by Trail Sweep Staff | Oct 23, 2025 | Division News, Program News
If you were not there, you missed it! The AMN 25 instructor continuing education refresher was a huge success! It’s going to be hard to find a location that will beat Pike Glades in New Hampshire. The weather was perfect, and we had the largest attendance ever for this event. This year we had many people who only did the online portion of the refresher. This is going to become a yearly requirement, with you only needing to attend an in person refresher once every three years.
AVALANCHE – Rob West, Supervisor
The leaves are changing, and the air is getting crisper. Winter will soon be upon us again. We had a great AMN refresher at Pike Glades in New Hampshire the last weekend of September. The avalanche station ran two beacon rotations, focusing on long-range searching and close-range bracketing. We also ran a station refreshing everyone on how to build hypothermic wraps for an injured partner in the back country with what they had in their packs. Thank you to all the instructors who came and helped out, and all the instructors who attended to continue their education and bring new knowledge to the students.
MOUNTAIN TRAVEL & RESCUE – Joni Porter, Supervisor
This portion of the refresher covered ‘How to Teach Low Angle Rescue’ utilizing a down-up-capture using a carabiner, pulley, and release, known as ‘DUC-CPR’ for short. This method has been chosen as the standard of training for the Eastern Division. Participants got lots of hands-on practice on Saturday, followed by an optional LAR Enhancement Seminar on Sunday.
The online lesson prepared the participants for the fieldwork by introducing the following objectives:
1. Why are we referring to foundational LAR as DUC-CPR?
2. The details of the process of Down-Up-Capture (DUC) using carabiners, pulleys, and release (CPR).
3. Show that there is room in DUC-CPR to create variations to fit specific needs.
Doing the online work in advance allowed AMN participants to dive directly into “doing” upon arrival at the field stations.
NORDIC/BACKCOUNTRY – Chuck Boyd, Supervisor
The field station involved navigation and built on the online pre-course work. Participants were given a set of coordinates which they had to add to their CalTopo app and plot a course. Then they went and located the plotted locations, which all returned to the start. Once back at the station HQ the students were given paper maps, and had to plot the same coordinates on the map. Patrollers learned a lot.
by Grant Fullman, Division Director | Oct 23, 2025 | Division News, Spotlight Articles
Webster’s dictionary says a receipt is, “a writing acknowledging the receiving of goods or money.” The first item in the Eastern Division Expense Reimbursement Policy says, “Receipts for expense, including meals, lodging, travel and miscellaneous expenses, must accompany all reimbursement request. The receipts must show the items purchased.” We need receipts since we are accountable for how we spend member funds. Simple, at least so far…
Every receipt should include four elements that answer these questions:
1. What? (say what was purchased)
2. When? (when it was purchased)
3. How much? (dollar amount spent)
4. Who? (who bought it)
If any of these items are missing, reimbursement can be problematic or at least delayed. So, it’s best to check any receipt to make sure these items are covered – and do that before you leave the point of sale, since there’s no better time to get any missing information than while you are still with the person who issued the receipt. A credit card receipt is not sufficient because it usually doesn’t show what was purchased. Taking a picture with your smartphone is an easy way to preserve the receipt.
One other thought: if the item is unusual, a few words of explanation on the reimbursement request form will go a long way towards a timely and successful outcome. Simple!
by Rob West, Avalanche Supervisor | Sep 16, 2025 | Division News, Program News
Even though it’s been a hot summer, I’m sure many of us are already thinking about snow!
Don’t forget to save the date for the AMN refresher this September 26-28 in Pike Glades, NH. The registration will close on September 22. This is a valuable opportunity to stay current with your skills and knowledge.
As instructors, we are always striving to do better and enhance our expertise. With that in mind, I’m excited to announce that applications for the 2025 Avalanche Scholarship are now open!
This scholarship can help fund your participation in:
These are all fantastic opportunities for professional development in the avalanche community.
If you are interested in applying or have any questions about the scholarship, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
by Sue-Ellen Helmacy, Awards Supervisor | Sep 16, 2025 | Division News, Program News
Often, patrol directors and awards advisors don’t think about awards until just before a patrol event or as an award deadline is approaching. Don’t wait until the last minute to think about awards. The time to start working on awards is now, before the snow flies.
Trouble finding forms to nominate an NSP member for an award?
1. Go to NSP.org and sign in
2. Go to RESOURCES/DOCUMENT LIBRARY
3. Click on AWARDS
4. Find the appropriate form you need.
To review awards available and a brief description of each:
1. Go to NSPeast.org.
2. Click on AWARDS and scroll to review all the awards.
On this site you will also find descriptions and forms for Eastern Division’s Patriot Star and Patroller Achievement Award.
