Currently, in the Eastern Division, there are over 800 toboggan instructors, over 200 senior trainer-evaluators, and over 100 instructor-trainers. At a division level, we are responsible for validating and submitting new instructor applications, instructor renewals, and instructor-trainer appointments to the national office annually.
To simplify the administrative tasks required to manage these, improve our accuracy, and provide transparency to the instructors themselves, the steering committee has developed and deployed the “Smartersheet” application. We encourage every toboggan instructor in the division to log into the app and review the status of their record.
The new and improved NSP Eastern Division OET help desk let’s you:
• View your instructor record
• Submit self-reporting items• Submit new instructor applications
• Submit instructor renewal applications
• Submit TTW or STW teaching observations
To gain access, use the ‘Forgot password?’ link on the login page and enter your email address. If the email address entered matches what we have on your record, a password reset link will be emailed to you. Otherwise, please submit a ticket to the OET Help Desk. This OET Help Desk also provides additional details on the capabilities of this app.
If there are any discrepancies in your record, please contact your OET RA. The steering committee will then work with your RA to make any necessary corrections and get them processed through the national office if necessary.
In case you missed the news in November, the National Ski Patrol and the National Interscholastic Cycling League (NICA) announced a Memorandum of Understanding describing a new partnership. This marks a significant milestone in expanding NSP’s impact beyond the slopes and into the rapidly growing world of youth cycling.
Founded in 2009, NICA “develops interscholastic mountain biking programs for student-athletes across the United States. NICA is about having amazing adventures with your teammates while tackling both small and epic challenges.” This partnership formally recognizes the vital role that bike patrollers can play in ensuring safety in youth mountain biking.
Even before this agreement, Liberty Mountain Ski Patrol in the Eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland Region started providing first responder services to their local NICA leagues and has already demonstrated how successful this relationship can be for both organizations.
The 2024 season showcased the potential of this collaboration when we supported both the Maryland (MICL) and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling Leagues (PICL). Our dedicated team provided patrol services for seven events, contributing over 100 patroller hours. The patrol’s comprehensive approach included pre-event virtual huddles with stakeholders and planning how to coordinate with on-site medical staff, ensuring seamless integration of emergency management protocols and site-specific logistics.
One of the most remarkable outcomes of our partnership with the local NICA leagues has been the translation of Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) skills from snow to dirt. Our OEC training provided an exceptional foundation for handling cycling-specific injuries by using the same assessment and treatment protocols. The familiar equipment from winter patrolling – such as trauma packs, splinting materials, and bleeding control supplies – proved equally valuable during summer events, though we adapted them for a different type of mobile deployment. Patrollers reported how their experience with the mechanism of injury assessment on the slopes transferred perfectly to evaluating bicycle crashes, allowing for quick and accurate scene size-ups, and treatment decisions.
Another significant advantage that our patrollers brought to the local NICA league events was their extensive experience with radio communications and incident coordination. Years of managing on-mountain communications proved invaluable on mountain biking race day. Patrollers’ familiarity with clear, concise radio protocols, emergency response coordination, and maintaining effective communication to manage an incident across challenging cycling terrain helped establish efficient information flow between course marshals, medical support, and race operations. This professional communication standard enhanced overall event safety and response coordination, particularly in areas with limited cell service where reliable radio communication was crucial.
The impact of our partnership with the local leagues was immediately evident. The local league organizers repeatedly emphasized how the NSP presence significantly enhanced their emergency management capabilities. At one particularly challenging event, our dedicated bike patrollers demonstrated their value when they quickly responded to multiple incidents across the course, providing immediate care while at the same time coordinating with event staff to ensure optimal outcomes.
The successful integration of NSP’s expertise with NICA’s youth development mission has created a model partnership that benefits everyone – from the young riders pushing their limits while their dedicated friends, family members, and other volunteers support them to the patrollers who hone their first response skills during the summer.
This new collaboration between NSP and NICA represents more than just an operational partnership; it’s an investment in the future of both organizations. As NICA continues its impressive growth nationwide, the presence of NSP-certified bike patrollers adds an essential layer of safety and professionalism to youth cycling events.
