by Dave, HoliMont Bike Patrol PD/WNY Bike RA Hawkes, | Jan 18, 2025 | Program News, Region News
Bike patrols come in many different forms. Some, for example, serve cross-country mountain bike trails. Others provide medical support for races and festivals; some support lift-served bike parks. The HoliMont Bike Patrol in Ellicottville, NY, which just concluded its second season as a registered NSP bike patrol, works in all three ways.
Our bike patrol supports the HoliMont Bike Park and all other summer events. Although we’ve only had two seasons as a registered patrol, we’ve been actively supporting HoliMont for much longer. We started by providing medical/safety support for members who were riding the property’s cross-country mountain bike trails. Next, we found ourselves supporting off-road bike races. Then, HoliMont started offering lift access for mountain biking four years ago.
With the support of HoliMont, we registered as an NSP bike patrol and named two of our winter patrollers as primary members. I serve as Patrol Director and Mike Bailey, also from HoliMont, is our second primary member. In addition, we now have many darn good patrollers from all over WNY registered as secondary. Some are from HoliMont, but others are from nearby WNY winter patrols such as Holiday Valley, Kissing Bridge, Buffalo Ski Center, Cockaigne, and Allegheny Nordic.
We now have a dedicated group of over 20 bike patrollers who respond to incidents, provide medical support, and transport as necessary. We developed many new protocols, including guidelines for how to use our “Medlite” quad runner, fully equipped for incident response and transport.
Our average season is about 60 days, starting on Memorial Day weekend and ending after the Ellicottville, NY Fall Fest. Lifts are open and patrol is on-site every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In addition to recreational riding, the bike park features competitive events including mountain biking and cyclocross races. We also serve many other athletic events such as trail running, uphill challenges, and disc golf. All are staffed by our fully credentialed bike park patrollers.
This past summer, we partnered with our safety committee and hosted a two-day safety event. Ellen Conrad and Doug Levy, our Safety Advisor, organized the weekend and we staffed it with bike patrollers. There was great swag for participants! We ran the event on a weekend that included a mountain bike and a kids-on-bikes day. The timing was perfect. The NSP safety event was quite successful.
Like many bike patrols, our biggest challenge is recruiting, even though our requirements are minimal. In fact, riding a bike is not even required! This is because many of our responses are walk-ins or transported to the patrol medical center by our Medlite quad. And the benefit is that we get bike park access and can even earn winter lift tickets!
If you’re interested in learning more about our patrol, contact me at dhawkes184@gmail.com. If you want to learn more about forming a bike patrol contact Tim Franz, the Eastern Division Bike Program Supervisor.
by John Wolf, Liberty Mountain Ski Patrol PD | Dec 18, 2024 | National News, Program News
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.
The 2024 season showcased the potential of this collaboration when we supported both the Maryland (MICL) and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling Leagues (PICL). Our dedicated team provided patrol services for seven events, contributing over 100 patroller hours. The patrol’s comprehensive approach included pre-event virtual huddles with stakeholders and planning how to coordinate with on-site medical staff, ensuring seamless integration of emergency management protocols and site-specific logistics.
One of the most remarkable outcomes of our partnership with the local NICA leagues has been the translation of Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) skills from snow to dirt. Our OEC training provided an exceptional foundation for handling cycling-specific injuries by using the same assessment and treatment protocols. The familiar equipment from winter patrolling – such as trauma packs, splinting materials, and bleeding control supplies – proved equally valuable during summer events, though we adapted them for a different type of mobile deployment. Patrollers reported how their experience with the mechanism of injury assessment on the slopes transferred perfectly to evaluating bicycle crashes, allowing for quick and accurate scene size-ups, and treatment decisions.
Another significant advantage that our patrollers brought to the local NICA league events was their extensive experience with radio communications and incident coordination. Years of managing on-mountain communications proved invaluable on mountain biking race day. Patrollers’ familiarity with clear, concise radio protocols, emergency response coordination, and maintaining effective communication to manage an incident across challenging cycling terrain helped establish efficient information flow between course marshals, medical support, and race operations. This professional communication standard enhanced overall event safety and response coordination, particularly in areas with limited cell service where reliable radio communication was crucial.
The impact of our partnership with the local leagues was immediately evident. The local league organizers repeatedly emphasized how the NSP presence significantly enhanced their emergency management capabilities. At one particularly challenging event, our dedicated bike patrollers demonstrated their value when they quickly responded to multiple incidents across the course, providing immediate care while at the same time coordinating with event staff to ensure optimal outcomes.
The successful integration of NSP’s expertise with NICA’s youth development mission has created a model partnership that benefits everyone – from the young riders pushing their limits while their dedicated friends, family members, and other volunteers support them to the patrollers who hone their first response skills during the summer.