Once the sponsor writes the initial nomination, it’s best to send it to your Region Awards Advisor for review. They are listed on the Awards page. He/she can then forward it to attain the signatures needed.
by Grant Fullman, Division Director | Sep 13, 2025 | Division News
Earlier this month I instructed at a local OEC Instructor Refresher – something I’ve done in September for many years, but this one was particularly memorable.
To start the day, I was honored to present the Eastern Division and National Outstanding Alumni Awards to Roberta Fox, whose 50+ years of NSP service, and decades of leadership as an OEC Instructor, Instructor Trainer, and Senior OEC Trainer/Evaluator are legendary. Roberta continued in all these roles as an Alumni member without skipping a beat and received a Purple Merit Star for saving a life – proving the immense value of our skills and experience even when no longer actively patrolling.
Roberta and I share a special connection because 31 years ago I was lucky enough to be one of the candidates in the first OEC course she led as the Instructor of Record. At the time, I had no idea how fortunate I was to have had such an outstanding instructor!
L-R: ENY RD Jim Marco, EDiv Dir. Grant Fullman, Roberta Fox
Throughout the rest of the day, I had the additional privilege to work with a 15-year-old YAP Candidate named Ben, who served as a patient at our lower extremity injury station. Ben was packaged with various traction splints and backboarded at least ten times during the refresher – always with a smile and definitely learning from each cycle!
Roberta and Ben give us confidence in what we can accomplish in the NSP, and how bright our future can be if we seize the opportunities.
OEC Refresher Season and 7th Edition Textbook
This year’s Cycle C OEC refresher has been very well received. Don’t expect to fly through the online refresher modules at the last minute, as they are rich in content and professionally delivered. Work on OEC 7th Edition is underway by a National team, with a Spring 2027 target launch.
NSP National Board Elections
Six candidates from the Eastern, Central, and Pacific Northwest Divisions including our National Chair, Rich Pietrafesa (running for his second 3-year term), are running for four National Board of Directors seats this year. Please look for links to online candidate forums on September 22 and October 5; both sessions will be recorded, so you can view them at your convenience if you miss the live show.
Most of all, please make sure you vote in the election. Voting runs from October 15 until December 1, and we need a strong turnout to ensure we are well represented on the National Board. If you would like some advice on this, please ask your Region Director (or me) as the Eastern Division Board plans to endorse a slate of recommended candidates after the forums are complete.
Have a wonderful fall season. There’s a chill in the air and some of the trees are already in full fall colors here in North Creek! Miss Kitty is looking ahead to her big time, so let’s do the same and be ready when the snow flies! Enjoy every day!
by Chuck Boyd, Nordic/Backcountry Supervisor | Sep 13, 2025 | Division News, Program News
I hope everyone had a great summer and accomplished their goals. Now it’s time to go to the AMN Instructor Continuing Education Event, September 26-28. This year’s event will be held at Pike Glades, NH as we move these events around the division.
Instructors, instructor candidates, and interested patrollers wishing to get involved with Nordic, MTR, or Avalanche are always welcome at this event. This year’s registration will close on 9/22, allowing all attending to have time to complete the online material before they arrive.
The Nordic/Backcountry station will focus on navigation, using CalTopo, and plotting a waypoint on a paper map. The MTR station will focus on low angle rescue as we try to standardize our systems throughout all NSP programs. The Avalanche station will do transceiver searches and exam prep for L2 avalanche and Nordic Master transceiver tests.
Plus, this year they will introduce the Hypo Wrap, a backcountry technique to help keep your hypothermia or injured patient warm until more help arrives and transportation is complete. With the online material ahead of time we can now adjust our schedule and spend more time outside doing hands-on training. This should make things a bit more exciting and fun!
We will announce the upcoming season’s events for Nordic/Backcountry on patrollerschool.org. When you sign up and access AMN you’ll find a video presentation of our program updates. AMN events will be posted on the division website calendar when the events are finalized. As a heads up, one of the events will be at Pike Glade, NH in February.
Did you know that Jesse Diggins came to Vermont and held training camps at Stratton? It’s fantastic to see Olympic Nordic skiers come east to help train our future Olympians.
See you all soon at the AMN. The winter outlook for the east coast shows lots of snow and cold temps for us.
by Joni Porter, MTR Supervisor | Sep 13, 2025 | Division News, Program News
To All Patrollers
All of you who are instructors and instructor candidates, along with those of you who are familiar with Avalanche, MTR, and/or Nordic/BC skills, and are interested in becoming an instructor in one of these programs:
This year’s Avalanche, Mountain Travel & Rescue, and Nordic/Backcountry Instructor Refresher, best known as AMN2025, is being run September 27 & 28, 2025, at The Pike Glades in New Hampshire. Camping is available on-site, free of charge, beginning on Friday, September 26, 2025. Register on Patroller School for more details.
