Educational Program News
Certified Boot Camp Coming Soon
It’s that time of year again to plan your summer/fall patrol activities. Two of our favorites are back this year: Certified Boot Camp and Enhanced Patroller School. Both promise new adventures, team-building opportunities, and activities that will definitely stretch your skills and thought processes.
Last year’s events included fundamental first aid, mass casualty and triage skill development, new and creative approaches to lift evacuation skills, mountain operations, lift evacuation, tower climbing dos and don’ts, outdoor risk management, avalanche fundamentals, and low-angle rescue. Our event was hosted at Holiday Mountain Ski Area in the Southern New York Region. It provided unique insights into what it takes to “open” an abandoned ski resort.
Enhanced Patroller School
The Genesee Valley Region has set the date and location for its popular Enhanced Patroller School. It will be held September 12-14, 2025, at Swain Resort. This great summer training event allows patrollers to work on various patroller skills, including many aspects of the OEC program, chairlift evacuation techniques, low-angle rescue methods, and rescue knot tying. The weekend culminates with a simulated mass casualty incident on Sunday morning, bringing together all the skills reviewed during the previous two days. Many of the skills covered are part of the NSP Certified Patroller Program.
AMN – Save the Date!
The Avalanche (AVY), Mountain Travel & Rescue (MTR), and Nordic/Backcountry (N/BC) programs have scheduled the Instructor Refresher AMN 2025 for September 27-28, 2025, at The Pike Glades in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
AMN 2025 is open to instructors and instructor-candidates from all three programs. A gentle reminder that Avvy, MTR, and N/BC instructors need to recert once every three years. If you haven’t been able to do this, please contact your Region Advisor and/or your program’s Eastern Division Supervisor.
There will be pre-attendance refreshing to be completed online at Eastern Division’s Patroller School in addition to the in-person Global Continuing Education and program-run skill stations at The Pike Glades. You will be able to register for AMN 2025 at PatrollerSchool.org. Keep checking, AMN 2025 isn’t there yet!
Nordic Evaluations – Senior & Master
We wrapped up another ski season with our Nordic Senior and Nordic Master (NM) training clinic at Bolton Valley, VT. The patrol and management were gracious hosts and worked with us to help make this event such a success. Bolton Valley provides traditional Nordic track and skate skiing and backcountry skiing for all skier levels and is an excellent choice for advanced-level evaluations.
For the Nordic Senior clinic, four patrollers expanded their knowledge and tested their skills. Saturday started with a ski tour in spring conditions, working on several uphill techniques, especially at a few challenging water bars. At the cabin, we opened the patrol’s rescue cache, and the Bolton patrollers demonstrated how they use their backcountry litter. Some new ideas were adapted as we practiced loading a patient.
Got ICS Certs?
Every patroller has taken the FEMA course Incident Command System 100 (ICS-100) as part of OEC, so, of course, we’ve all got that certification. 
If you’ve taken Mountain Travel & Rescue Fundamentals (MTR F) or Mountain Travel & Rescue Level 1 (MTR 1), you’ve taken the FEMA course Incident Command System 700 (ICS-700). Those lucky enough to have taken Mountain Travel & Rescue Level 2 (MTR 2) have taken the FEMA course Incident Command System 200 (ICS-200). Some of you may have gotten these certifications as part of a Search and Rescue team, or just for fun.
New Elective – Aid Room Module
The Eastern Division of the National Ski Patrol is proud to announce the rollout of the Aid Room Module of the Senior Program (AR-MSP), a dynamic and critical component designed to elevate further the operational knowledge and leadership abilities of Senior Patroller candidates. As we launch this initiative, our first step is to identify passionate and qualified ski patrol members across the division who are ready to lead the charge within their respective regions.
The AR-MSP is not a repetition of the Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) module—it is a stand-alone educational and evaluative experience focusing specifically on the unique environment and challenges found within ski area aid rooms. This initiative aims to strengthen patroller capabilities in triage, medical intervention, communication, resource management, and leadership skills crucial to providing excellent care in high-pressure scenarios.
Kudos to the YAPs!
Every March, without fail, I look forward to the Eastern Division YAP Summit. It’s a significant event for many young adults, but I’m just like them—eager to hit the slopes, ski the trees and bumps, and find the good trouble we can get into. I’m always excited to learn something new (you’re never too old to learn something new), to watch the YAPs in the enhancement track gain confidence and knowledge in just three short days, and to see the competition groups cheer each other on.
Of course, the awards banquet is always bittersweet. I’m never quite ready for the weekend to end, but I’m thrilled to see where the YAPs place and what cool swag they win. It’s truly an honor to return each year as a shepherd—arguably the best role anyone can have over the weekend, aside from being a YAP. At the 2025 Summit, the staff decided to try something completely different—something far from the usual outdoor evening activity. The groups had the unique opportunity to create their senior-level scenarios and run them as instructors…
Camaraderie & Encouragement at Women’s Programs
Our student took a deep breath, then grasped the toboggan handles.
“OK,” she said. “I’m going to send it.”
This retired Air Force veteran and new ski patroller had come to the Eastern New York Women’s Clinic at Gore Mountain on March 22 to gain confidence pulling sleds. A chorus of encouragement rang out from other participants.
Yes, it’s very steep!
“That’s it!”
“You’re doing it!”
A couple of hours later, I heard the same chorus as two other participants guided a toboggan over the headwall of Lies, one of Gore’s steepest runs. As they approached the bottom, the chorus morphed into shouts of celebration.
A Very Successful Certified Weekend
Peter, Becky, Vinny, RJ, and Certified Program Chair Bill Zink
The Eastern Division recently held our annual Certified exam and banquet at Jay Peak with over 118 participants lying in the snow as OEC patients and observing our eight candidates show their stuff in skiing, toboggan skills, lift evacuation, low-angle rescue, avalanche, and outdoor risk management. Of course, Jay Peak delivered an excellent venue, terrific skiing, and amazing and challenging terrain. Four of the eight candidates were successful. They include Vinny Romano #870, Becky Rubin #871, Peter Buss #872, and RJ Bouchard #873. A heartfelt congratulations to all four of these candidates.
YAP OEC Challenge at Smuggs
National Ski Patrol’s YAP Summit Prepares the Next Generation of First Responders
Double backboards
The central theme of this year’s summit was a full-scale deck collapse simulation—a challenging scenario that required participants to assess and manage patients amid a chaotic and high-stakes environment.