For the Eastern Division, this partnership opens new avenues for member engagement and demonstrates our organization’s versatility and commitment to outdoor safety across all seasons in an area where NICA participation is growing rapidly. The enthusiasm and appreciation shown by NICA’s national organization, local leagues, coaches, and participants confirm that this partnership will be a cornerstone of both organizations’ futures.
Say “Alumni Patroller,” many NSP members picture a grey-haired patroller who moves slowly and has little left to contribute because their knees have given out. On the other hand, say the phrase “Bike Patroller,” and many members picture someone young speeding down a black diamond, dodging trees, and launching off gap jumps.
These images are drastically different! But here’s where these trails cross: bike patrolling allows an alumni patroller to stay active and involved. How can that be? Both images described are ridiculously outdated stereotypes. Read more to see how this relationship helps bike patrols and alumni members.
There are many ways in which bike patrols operate. Some support the typical lift-served, downhill mountain bike parks, functioning like any traditional alpine patrol. Others serve gravel paths or cross-country mountain bike trails, like Nordic or backcountry. Some patrols serve on paved bike paths that meander along rivers or lakes, offering a different experience from winter patrols. Finally, some bike patrols only provide medical support for events such as bike races.
The slower speeds when riding roads, gravel, or cross-country trails make it a perfect fit for many alums who might already be doing these activities to stay fit and active. Some bike units even allow members to use pedal-assist e-bikes, making the experience more accessible and enjoyable.
You can become a bike host as an alumni patroller with a paid NSP membership. Your alumni status remains your primary unit, while your bike host unit becomes your secondary. To become an alumni bike host, the unit you want to join must have a host program. You must also have the bike skills relevant for that unit, take the hybrid courses for your patrol (such as Bike 1), be up to date with medical, and refresh your CPR. In host units, Outdoor First Care (OFC) is sufficient medical training. If your OEC has expired, you can take NSP’s much shorter OFC course. Once you’ve met these requirements and become part of the bike patrol, your education record is updated.
Our personal experience shows how this can work. Our trails crossed when we met through our local bike unit, GROC Mountain Bike Patrol, and we’ve since become good friends. Our patrol supports cross-country mountain bike trails and events and has OEC-trained and OFC-trained host members. Skip, a retired patroller with over 50 years of experience, is our region’s alumni advisor who keeps his OEC/CPR current. Before joining, he rode his bike for his health, like many people do. Tim, an active bike and ski patroller, is a testament that you don’t need to be a daredevil to be part of a bike patrol. We often patrol together and sometimes even ski during Tim’s winter patrol shifts (though Skip is retired from alpine work).
Skip Millor (Alum!) & Tim Franz (not Alum!) patrolling together as part of the GROC Mountain Bike Unit. Image credit: Tim Franz
OET has been working hard all summer to prepare for the upcoming season. This winter we will introduce new initiatives including the first version of the Toboggan Fundamentals, updating some components of the Senior OET assess⇒ment, new online Moodle School course offerings, and version 2.0 of the OET TE Handbook. This December, OET Staff will meet with Regional and National ski and toboggan leadership at Killington for our annual training. The updates will be communicated through patroller schools and regional clinics.
What are the Toboggan Fundamentals? The Toboggan Fundamentals are launching this season across the divisions and include four statements that we believe are present at all levels of toboggan handling and tail rope work from candidates to certified patrollers. They capture the safety, technical skills, route selection, and communication necessary for safe patient transport.
Toboggan Fundamentals
→ Employ sound judgment to ensure the safety of the toboggan handlers, passengers, and the public.
→Use a blend of technical fundamentals and chain/rope management to control the speed and direction of the toboggan.
→Use route selection and other tactical skills to optimize the toboggan path to safely arrive at a scene or transport a patient.
→Employ appropriate communication between toboggan handlers, passengers, and the public.
OET Moodle School Course Offerings
New OET courses for this season will include a course titled Building Great Instructors focused on the integration of the PSIA-AASIA Learning Connection Model into our training. The introduction focuses on how great instructors blend excellent technical skills with a strong knowledge of teaching and people skills to connect with learners. Expect to hear more about this theme as the season progresses. We have also updated our instructor, TE, and IT prep courses. OET recommends that any patroller interested in progressing in their skills check them out, and especially encourage aspiring toboggan instructors and TEs to take advantage of the wealth of information contained in each course module.
