Every Avalanche, Mountain Travel & Rescue, and Nordic/Backcountry Instructor must attend an Instructor Refresher every three years. These three programs work together to offer a combined Instructor Refresher annually. This year’s AMN Instructor Refresher is being held at Spring Mountain in Pennsylvania on September 14 & 15, 2024.
The program supervisors hold the AMN Instructor Refreshers in different regions every year so that hopefully one will be convenient for you to attend. Last year’s was at Gore Mountain in the ENY Region and the year before that was at Winding Trails in the CT Region.
Although attending an Instructor Refresher isn’t mandatory for Instructor-Candidates, this is a great opportunity for them to stay current and network. You might even find opportunities to do some mentored instructing during the upcoming season!
Of course, every patroller who is at all interested in becoming an instructor in one of these programs, or is simply interested in refreshing their Circle A or Circle M skills (you old-timers know what I’m talking about) is welcome to come on out.
Interested in starting a bike patrol in your area? Here’s a list of 10 easy steps to get started.
Determine what type of patrol your area needs and why.
a. Resort- or park-based, public lands, multi-land manager systems,
b. Paved routes, mountain bike trails, or some combination,
c. Host unit or patrol unit or a hybrid of both.
Meet with your region director, your region bike advisor, and possibly the National Bike Program advisor.
Meet with the land manager(s) to discuss the agreement/memorandum of understanding.
Consider liability issues (such as insurance, etc.).
From a core group of interested bike patrol members, determine the initial leadership team.
Complete the NSP patrol application.
Get signatures (region director, division director, national).
The Eastern Division Young Adult Patroller Summit was held March 8-11, 2024, at Smugglers’ Notch, Vermont with 78 young adults attending from around the division. Young adults converged for three days of intense training and competition. Mother Nature provided a bit of everything; moments of sun, rain, snow, and plenty of wind. Her indecisiveness was nothing compared to the energy and stoke from attendees!
Young adults looking to learn new skills or improve existing skills joined the Enhancement Track. And join they did! In large numbers! A love for learning echoed throughout all aspects of the weekend. The James Slattery Patroller Enhancement Award was awarded to a young adult who displayed a strong desire to grow their skills, has the ability to provide support to peers and their journey of learning, and demonstrated the ability to receive and incorporate feedback all with a positive and encouraging attitude.
Those young adults looking to showcase their skills and see how they ranked against their peers chose the Competition Track. The competition was tight with snow and weather conditions constantly changing. The level of skill was high as they demonstrated patroller skills in Outdoor Emergency Care, Patient Assessment, Outdoor Emergency Transportation, and Ski/Ride Skills.The weekend ended with a banquet full of awards, recognition of young adults accomplishments, a senior salute, and free swag!
Outdoor Emergency Care
1. Avery Laitala – Wachusett Mountain
2. Katherine Tedesco – Holimont Ski Area
3. Dillon Bhutani – Killington
Best Assessment
Avery Laitala – Wachusett Mountain
Overall
1. Avery Laitala – Wachusett Mountain
2. Dillon Bhutani – Killington
3. Cooper Biersbach – Holimont Ski area
James Slattery Patroller Enhancement Award
Brayden Eckhart – Spring Mountain
Hans Hyson Award
Bram Shandler – Spring Mountain
Young adult must attend the division seminar but does not have to compete in any discipline. Young adult must possess an attitude that is in accordance with National Ski Patrol policies both on and off the hill. Young adult must be respectful of peers, other patrollers, as well as the public both on and off the hill. Young adult must be active at his/her home mountain, as well as involved with school and community functions. Award will be determined by Eastern Division Staff, along with the help of any individual deemed appropriate.
The NSP Bike Program Committee has been hard at work for the past year on creating education programming for bike patrols.
What Are the Current Classes for Bike Patrols?
Bike Fundamentals Course This course is for people considering joining a bike patrol or those who have just joined. It will help patrol members learn the fundamentals all bike patrollers and bike hosts need to effectively assist others while patrolling. Some of the topics include the types of units, duties and responsibilities of bike patrol units, and how to help others while you are patrolling. You’ll learn the different bike types, basics about extrication, some of the methods of transportation, and finally, by the end of this training you will be able to describe the responsibility of bike areas, venues, and land managers to their patrollers. It’s a brief course and fully online.