In Other News
National is beginning work on a hybrid MTR Level 1 course modeled on the Eastern Division’s hybrid MTR Level 1 course. The anticipated release date is March of 2026. There are three Eastern Division MTR ITs on the committee: Matt Karpinecz, Jeff Sargent, and me. The MTR Instructor Manual has been updated to align with the recently released “Mountaineering – Freedom of the Hills, 10th Edition,” which is used as the textbook for MTR Level 1 and Level 2 courses.
All division MTR Region Advisors have been invited to add their region’s 2025/2026 courses and clinics to an ‘MTR Course Schedule’ in Google Docs. This schedule also includes division-run courses. This is one of the ways we are achieving our goal of inter-region collaboration.
We will be asking every MTR Instructor and Instructor Candidate to do the online portion of the AMN Instructor Refresher every year. They’ll do this by registering for the hybrid portion only when registering for the AMN. This won’t fulfill the requirement of attending an instructor refresher once every three years, but it will keep all our instructors and instructor candidates engaged, informed, and current.
We’ve found that one-day MTR clinics are being very well attended and generate a lot of positive feedback. Some recent ones have been an MTR clinic for women, a navigation clinic, an uphill-travel clinic, and a low-angle-rescue clinic. Clinics are also a great way for instructor candidates to get in their required mentored instructing in their quest to become an MTR Instructor. Reach out to your region’s MTR advisor to find out where and what type of clinics will be offered this season.
Our newest MTR Region Advisors are Todd Wildman for EMARI and Monica Lee Zablotny for WNY. Much appreciation to John Caron and Mary MacQueen for previously serving in those positions.
I’d like to remind everyone that downloadable lists of all current MTR personnel appear on the Eastern Division’s website.
by Matt Nebzydoski, OET Supervisor | Sep 13, 2025 | Division News, Program News
Yes, it’s very steep!
OET Steering is excited to announce a diverse lineup of events across the division for the upcoming season. These events offer valuable opportunities for patrollers to learn, grow, and connect with fellow patrollers.
Patroller Schools have a rich history of providing patrollers the opportunity to learn from the best instructors, including Division Staff and Certified Patrollers. In fact, the Elk Mountain, Maine, and Killington Patroller Schools can trace their history back more than 30 years when they were founded by Certified Patrollers looking to share their expertise.
Patroller Schools are awesome opportunities for patrollers at all levels to grow their OET skills and enjoy the camaraderie of meeting fellow patrollers from outside their home mountains. Events will include Senior, Women’s, and Certified level training. Schools will also offer top level PSIA coaches to help hone your ski, snowboard, and tele technique.
In addition, instructors and TEs will have several Ski Trainer Workshops (STWs) to choose from to help maintain and grow their skill sets. We will continue our theme of “Building Great Instructors” for a second year as we provide multiple opportunities for instructor development.
Here is a tentative list of this season’s events. More details to come in the coming months in Trail Sweep and at Patrollerschool.org.
Patroller Schools
1. Timberline/Canaan Valley – Jan 10 – 11
2. Maine Region – Jan 24-25
3. Elk – Jan 24-25
4. Plattekill – Jan 31-Feb 1
5. Sugarbush (Steeps, Trees, and Bumps) – Feb 5 tentative
6. Killington – Feb 7-8
7. Gore – Feb TBD
Ski Trainer Workshops (STWs) Dates TBD
1. Jay Peak
2. Sugarbush
3. Catamount
4. Holiday Valley
5. Waterville Valley
6. Ski Liberty
7. Sugarloaf
by Bill Zink, Certified Supervisor | Sep 13, 2025 | Division News, Program News
Brant Maley, certified #523 and Ski Roundtop patroller (a Vail Resort), and the staff of both the resort and the Certified Program delivered in August, what is being hailed as one of the best boot camps in the program’s history! The venue was outstanding; the participants were incredible, and the weather cooperated.
Activities included a ropes course, fishing, camping, cookouts, firepit discussions, and an all-around good time. We had over 60 participants over the 2.5 day event. Industry experts participated in open, town-hall-type forums talking about lift evacuation and risk management.
We spoke about the credentialing aspect of entering the Certified Program and we trained on all the modules including:
→ OEC (assessments, team OEC problems, and bystander problems)
→ Avalanche (including beacon searches and focused-probing exercises)
→ Low Angle Rescue (from fundamentals like knot tying and their applications to actually setting up systems in real-life situations)
→ Outdoor Risk Management (roundtable discussions)
→ Lift Evacuation (honing the skills needed to support our management)
Well, since we had no skiing we practiced our skills on the Onewheel Pint X.
Sunday morning things were brought together with two significant scenarios where all the skills learned were put to use!
Thank you to all the participants.
As we prep for the upcoming season, some Certified Program key dates to keep in mind are:
Credentials due – January 1, 2026
Pre-test – Killington Resort, February 6
Patroller School – Killington Resort, February 7-8
Exam – Sugarloaf Maine, March 18-22
If you have questions on our program, each reg and other events across the division this year.