Senior Program Updates
The Senior OET Assessment will be updated this year to include some new elements and increase the relevance of testing components. OET Skills will be combined into one run rather than artificially isolating the skills. Candidates will demonstrate the skills needed for the terrain they are navigating and incorporate the skills into their toboggan and tail rope work. A loaded toboggan traverse will also be included that will have driver and tail rope candidates demonstrate the ability to work together as a team to traverse around an obstacle. In a practical sense, the traverse will simulate getting around a rock, tower, bare patch, or other obstacle while safely transporting an injured patient. The goal is to make the assessment more relevant and advance the skills required in senior terrain. More information and senior training opportunities will be available at patroller schools and regional OET clinics throughout the season. Reach out to your local TEs and Regional Leadership to learn more and get involved.
Happy fall almost winter fellow patrollers. As the Chair of the Eastern Division Certified Program, I am pleased to report that we remain active in developing the division’s program for the 2024/2025 ski season. Your team of certified patrollers participates in every aspect of NSP from active year-round patrolling to being on our National Board. It is hard to account for the manhours that go into running the NSP and its programs.
One might question the sanity of it all. In the end, our job is to assist our employers and ski areas to provide a safe and fun experience for all their guests and to make the work environment safe for our fellow employees. The behind-the-scenes work does not start and stop with the snow!
As of this writing, we have wrapped up both our 12th annual Certified Boot Camp and Enhanced Patroller School. This year’s Boot Camp was held August 16-18 at Holiday Mountain Ski and Fun Park in Monticello, NY. The resort was recently purchased by a fellow patroller who graciously hosted us for the weekend. Check out this up-and-coming resort in the Southern Catskills, 85 miles North of NYC.
Given that we were hosted by a ski resort, we had access to a host of real-life activities that go into the summer months of a resort. Ongoing revenue-generating activities, chairlift maintenance, snowmaking equipment upgrades, and trail clearing to name a few. This gave way to much discussion about Outdoor Risk Management and the preseason thought that needs to go into making our resorts safer before the snow flies.
Taking advantage of being at an active resort, we focused Saturday on lift evacuation planning and different scenarios that may present themselves. Of great interest to our resorts is addressing the situation of an unseated guest. There are lots of scenarios that may present themselves to the mountain with unseated guests. Things we discovered included:
What are the conditions?
Where does it occur along the chairlift – bottom, top, middle?
Stop the chair or keep it running?
Tools available to rescuers – nets, bean bags, ladders, ropes, blankets, tarps?
Why is the person unseated?
What is the age and physical condition of the person?
What is mountain protocol and how is it coordinated and/or communicated between different departments?
Overall situational awareness?
What are best practices and how long do you have to react?
These are only the tip of the iceberg. We decided to recreate an unseated passenger scenario. We had an 8-year-old, 12-year-old, and 50-year-old hang from the chair with their hands. All wore gloves, did not have ski gear or ski equipment on (therefore holding much less weight), and were hanging on the metal edge of the chairlift, not the seat. Therefore, they could grip a 3” piece of metal tubing.
How long can they hang on detailing how much time any rescuer has to react? After three different attempts, each child could hang on for just over 3 minutes; the adult, just under 2 minutes. This was in a controlled environment. They were supported by ropes with a net, no ski gear, and an 80-degree sunny day.
The conclusion is that the resort departments need to have a communication and rescue plan in place before anything like this happens with some guidelines for lift operators, patrol, and ski school (other departments as well) on how quickly those 2-3 minutes will go and what you should do about it given a variety of scenarios.
We hope you take this information back to your resort, discuss what to do if you have an unseated passenger, and ensure that the plan is communicated to all departments!
As patrollers, we train physically and mentally to be ready to go when the snow finally flies. How many of us train to be ready emotionally for the possible stress injuries resulting from the bad scenes we may encounter?
