by Scott Launt, Labrador Mtn., CNY Region | Apr 2, 2026 | Spotlight Articles
I first saw this sport roughly twenty years ago, never thinking that one day the sport might show up in Central New York, let alone that I might be patrolling at one. SKIJORING (Noun) – a winter sport in which a person wearing skis (or snowboard) is drawn over ice or snow as by a horse, dog team, or motor vehicle. It is derived from the Norwegian word skikjoring, which means “ski driving.”
On March 7, members of Song Mountain, Labrador Mountain, and Highland Forest Nordic Ski Patrols in the Central New York Region were asked to assist at Heritage Hill in Pompey, New York with safety and of course medical services as needed. What a Hoot! Both amateur and professional participants, female and male; young and old took part in the event. Additionally, EMTs were on hand with ALS on station. Fortunately, none of these services were required.
Our crew was comprised of patrollers from multiple patrols: Bob Tackman (as lead and organizer) from Song Mountain; Bill Albrecht, Cindy Hoalcraft, Chris McQueeney, and Scott Launt from Labrador; and Carolyn Henn from Song Mountain and Highland Forest Nordic.
The event started at noon and ran until 3:45 PM. The conditions of the track deteriorated as the wind and rising temperature took its toll. The winning time was 13 seconds, with two heats running on the track and the riders not wishing to take a header! Over 500 spectators truly enjoyed the event. Fortunately, our skills were not required!
The Paladino family, owners of Heritage Hill, were generous with our crew, providing food and refreshments. We stayed on hand for the awards ceremony and live music. We were asked by Dan Paladino, owner of Heritage Farms, to come back for this event next year. It will be a pleasure!
by Sue-Ellen Helmacy, Awards Supervisor | Apr 2, 2026 | Division News, Program News, Spotlight Articles
Eastern Division has a New Award! The Red Merit Star fills a unique and necessary recognition gap—honoring patrollers whose instinct, training, and intervention made a profound difference, even when the patient may not show or present with immediate life-threatening signs.
Unlike the NSP Purple Merit Star, which recognizes life-saving interventions, the Red Merit Star acknowledges situations where timely and skilled action, including load and go, which may have prevented a potentially catastrophic outcome, but where the injury or illness may not have initially presented as immediately life-threatening.
The Red Merit Star recognizes NSP patrollers who demonstrate exceptional emergency care, critical decision-making, and compassion in situations where their intervention was instrumental in preventing a significant negative outcome, or death.
Patrollers may be recognized for incidents in which they worked up to two years back. The process is similar to that of other Eastern Division awards. Further information and the application will be on the webpage shortly.
by Teigh Southworth, OET Steering Committee | Apr 2, 2026 | Division News, Program News, Spotlight Articles
In the past you may have received emails about renewing your Toboggan Instructor status for the Pro Division. It is important to note there are some differences for Pro Division OET instructors to stay up to date. Here is the scoop.
First, you need to understand how the National Ski Patrol is organized. There are nine Geographic Divisions where predominantly volunteers are registered, and the Professional Division where most of the paid patrollers are registered. Each Division is broken down into regions. The regions in the Professional Division have the same boundaries as each of the Geographic Divisions. Here in the Northeast, we are either members of the Eastern Division, or the Eastern Region of the Professional Division.
The Professional Division does not host its own events, neither does the Eastern Division. All OET events are open to all patrollers regardless of registration. Events may be staffed by instructors from either or both divisions. In fact, Eastern and Pro Division members work together from the OET Steering Committee down to plan and develop OET programs that welcome all who attend.
If you are registered in the Eastern Division, you work with your OET Region Advisor to maintain your instructor status. However, if you are registered in the Professional Division, not only do you have to work with your Region Advisor to maintain your instructor status, but you also have to meet the requirements set by the Professional Division, hence the second set of requirements sent by the Professional Division OET Supervisor, the position currently held by Ray Bryan. Ray typically sends out an email mid-March so that he can get the reappointments submitted to the National office by April 30.