Bike 1 Course This course is designed for the entry-level bike patroller or bike host. The content prepares patrollers and hosts for their potential duties and provides a broad knowledge base to start with and build upon with their patrol. Not all topics and information in this course will apply to every patrol or patroller; instead, it will provide a shared foundation for all patrollers or hosts working within the biking context. This course is hybrid; it contains an online course that comes first and then an in-person component.
What’s Coming Next? Bike 2 Course We’re starting on this one next. It will be for the seasoned bike patroller or host who is seeking to expend their knowledge and skills to advance their capabilities and improve their value to their patrol.
Instructors Needed!
We’re rolling out the Bike 1 course this summer. We’re looking for instructors in each region to get certified to teach Bike 1. For those attending Powderfall, there are several bike patrolling sessions at Powderfall this year, one of which comes from the Eastern Division. Come see us at the bike program sessions if you’re there.
Kim Terwilliger, Assistant Eastern Division Director
Welcome to winter in the northeast – rain, snow, rain, ice, rain, wind, snowmageddon, or nothing. Despite our winter weather situation, the Eastern Division has delivered multiple education programs for our members with more still available. MTR programs were available in November and December. Multiple patroller schools have been held since January throughout the Division, including Sugarloaf, Elk, Killington, Plattekill, and Seven Springs. A snowboard/tele-specific event was held at Waterville Valley as well. Gore will be hosting an upcoming patroller school at the end of February. Women’s clinics have been embedded in many of the patroller schools which have been very well attended.
In addition to the patroller schools, numerous regions have hosted OET and women ’s-specific clinics. Three Level 1 Avalanche courses have been on the calendar for this winter with one Level 2 course being conducted at Whiteface. The Certified program has held their pre-test and candidates are prepping for the exam, scheduled for Sugarbush in March. Good luck Certified candidates! Most regions are holding their Senior OET evaluations during the first weekend in March with Senior OEC evaluations scheduled throughout the month as well. Good luck to all those candidates too!
Our YAPs have been very busy attending region-specific or combined region events in preparation for their YAP Summit to be held at Smugglers’ Notch, March 8-10. These events have included overnight programs, escape room games, and OET/OEC training. They are an incredibly talented, enthusiastic group.
Thank you to all the Division and Region staff members who dedicate their time and energy to schedule, instruct, and make programs accessible for our Eastern Division patrollers!
One more thing…the search is on for the next Eastern Division Women’s Program Advisor. If interested, please see the eblast announcement for details and submit a letter of interest and resume to Kim Terwilliger, skiwtb20@yahoo.com by February 28, 2024.
The Outdoor Emergency Care Module of the Senior Program (OECMSP) has been updated and reinvented to reflect more of a training program that provides growth in the area of Leadership, Decision Making, and Problem Management (LDP). Once you have demonstrated mastery in your OEC skills, the patroller moves on to clinics that will focus on the objectives of LDP. The scenarios you will work with are designed to help focus your growth, and more concise problem-solving leading to quicker decision-making and better leadership. Each clinic should leave you with a feeling of accomplishment and something to focus your growth on. In addition to mastery of the OEC skills, there are requirements for breaking down written scenarios to identify problems and potential solutions as well as writing a scenario with LDP as the challenge as well as OEC.
During your training clinic sessions, you will need to pass four on-snow scenarios as a prerequisite to attend your evaluation day. These scenarios should prepare you well for the final evaluation and come from a set of scenarios that are challenging and score the same as the scenarios you will see during the final evaluation.
Trainer Evaluators are also adding additional training so they focus more on the LDP aspect of the OECMSP and how to better train candidates on what to expect and then evaluate them with a focus on LDP.
