and DD meeting in Denver in late January. Rich Pietrafesa was re-elected as National Chair for another year. I consider it great news for all of us. Rich has been a great voice of reason and stability, exactly what we need in these turbulent times. The National Board recently approved a policy to have an annual increase of National dues of 2.5% or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is greater. National dues will increase by 2.9% next year based on the CPI. Although no one wants a dues increase, this approach should help avoid big increases like in the past two years, while addressing the realities of an inflationary economy and the financial challenges faced by the NSP.
If you haven’t heard, March was a tough month for me. My wife and I had COVID in early March, and the timing kept me from attending the YAP Summit. A couple of weeks later, I had an on-duty/off-skis slip and fall while walking out of our mid-mountain patrol building. I wound up with a fractured ankle and fibula and had surgery on April 1 (no April fool here!). I am confined to our home in North Creek and can’t bear weight on my right leg. And no one can drive in our household, since it’s my right foot and my wife has low vision and can’t drive. So, I will be doing many things “virtually” until I regain some mobility! Here’s my private duty nurse, Miss Kitty, checking me out and making sure I’m comfortable.
Let’s celebrate our collective achievements this ski season – and there were many! And please be careful out there; bad things can happen in a heartbeat. Thanks for all you do!.