If you are an OET Instructor Trainer, a similar set of circumstances will occur, your Region Advisor will be letting you know what is needed to continue as an Instructor Trainer, but you will also receive an email from Ray with the requirements for maintaining your Instructor Trainer Status with the Professional Division.
Hopefully this helps clear up any confusion for members registered in the Professional Division as to why you have two separate sets of requirements for maintaining your Toboggan Instructor or Instructor Trainer status.
On a closing note, the position of Senior Trainer/Evaluator (TE) is an Eastern Division designation only, it does not exist at the national level, and therefore you won’t be getting a second email about how to maintain that status. Contact your OET RA, Matt Nebzydoski, Eastern Division OET Supervisor or Ray Bryan, Pro Division OET Supervisor if you have any questions.
by Trail Sweep Staff | Feb 24, 2026 | Spotlight Articles
Though the season is more than half over there are a lot of events still to come. Check out the list below and be sure to add them to your calendar.
- Backcountry Patroller School, February 28, 2026 – March 1, 2026, 7:30 AM – 3:00 PM (2 slots still available)
- Women’s Backcountry Skiing/Riding, Mt. Washington, NH, March 14, 2026, 7AM-4PM
- Nordic Senior Training/Exam plus Nordic Master Training, March 21, 2026 – March 22, 2026, 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Eastern Division Alumni Days
- CT Region, Ski Sundown, March 3, 8:30AM meeting in the Bar Area, for information contact: Bob Cassello.
- WNY Region, Holiday Valley, March 6, for information contact: Ralph Estep.
by Allan Miller, Alumni Supervisor | Feb 24, 2026 | Division News, Program News, Spotlight Articles
THIRD ANNUAL EASTERN DIVISION PATROLLER AND ALUMNI EVENT
Stratton Mountain, Vermont – March, 15–20, 2026
Join us again for the Third Patroller and Alumni event. It will be a week of skiing, information, camaraderie, and après ski good times. We will again celebrate our shared passion for skiing and patrolling! Be there for as long as it’s fun for you! We hope you can stay the whole time, but your stay is up to you! No charge for notable alumni and patroller events. All costs for lodging, lift tickets, and meals are on you.
UPDATED INFORMATION 2/19/26
DATES: The event will coincide with their “Friends and Family Week”, March 15 – 20, 2026
LODGING: Stratton Mountain is AGAIN providing rooms for $99 per night plus tax and VT fees at Black Bear Lodge for the week of the event. This rate is for 1 or 2 people per room. The link for reservations is on the Patroller School website or call (800) 787-2886. Promo Code NSPA26.
LIFT TICKETS: Stratton Mountain is AGAIN giving us a great “Friends and Family” rate of $35.00 per day plus tax. Valid for the week of the event. Lift tickets will be available either through the reservation link or the outside ticket window on the uphill side of the Base Lodge. Identify yourself as a participant in the National Ski Patrol Alumni group and buy the appropriate number of 1-day tickets. Promo Code NSPA26.
OTHER EVENTS: Several after-dinner events are being planned. Last year’s events were well worth the time and a BIG BONUS to the week. Details and schedule of these events will be forthcoming.
Mark your calendars and be part of this unforgettable event. More details will be sent periodically.
VERY IMPORTANT: Let us know if you are coming or if you are interested in getting more information as it becomes available by using the Eastern Division Patroller School link.
Come for a day or come for the whole week. We can’t wait to see you there.
Organized by the Alumni Advisors of the Eastern Division for any member of NSP and their families.
by Scott Launt, CNY Alumni Advisor and John Beach, Historian | Feb 24, 2026 | Division News, Spotlight Articles
On January 23, Eastern Division Patrollers Sue-Ellen Helmacy, John Beach, and Scott Launt were proud to be a part of the celebration ceremony honoring our founder, Charles “Minnie’ Dole. The museum at Fort Drum, New York will forever be known as the Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole Heritage Museum Complex. Accompanying us was Central New York Alumna Susie Turner.