Evaluation day may look different as well. All candidates participating in the final evaluation will decide on whether to have a non-scoring warm-up scenario, or some other warm-up activity, or move directly into the final evaluations. During the final evaluation process, you will only have two scenarios to complete successfully. Since the new OECMSP program is more focused on training, if you are not successful on one scenario you will have the opportunity to train or review what didn’t work well in the failed scenario and the opportunity to redo on that day or a date in the future that is agreeable to all.
The big difference here is that prior to continuing, the program is designed to provide you with the opportunity to train and reach a level of comfort before you go into your next evaluation. Not being successful in one scenario allows you to complete your redo in the same season. Not being successful in two scenarios means you go back into the training program with practice scenarios and go through that process again until you are comfortable. In most cases that takes more than one season. For Patrollers, Alpine Patrollers, and Nordic Patrollers this evaluation continues to be under the conditions which you patrol which requires an on-snow final evaluation experience.
Other updates to the program provide the logistics to run this program to be trimmed down and need a smaller number of personnel to run an event.
Bottom line is the principle and practice that the OECMSP has moved to become a more flexible training program that enhances the patroller’s personal growth in the areas of Leadership, Decision Making, and Problem Management. The program will support ski areas with better scenario and OEC management from trained patrollers as well as help these same patrollers become leaders within NSP in the future.
If you have any questions or would like a deeper look please feel free to reach out to the Eastern Division OEC Supervisor, any of the Asst. OEC Supervisors or paulaknightnsp@gmail.com .
Each season, at the beginning of December the Outdoor Emergency Transportation (OET) Program gathers OET staff members from across the Eastern Division for a weekend focused on leadership and professional development. This year’s conference was aptly named, Building Great Instructors. So, what makes an instructor great? The International Olympic Committee summarized it well.
What makes an instructor great?
1. Understands the sport and leads by example.
2. Sponge for knowledge.
3. Shares the knowledge with others.
4. Highly energized and a motivator.
5. Knows the student, values, and respects the relationship.
6. Is an effective communicator and teacher.
7. Is a good listener.
8. Is disciplined, strong in character and integrity.
9. Leads by example very high attitude for hard work.
10. Displays commitment and clear passion for the sport.
The OET program’s mission is to create an environment of learning that elevates the skills, ability, and techniques needed to safely and efficiently transport guests to a higher level of care. Delivering on this mission begins with building great instructors, and leaders, within the OET program.
The Learning Connection During this year’s conference, OET leaders were introduced to the Learning Connection model developed by the Professional Ski Instructor Association (PSIA). The Learning Connection emphasizes that great lessons rely on the instructor’s ability to offer a blend of people skills, teaching skills, and technical skills. This approach creates informative, fun, and personalized experiences that keep students engaged in the learning process. To learn more about the Learning Connection, check out this write-up by PSIA.
OET Teaching Philosophy uses FIVE Essential components:
● Lesson Progressions that chain together “snippets” to facilitate incremental success as a pathway for mastering skills.
● Snippet-sized lessons with manageable objectives are designed to simplify guided practice, leading to quicker student success.
● Ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation to re-teach skills, customizing faster student success, known as ADAPT.
● Six-Pack Lesson Planning with an emphasis on creatively re-teaching and re-designing student activities, more ADAPT.
● Individualized Positive Immediate Student Feedback is used throughout all learning activities, practiced as PISE.
● Teach OET Instructors how to structure on-snow lesson activities.
Bringing It Home – Building Great Instructors
An essential function of an OET Staff member is to build great instructors in their home region. The learning activities and professional development that Staff members access at the OET Conference help provide them with the tools to bring that knowledge home to their regions, where the Regional OET Advisors can leverage their conference experience into training their Regional Senior Training staff as well as influence training improvements for local mountain Toboggan Instructors. To learn more about the OET Program, visit PatrollerSchool.org.
Watch Western Appalachian Region YAP Advisor Anna Hermann as she interviews Hidden Valley Ski Patrol YAP Gracie Gonzalez about her experiences at last year’s 2023 Eastern Division YAP Summit held at Smugglers’ Notch. Gracie talked about what inspired her to become a patroller, what a wonderful learning experience the division YAP event was, and how it affected her growth as a young patroller and as a young adult. Gracie was the first YAP to receive the James Slattery Award. Read about Jim Slattery, the Division’s Oldest Junior, in the next issue of Trail Sweep.