During my 30-year career as a ski patroller, I always had a pre-season skiing-specific training program to prepare physically for the demands of patrolling. Annual OEC refreshers provided an opportunity to mentally revive the knowledge and skills necessary to care for injured skiers.
It wasn’t until late in my career that I began to pay attention to training for the emotional resilience needed to effectively confront potentially traumatizing events. Now I make it a point to regularly engage in what the All Clear Foundation calls “resilience workouts” as a way to be ready for life’s daily challenges and those high-stress rescues encountered on the hill.
My workout includes three evidence-based, effective “exercises” or activities—breathwork, time in nature, and mindfulness. These activities stimulate the vagus nerve, a critical part of the parasympathetic nervous system responsible for regulating heart rate, mood, and inflammation response. The vagus nerve calms the survival response and is the key to unlocking the relaxation response.
BREATHWORK One of the best ways to activate the vagus nerve is slow, deep breathing. Attention to breathing shifts your focus away from stressful mind chatter and toward the rhythm of the breath itself.
Try BOX BREATHING, known as the “Navy Seal” breathing technique. It can be used to relax during a busy day or as an in-the-moment coping tactic to control the stress response. To go in-depth on the topic, read Breath by James Nestor.
I recommend a daily five-minute session of 4-2-6 paced breathing. Inhale through the nose to the belly for four seconds, hold for two seconds, and then exhale through the mouth for six seconds. Remember, whatever technique you choose it needs to be practiced regularly for you to be able to deploy it when it’s needed.
TIME IN NATURE Did you know that when walking in the forest you breathe in phytoncides—oils released by the trees? These oils can lower levels of the primary stress hormone, cortisol. That’s why you feel calm and less anxious when walking in a forest.
Almost any serene and visually pleasing environment can enhance mood and trigger positive emotions and a sense of tranquility. I’ve been thinking about taking up fly fishing.
MINDFULNESS As responders, we tend to move through our days picking up rocks and putting them in our pack. Mindfulness practices are a way to put down the things we don’t need to be carrying. That’s why I integrated mindfulness practice into my daily routine.
A recent study found that 10-minute daily mindfulness sessions using the Medito: Meditation & Wellness app improved mental health and encouraged healthier lifestyle behaviors, with lasting effects on well-being and habits like exercise and sleep:
• Reducing depression by 19.2% more than the control group.
• Improving well-being by 6.9% more.
• Decreasing anxiety by 12.6% more.
Another study found that mindfulness practices can decrease body mass index, waist circumference, weight, and percent of body fat.
Mindfulness is just being present—focused on the present moment rather than ruminating over the past, fearing the future, or chasing your monkey mind. It comes in many forms. Any activity that completely absorbs your focus—like skiing, climbing, or coincidentally, fly-tying can be mindful. There are any number of other exercises you can add to your resilience workout. Just do a quick search for “build emotional resilience.”
The key is to find activities you enjoy. That way you’re much more likely to do them and to work them into your daily routine. For more information about operational stress injury and resilience practices, contact Ollie Neith.
The Genesee Valley Region held its third annual Women’s Mountain Bike Enhancement Seminar at Dryer Road Park, a mountain biking trail network outside of Rochester, NY. This joint event between the Women’s Program and the Bike Program kicked-off with a comprehensive bike safety check, ensuring that all participants were properly equipped and ready to ride. Judy Valachovic organized the day.
The three instructors—Anne Schweighardt and Alexa Harding, part of the local racing and mountain biking scene, as well as Case Morrill, a local rider, instructor, GROC bike patroller, and Bristol Mountain patroller led several team-building exercises to foster a sense of camaraderie and trust among the group. This foundation of safety and teamwork set the tone for an engaging and supportive atmosphere throughout the mountain bike event.
The highlight of the day was two hours of mountain biking instruction and riding led by the three instructors. They carefully designed the instruction to accommodate all experience levels, from beginners to more advanced riders. Each participant had the opportunity to learn new skills, refine their technique, and build confidence on the trails.
After an invigorating ride, they enjoyed a calming yoga session to stretch and relax. The event concluded with a shared lunch, providing a perfect moment for reflection and connection, where participants exchanged stories, celebrated accomplishments, and strengthened the bonds they formed that day.