The ceremony featured remarks from Commanding Major General Scott Naumann and Minnie’s grandson, Trux Dole. The General gave a brief history of Minnie’s quest to have the War Department implement mountain troops and his eventual success in doing so. He also spoke about the successes the former members of the 10th had in the ski and sports industries after the war. This included engagement in at least 62 ski areas in some fashion, and the founding of Nike, Head skis, and organizations such as the Sierra Club and the National Park Service.
Continuing the indoor ceremony, Trux Dole, Chairman Ex Officio of the 10th Mountain Foundation, spoke from the heart. He spoke fondly of his grandfather and of his own memories growing up in New England. He recalled that his grandfather was an outdoor enthusiast and an “okay skier”.
The celebration then adjourned outside (to a balmy 12 degrees F) with a dedication plaque unveiled by Trux and General Naumann.
That evening Sue-Ellen, John, Command Sergeant Major (retired) Dave Martell (Watertown/Dry Hill PD) and his wife Nancy, First Sergeant Dan Fields (Watertown/Dry Hill Patroller and president of the 10th Mountain Alpine Club), along with roughly 200 other guests attended the “WINTER OLYMPIC GALA.” The event celebrated the Division’s mountain warfare legacy, its connection with the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina Italy, the same region the 10th fought in during WW, and its official dedication of the Minnie Dole Heritage Museum Complex.
This celebration was over the top! Wonderful hors d’oeuvres, food, and the full 10th Mountain Jazz Ensemble played into the late hours of the evening, all adding to make this an event to remember.
by Anna Hermann, WAPP YAP Advisor | Feb 24, 2026 | Spotlight Articles
Editor’s Note: Last year, Western Appalachian YAP Advisor Anna Hermann was awarded the Women’s Program Scholarship in Memory of Deborah Stitt. She used the scholarship to attend the February Patroller School at Killington. Deb was a dear friend of Anna’s so receiving the scholarship was very personal. The following is Anna’s tribute to Deb Stitt.
I finally sat down after the patroller school event at Killington, February 2026 and had a Miller Lite, Deb’s favorite. While I was writing this article I spent time reminiscing about the great times we had and wishing we could have had more time together.
I was honored to receive the Women’s Scholarship in Deb’s honor. It was incredible to spend the weekend working on patroller skills, something my Deb Stitt would absolutely be pushing me to do. But in all honesty, much of the time was spent thinking about my dear friend, whom I have been grieving for the past few years.
I was in my early 20s when I met Deb. I was already a patroller when she joined, but she quickly became both a mentor and a close friend. Deb taught me many things, the last being how to grieve.
Deb took me under her wing, not just as a patroller, but as a young woman. She gifted me a ski patrol neck gaiter, spent time teaching me how to be a confident woman, a strong female patroller, and gave me a crash course in golf when a group was short a member for our annual Blue Knob fundraiser. Deb founded that fundraiser, and the tradition faded after she passed. She empowered young women to be confident and to become the best versions of themselves.
I consider the opportunity to grieve a friend this deeply to be an honor. They say grief is love with nowhere to go. I take my grief to the slopes.
The ski patrol community has gifted me many friendships. With a larger community comes more loss. We learn and evolve from our mentors and friends within ski patrol, and we also learn how to navigate the loss when that time comes.
Ski patrol shapeshifts as the years go on, but we remember the greats, most importantly, our greats. Who taught you to be the patroller you are today? Who taught them?
We think of our greats as we carve beautiful turns on a bluebird day, or after working a difficult accident. I wear that neck gaiter she gifted me every time I hit the slopes, never daring to swap it out for a warmer one – even in sub zero temperatures at Killington. Deb was right there with me at patroller school making turns and running sleds. We remember and we honor.
To Deb and to all the other fallen greats, we raise a glass and carve a turn.
by Betsey Reeves, Safety & Wellness Team | Feb 24, 2026 | Program News, Spotlight Articles
Let me start by introducing myself: I have been an NSP patroller for 42 years. I have patrolled at three different ski areas, one small and two larger ones, all in the New England area. I was also an EMT with the local fire department for 35 years and am still an OEC instructor.
