National News
Division Director’s Report – January 2026
I attended the annual face-to-face meeting of the National Board/Division Director/National Program Directors in Denver, January 23 and 24. The Board had a full agenda that included election of the National Chair. After two years of outstanding leadership, Rich Pietrafesa chose not to run for a third term. The Board elected Myron Allen as our new National Chair. Rich was just elected to a second three-year term and will continue to serve on the Board.2025 AWARDS
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO RECEIVED AN AWARD IN 2025
The impressive list includes National Outstanding Award 1st place winners from Eastern Division, Eastern Division winners, National Appointments, Leadership Commendation Appointments, Distinguished Service Awards, Meritorious Service Awards, Merit Stars, Patriot Stars, and more. Congratulations to all!
New Patroller Event in Park City
Last Tracks, a patroller event hosted by Central Division, March 26-28, 2026, is being held at Park City. This gathering from all divisions is open to all
patrollers. Registration closes March 2, 2026.
Riva Ridge 80th Anniversary Commemoration
At 0400 on February 18, 2025, soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will begin their ascent of Riva Ridge in Italy, retracing the exact footsteps of the 10th Mountain Division’s legendary 1945 assault—on the same date, at the same location, 80 years later. In the dead of night on February 18, 1945, five columns of highly trained mountain troops climbed what had been reported as the “unclimbable” face of Riva Ridge. Surprising the German troops that held the summit, the US mountain troops captured the summit…
2024 Awards
The Eastern Division has an incredibly talented group of patrollers. We are proud that so many were honored with awards this year. This is a list of the awards winners for 2024, including our Eastern Division patrollers who won National Outstanding Awards and the Eastern Division Outstanding Awards winners. The list also includes National and Leadership Commendation Appointments, Distinguished and Meritorious Service, Purple, Blue, Green, and Yellow Merit Stars, Patriot Star, Patroller Cross, and Patroller Achievement Award winners, plus 50-year Lifetime Service Awards. Click below to see all of the 2024 awards.
NSP Partners with Cycling League
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.
2024 National Board Election Closes December 1
There are less than two few weeks left to vote in the National Board of Director election. Currently, 13 candidates are running to fill four open seats.
You are encouraged to read the platforms of all of the candidates at www.nsp.org on the Access Your Ballot page and participate in the election. There have been three forums to meet the candidates and ask questions. If you missed them, they are available to watch on the NSP website.
If you have not yet voted, please go to www.nsp.org, sign in, and click the Access Your Ballot button to see the candidate platforms and the election ballot. The election closes on December 1.
2024 National Board Election and Amendment Proposal
The 2024 National Board Elections will begin on October 15. This year, 14 candidates are running to fill four open seats.
You are encouraged to read the platforms of all of the candidates on the 2024 NSP Board Election page. You must sign in to your account to access the election information. There have been several forums via Zoom to talk to the candidates and ask questions. If you missed the first two, videos of the forums are available to watch at the same link. The last candidate forum will take place on Wednesday, October 16 at 8pm Eastern time.
You will receive notification via email when voting begins on Tuesday, October 15. Please make sure your email address is current in your NSP profile before October 15. If you do not receive a ballot on October 15, check your spam folder, or go to www.nsp.org, sign in, and click the BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION button to see the candidate platforms and the election ballot. The election closes on December 1.
ORM is Up and Running!
By now you have all heard about the new Outdoor Risk Management program (ORM). I am happy to announce that as of March of this year the program is available on the NSP website! ORM was over four years in the making and was created by subject matter experts, education professionals, members of the legal community, and, of course, patrollers. There was specific input from the National Ski Areas Association, the Patroller Wellness Taskforce, the Responder Alliance, as well as the NSP Education Committee.
It is designed to give the line patroller a base of knowledge of risk management with an emphasis on how to recognize potential risk and how to approach it. The program consists of 10 modules ranging from the need for ORM general concepts of risk management to ethical considerations. I believe this course will make every patroller a better patroller from the beginning and more of an asset to their patrol and the resort they serve. It is important to note this program is, and will be, a work in progress and nothing is to be interpreted as a strict requirement. We need to be consistently monitoring changes and updates within the industry.
The Certified Program: How it all began
In 1964, National Director Chuck Schobinger forwarded a committee report from the Southern Rocky Mountain Division to George Wesson, Jr. to work out the details for a ‘Certified’ program.
The Eastern Division put together a committee of inspiring New England patrollers to work out the details and proficiency requirements for a pilot program. It would demand the highest level of proficiency from patrollers through training and testing and would promote a level of patrolling in which there would be no compromise with excellence in skiing, first aid, patrol management, administration, and leadership.
Two years later, during the 1967-68 season, the pilot program was launched…