Hi, I’m Chuck Boyd, the new Eastern Division Nordic/Backcountry Program Supervisor. I’ve been patrolling for a long time and just received my 30-year service award. Many of you may know me already as the Avalanche Program Supervisor, a Mountain Travel and Rescue (MTR) Instructor Trainer (IT), and Nordic Master 005.
I have a passion for these programs along with my love of the outdoors and climbing. I have helped many patrollers achieve their goals within all the NSP programs that I teach. I find it a very rewarding experience which has created many lasting friendships.
Nordic/BC is an interesting program. It includes all types of Nordic skiing as well as all types of terrain. We like to consider it as everything on the other side of a boundary rope. With this comes the challenge of meeting all these different types of patrollers’ needs.
We have Nordic resorts with set track and skate skiing, State and Federal forests and parks with rolling ungroomed terrain, and National Parks and Forests with huge mountainous terrain. These different terrains require a large skill set. To master them all and become a Nordic Master is a huge lifetime achievement.
With this said, we need training in all these different styles and techniques. My plan is to offer three division-wide events featuring Nordic skills enhancement, Nordic Senior training, and Nordic Master training at each session. There will be one each in January, February, and March with the final event containing a Nordic senior evaluation. I am looking for areas to help host these events.
Currently I’m working with Highland Forest in the CNY Region to host the first event in January. February and March are TBD. Please contact me if you would like to host one of these events. Besides good skiing, we will need lodging and food options for the group. For more information about Nordic and Backcountry programs, visit the Nordic Program page of the Eastern Division Website.
I’m excited about building on the strength of this program, creating more Nordic Seniors, and working with people who want to become Nordic Masters. Look forward to seeing you all on the snow.
Outdoor Emergency Transportation (OET) is the official NSP-branded name for rescue toboggan training education. All alpine patrollers are required to take annual refreshers at their mountain to maintain their status. Local mountain OET Toboggan Instructors run refreshers and train incoming patroller candidates. Since 1996, NSP has created an educational program structure that develops a training curriculum, assigns highly skilled and experienced instructor trainers (ITs) to recertify instructors, mentors incoming instructors, and manages the quality assurance documents for maintaining continuing education and certifications.
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A staff of 37 instructor trainers across the Eastern Division work closely with the 15 Regional OET Advisors, maintaining the OET program’s quality with in-service training, continuing education courses, feedback, and observations. Each advisor maintains their own OET Staff of trainer-evaluators (TEs) to serve and advise the local mountain toboggan instructors helping them with the latest educational techniques and methods.
The OET Program is committed to continuous education, maintaining educational courses on Eastern Division’s Online Moodle School (a Learning Management System maintained for delivering continuing education for instructors) to provide access to the most up-to-date teaching methods.
Over the decades, the division’s OET Staff has maintained a long tradition of providing instructor training to improve the quality of on-snow education and unify it between the regions. The evolution began in 1997 with the introduction of formalized instructor mentoring. In 2003, OET Teaching Methods were introduced to give instructors tools for teaching on the snow. Using the Instructor Development textbook, a training program was developed emphasizing 6-Pack Lesson Planning, “positive immediate student feedback,” and most importantly, ADAPT.
ADAPT is a cyclical teaching tool that instructors use to improve student learning activities and monitor teaching effectiveness. It allows instructors to customize learning to the needs of each student, with the mission of building skills and then progressing learning by adding additional skills. Its goal has always been to offer instructors a path for taking candidates from day-one learning all the way up to passing their senior level at the student’s pace.
In 2017 NSP’s OET Director adopted the Technical Fundamentals of Skiing as the instructional language for on-snow teaching. The Professional Ski Instructors Association and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI) created the fundamentals covering skiing, telemarking, and snowboarding. These technical fundamentals bring teaching concepts to life with practical applications adapted to the student’s ability level or desired outcome. OET Instructors have been using the language of the fundamentals as a tool to provide consistent, accurate, and concise feedback.
