Eastern Division NSP's News Magazine
Find all the latest Trail Sweep news displayed with excerpts on the home page. Search news by keyword or by category below.
Ski Patrol Rescues Shiffrin
No caption is needed…ouch!
On the way to reaching her 100th title at the Stifel Killington World Cup event, Mikaela Shiffrin crashed. The crash had her tumbling multiple times but bouncing off the netting fence before coming to a rest as competition paused and ski patrol came to her aid. After a somber waiting period following the GS competition, cheers erupted again when Shiffrin was brought down the mountain in a sled and appeared to be conscious.
Get Ready for Nordic Fest!
Get ready for Nordic Fest! On the weekend of January 11-12, 2025, at Highland Forest in Fabius, NY, the Eastern Division’s Nordic/Backcountry program will be hosting a Nordic Fest. What is a Nordic Fest? It is the celebration of everything Nordic, ski clinics with a PSIA track and skate instructor, skills stations, Nordic senior training, and a nice meal on Saturday night.
You will learn new skills, make new friends, and maybe start your way toward becoming a senior patroller. There will be cabins available for lodging, but you should bring your own sleeping bag and sleeping pad. Camping is also available. Registration and more information will soon be found on www.patrollerschool.org.
Hopefully, many of you have gone skiing in this early-season snow. I know that both Connecticut and Western Mass Regions’ patrollers have had several good skiing days. I’m sure that the New Hampshire and New York Regions’ patrollers have also been skiing, as we have been having a good time up in the Adirondacks.
‘Smartersheet’ App for OET Instructors
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.
Safety Team Shows the NSP Flag at World Cup
The Eastern Division Safety Team strives to bring safety awareness to the mountain. This is exactly what it did at the Killington World Cup from November 29-December 1 to a crowd of over 39,000!
Our energetic team successfully delivered important messages while ensuring guests had fun throughout the festival. All were invited to “step right up and meet the Eastern Division Safety Team of the National Ski Patrol!”
Our amazing game hosts engaged each guest by asking a patrol question with an emphasis on safety. Once answered correctly, the patron spun the wheel to win a prize. Kids of all ages (questions were based on age and medical background) wanted to spin the wheel and walk away with ski patrol swag.
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.
Active Attack Response Training
This past spring Windham Mountain hosted a group of first responders from the surrounding emergency response agencies for an Active Attack Integrated Response training (AAIR). The course was put on by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office instructors and is considered the national standard by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for active shooter response training. The AAIR training was developed through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University.
AAIR training is centered around the interagency response to an active shooter event. The main goals are to build awareness and partnerships across agencies and disciplines. If a major event occurs, all the responsible agencies could respond as a cohesive unit with an understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities.
January is National Safety Month
The Eastern Division Safety Team would like to bring your attention to a new safety initiative called Take-A-Break & RECHARGE. It was created by Safety Team members Jesse Remmey (NVT) and Eric Talbot (CT).
Take-A-Break addresses the importance of recognizing fatigue and its relationship to preventing accidents. The committee kicked off this initiative after reading an article citing a 5-year study in New Zealand by ACC Statistics, an evidence-based research company emphasizing prevention. It revealed that most injuries occur in late morning and mid-afternoon citing tiredness and congestion on the trails as the main cause.
Yes, Alumni Can Bike Patrol!
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.
In Memoriam
Read about the patrollers who have completed their Final Sweep by clicking the In Memoriam page.
In Memoriam
In Memorium – Douglas “Doug” Scharbach
Song Mountain Ski Patrol in the Central New York Region of Eastern Division has lost another former patrol leader. Doug Scharbach, who served on the Song patrol for more than 30 years, passed away at his home in Manlius, NY, on November 14, 2024. He was 90.
Doug was the Song patrol leader between 1988 and 1990. He was well respected and known for his low-key demeanor; traits he no doubt developed from his service in the US Navy and later as a manager in the lumber business. It was at one of his jobs that he saved an employee’s life in 1979 using skills learned on the ski patrol. For that action, the NSP awarded Doug a Purple Merit Star, and the Eastern Division bestowed him with its William Gross Memorial Award.
America’s Coolest First Responders at Snowbound
As 50,000 winter sports enthusiasts stepped into the Boston Convention Center this weekend they were eagerly greeted by top ski and snowboard brands, big winter sports personalities, representatives from ski areas around the globe, and most importantly, the National Ski Patrol’s Eastern Division.
This year our booth was strategically located near the indoor ski hill and adjacent to the main stage where celebs including Catie Zeliff, Dan Egan, Hannay Kearney, and even Donny Pelletier, Maine’s Finest Athlete, entertained the crowds. Over the three days “America’s Coolest First Responders” handed out hundreds of fun items and met face-to-face with snow fans young and old. We also had a fun engaging video playing all day this year with added features on patrolling at Pat’s Peak, Saddleback, and the future patrollers at Sunday River’s Gould Academy.