The Avalanche team is attempting to work within our winter schedule. If you have not noticed, we have lost a week or two at the end of our season. The snowpack is not as deep as it once was. We also have an increasing population heading into the backcountry, and our programs require more avalanche training.
So, our team is trying something new – a mid-week program at Smugglers’ Notch. We have no idea if this will work for our members, but we have had several requests for it. So you asked, and we are delivering.
We will also be running a Level 2 Avalanche program this year. It has been too long. We are organizing an amazing lineup of instructors and guest speakers. This Level 2 program is required for our Avalanche instructor candidates. I expect this class will fill up fast.
We are delivering an amazing product at a low cost to our users. We will be A3 certified for our Level 1 class, again helping our students by providing a long-term path for future training. We have elected not to become A3 certified for our Level 2 course as this is not on a critical path for our students. It appears that our Level 2 far exceeds the typical recreational Level 2. In fact, our Level 2 is a prep class for Pro Level 1 classes.
I just got back from the Eastern Snow Avalanche Workshop and again was reminded how amazing our program and team are, but I did see some numbers that suggest that East Coast skiers are potentially heading into avalanche terrain with less education and preparation than our Western skiers.
So please, if you are heading into avalanche terrain, get the education and equipment you need. But more importantly, it’s critically important that you have partners that are ready to dig you out. This is where we are lacking on the east coast. We often have one person with the equipment and training, but other party members do not.
If you want to learn more about skiing in avalanche country, sign up for our course at Smugglers’ Notch. For more information, contact David Childs, Eastern Division Avalanche Supervisor, at 413-464-1044.
For more information about the Avalanche course at Smugglers’ Notch, one of four Avalanche courses currently scheduled around the Eastern Division, visit Patroller School and look for the Avalanche Events tile.
regions every year so that hopefully one will be convenient for you to attend. Last year’s was at Gore Mountain in the ENY Region and the year before that was at Winding Trails in the CT Region.
The Eastern Division Young Adult Patroller Summit was held March 8-11, 2024, at Smugglers’ Notch, Vermont with 78 young adults attending from around the division. Young adults converged for three days of intense training and competition. Mother Nature provided a bit of everything; moments of sun, rain, snow, and plenty of wind. Her indecisiveness was nothing compared to the energy and stoke from attendees!
The weekend ended with a banquet full of awards, recognition of young adults accomplishments, a senior salute, and free swag!
The NSP Bike Program Committee has been hard at work for the past year on creating education programming for bike patrols.
The Outdoor Emergency Care Module of the Senior Program (OECMSP) has been updated and reinvented to reflect more of a training program that provides growth in the area of Leadership, Decision Making, and Problem Management (LDP). Once you have demonstrated mastery in your OEC skills, the patroller moves on to clinics that will focus on the objectives of LDP. The scenarios you will work with are designed to help focus your growth, and more concise problem-solving leading to quicker decision-making and better leadership. Each clinic should leave you with a feeling of accomplishment and something to focus your growth on. In addition to mastery of the OEC skills, there are requirements for breaking down written scenarios to identify problems and potential solutions as well as writing a scenario with LDP as the challenge as well as OEC.
Each season, at the beginning of December the Outdoor Emergency Transportation (OET) Program gathers OET staff members from across the Eastern Division for a weekend focused on leadership and professional development. This year’s conference was aptly named, Building Great Instructors. So, what makes an instructor great? The International Olympic Committee summarized it well.
During this year’s conference, OET leaders were introduced to the Learning Connection model developed by the Professional Ski Instructor Association (PSIA). The Learning Connection emphasizes that great lessons rely on the instructor’s ability to offer a blend of people skills, teaching skills, and technical skills. This approach creates informative, fun, and personalized experiences that keep students engaged in the learning process. To learn more about the 
The Avalanche team is attempting to work within our winter schedule. If you have not noticed, we have lost a week or two at the end of our season. The snowpack is not as deep as it once was. We also have an increasing population heading into the backcountry, and our programs require more avalanche training.