Building upon past changes to further improve teaching effectiveness, the OET Program is once again evolving instructor education and its teaching methods. Beginning in 2025, OET Instructors will be learning how to refine cyclical ADAPT-based teaching to include a closer student collaboration using meaningful two-way communication. Instructors will learn how to incorporate listening as students reflect on sensations, feelings of movements, and outcomes – both good and bad. The new on-snow teaching methods are designed to add more effective tools for instructors to create progress in student skill development.
OET teaching evolutions often take several years to roll out across the division. This one is being introduced nationally with a series of Toboggan Technical Fundamentals. Watch the next issue of Ski Patrol Magazine for more about the OET Educational Program. Also, watch for the next issue of Trail Sweep to learn how instructors and students benefit as the program rolls out improved on-snow teaching tools.
In case you missed the news in November, the National Ski Patrol and the 
Another significant advantage that our patrollers brought to the local NICA league events was their extensive experience with radio communications and incident coordination. Years of managing on-mountain communications proved invaluable on mountain biking race day. Patrollers’ familiarity with clear, concise radio protocols, emergency response coordination, and maintaining effective communication to manage an incident across challenging cycling terrain helped establish efficient information flow between course marshals, medical support, and race operations. This professional communication standard enhanced overall event safety and response coordination, particularly in areas with limited cell service where reliable radio communication was crucial.
Say “Alumni Patroller,” many NSP members picture a grey-haired patroller who moves slowly and has little left to contribute because their knees have given out. On the other hand, say the phrase “Bike Patroller,” and many members picture someone young speeding down a black diamond, dodging trees, and launching off gap jumps.
Our personal experience shows how this can work. Our trails crossed when we met through our local bike unit, GROC Mountain Bike Patrol, and we’ve since become good friends. Our patrol supports cross-country mountain bike trails and events and has OEC-trained and OFC-trained host members. Skip, a retired patroller with over 50 years of experience, is our region’s alumni advisor who keeps his OEC/CPR current. Before joining, he rode his bike for his health, like many people do. Tim, an active bike and ski patroller, is a testament that you don’t need to be a daredevil to be part of a bike patrol. We often patrol together and sometimes even ski during Tim’s winter patrol shifts (though Skip is retired from alpine work).
Happy fall almost winter fellow patrollers. As the Chair of the Eastern Division Certified Program, I am pleased to report that we remain active in developing the division’s program for the 2024/2025 ski season. Your team of certified patrollers participates in every aspect of NSP from active year-round patrolling to being on our National Board. It is hard to account for the manhours that go into running the NSP and its programs.
One of the best ways to activate the vagus nerve is slow, deep breathing. Attention to breathing shifts your focus away from stressful mind chatter and toward the rhythm of the breath itself.
Did you know that when walking in the forest you breathe in phytoncides—oils released by the trees? These oils can lower levels of the primary stress hormone, cortisol. That’s why you feel calm and less anxious when walking in a forest.
As responders, we tend to move through our days picking up rocks and putting them in our pack. Mindfulness practices are a way to put down the things we don’t need to be carrying. That’s why I integrated mindfulness practice into my daily routine.
The highlight of the day was two hours of mountain biking instruction and riding led by the three instructors. They carefully designed the instruction to accommodate all experience levels, from beginners to more advanced riders. Each participant had the opportunity to learn new skills, refine their technique, and build confidence on the trails.
Hi, I’m Chuck Boyd, the new Eastern Division 
With this said, we need training in all these different styles and techniques. My plan is to offer three division-wide events featuring Nordic skills enhancement, Nordic Senior training, and Nordic Master training at each session. There will be one each in January, February, and March with the final event containing a Nordic senior evaluation. I am looking for areas to help host these events.
Outdoor Emergency Transportation (OET) is the official NSP-branded name for rescue toboggan training education. All alpine patrollers are required to take annual refreshers at their mountain to maintain their status. Local mountain OET Toboggan Instructors run refreshers and train incoming patroller candidates. Since 1996, NSP has created an educational program structure that develops a training curriculum, assigns highly skilled and experienced instructor trainers (ITs) to recertify instructors, mentors incoming instructors, and manages the quality assurance documents for maintaining continuing education and certifications.