I have been to many first aid scenes, including doing CPR on a 17-year-old on the side of a ski trail. In years past, I have felt confident about my skills; however, I am just too stressed about first aid to want to continue patrolling. Here is what it is in my head when I am patrolling now:
“Injured adult reported on Tom’s Thumb, possibly halfway down the trail.” The report comes in via the area radio, and I instantly jump up as it is my turn to take the call. My stomach turns into jelly as I grab my patrol jacket and fanny pack to head out. My head is going around and around, ‘Where is that exactly?’, ‘Why is my stomach in a knot?’, ‘What if I miss it?’, ‘What if I screw up?’’?
I see my skis but have trouble getting into them; ‘Why can’t I just snap into them?’ ‘Will I need my poles?’ ‘No, faster without them, but they help me balance!’ ‘Maybe I should have taken a tobo.’ ‘No, I can radio back up if there really is someone injured.’
‘I realize this might be the most direct route, but I haven’t skied it today, and I don’t feel comfortable with the conditions. I should have skied it earlier. ”Big mistake! ’, ‘what if I fall,’ ‘just lost an edge, damn,’ ‘why do I do this?’ ‘I don’t want to see an injured person. What if I don’t know the correct way to handle the injuries? What if they are unconscious?’
‘My legs feel like jelly,’ ‘I am really nervous,’ ‘What am I going to find?’ I am really uncomfortable making decisions about what I find for injuries. “I should have taken a run 10 minutes ago; then I wouldn’t have been at the top.’
‘Why do I continue to do this?’ ‘My stomach is in knots; I shouldn’t have eaten lunch.’ ‘What if I throw up?’ ‘That would be terrible; there is so much stress wearing the white cross.’
All of those thoughts are typical of what goes through my head on the way to a scene or even while waiting for a call at the top. So much stress! I just don’t enjoy this part of patrolling anymore. What to do about it?
Can it be considered ‘burnout’? How to handle letting others know I just don’t want to do this part of it anymore. I still feel as if I have a lot to give to patrolling; I just don’t want to be that stressed out anymore. It takes all the joy out of patrolling, but I really love the group of patrollers I work with. What to do about it?
I want to believe there is a place for all who desire to continue to serve others as we progress through ski patrol. We just need to feel safe to express our concerns, and we need to have good listeners with creative solutions.
It’s okay to not feel normal when things are changing inside us. It’s not okay to feel alone and unsupported.
For more information about how to deal with stress, visit: https://www.nspeast.org/stress-awareness-resources.html
by Joe Zarek, Central Division News Editor | Jan 21, 2026 | National News, Spotlight Articles
This end of season 3-day national member event will leave ski patrollers and alumni with lasting memories and knowledge to improve their skills. Taught by NSP Instructors from around the country, members should look forward to ski and snowboard enhancement seminars, toboggan enhancement seminars, OEC on-snow scenarios at a basic and senior level, Avalanche Level 1 course, Avalanche Beacon Challenge, Outdoor Risk Management ride-along, an opportunity to open or close the mountain, and watch an avalanche dog demonstration by Park City Ski Patrol.
The fun doesn’t stop there! We will have Women’s Program clinics as well as Alumni/MVP clinics, and Senior and Certified events for patrollers looking to level up their skill sets. And if you haven’t ever tried a four-handled toboggan now’s your chance! Sign up for a clinic to learn from either Mike Hafer or Eric Rolls from the PSIA-AASI National Team – this is a rare opportunity to get expert level ski and ride lessons.
Let’s pump it up! Peaks and Beats Music Fest will occur right in Canyons Village. There’s fun activities for everyone! Join us for evening social events and stop by the trade show to see the latest and greatest products. But hurry, registration closes March 2nd. Register now for a chance to win a FREE Last Tracks registration. Drawings will be conducted on February 1 and 14 and March 1 from those currently registered.
More information will be in the early February issue of
Trail Sweep. Please visit
www.nspcentral.org to register. See you in Park City!
patrollers. Registration closes March 2, 2026.