This new collaboration between NSP and NICA represents more than just an operational partnership; it’s an investment in the future of both organizations. As NICA continues its impressive growth nationwide, the presence of NSP-certified bike patrollers adds an essential layer of safety and professionalism to youth cycling events.
For the Eastern Division, this partnership opens new avenues for member engagement and demonstrates our organization’s versatility and commitment to outdoor safety across all seasons in an area where NICA participation is growing rapidly. The enthusiasm and appreciation shown by NICA’s national organization, local leagues, coaches, and participants confirm that this partnership will be a cornerstone of both organizations’ futures.
by Tim Franz, Bike Supervisor | Dec 18, 2024 | Division News, Program News
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.
There are many ways in which bike patrols operate. Some support the typical lift-served, downhill mountain bike parks, functioning like any traditional alpine patrol. Others serve gravel paths or cross-country mountain bike trails, like Nordic or backcountry. Some patrols serve on paved bike paths that meander along rivers or lakes, offering a different experience from winter patrols. Finally, some bike patrols only provide medical support for events such as bike races.
The slower speeds when riding roads, gravel, or cross-country trails make it a perfect fit for many alums who might already be doing these activities to stay fit and active. Some bike units even allow members to use pedal-assist e-bikes, making the experience more accessible and enjoyable.
You can become a bike host as an alumni patroller with a paid NSP membership. Your alumni status remains your primary unit, while your bike host unit becomes your secondary. To become an alumni bike host, the unit you want to join must have a host program. You must also have the bike skills relevant for that unit, take the hybrid courses for your patrol (such as Bike 1), be up to date with medical, and refresh your CPR. In host units, Outdoor First Care (OFC) is sufficient medical training. If your OEC has expired, you can take NSP’s much shorter OFC course. Once you’ve met these requirements and become part of the bike patrol, your education record is updated.
Our personal experience shows how this can work. Our trails crossed when we met through our local bike unit, GROC Mountain Bike Patrol, and we’ve since become good friends. Our patrol supports cross-country mountain bike trails and events and has OEC-trained and OFC-trained host members. Skip, a retired patroller with over 50 years of experience, is our region’s alumni advisor who keeps his OEC/CPR current. Before joining, he rode his bike for his health, like many people do. Tim, an active bike and ski patroller, is a testament that you don’t need to be a daredevil to be part of a bike patrol. We often patrol together and sometimes even ski during Tim’s winter patrol shifts (though Skip is retired from alpine work).
Skip Millor (Alum!) & Tim Franz (not Alum!) patrolling together as part of the GROC Mountain Bike Unit. Image credit: Tim Franz
by Judy Valachovic, GROC Bike Patrol | Oct 14, 2024 | Program News, Region News
The Genesee Valley Region held its third annual Women’s Mountain Bike Enhancement Seminar at Dryer Road Park, a mountain biking trail network outside of Rochester, NY. This joint event between the Women’s Program and the Bike Program kicked-off with a comprehensive bike safety check, ensuring that all participants were properly equipped and ready to ride. Judy Valachovic organized the day.

The three instructors—Anne Schweighardt and Alexa Harding, part of the local racing and mountain biking scene, as well as Case Morrill, a local rider, instructor, GROC bike patroller, and Bristol Mountain patroller led several team-building exercises to foster a sense of camaraderie and trust among the group. This foundation of safety and teamwork set the tone for an engaging and supportive atmosphere throughout the mountain bike event.
The highlight of the day was two hours of mountain biking instruction and riding led by the three instructors. They carefully designed the instruction to accommodate all experience levels, from beginners to more advanced riders. Each participant had the opportunity to learn new skills, refine their technique, and build confidence on the trails.
After an invigorating ride, they enjoyed a calming yoga session to stretch and relax. The event concluded with a shared lunch, providing a perfect moment for reflection and connection, where participants exchanged stories, celebrated accomplishments, and strengthened the bonds they formed that day.
by Tim Franz, Bike Supervisor | Oct 14, 2024 | Division News, Spotlight Articles
In late September, the Thunder Mountain Bike Patrol hosted the first annual Eastern Division Bike Program Weekend. It was an exciting two days of downhill riding, getting to know other bike patrollers, and learning, including taking the NSP Bike 1 training class.
The weekend opened on Saturday morning with optional non-NSP activities. Thunder Mountain offered participants some great discounts. We, of course, took full advantage of these opportunities by spending the day on the mountain. There was even an NSP-specific lesson where I learned how to ride a sweet jump line (pretty good for a 60-yr old, long-time XC rider!). We met up with other NSP members, assisted the patrol with sweep, and then ended the day with an Eastern Division bike program meeting with the regional advisors who were able to attend.
As you might expect after a great day of riding, the meeting quickly progressed into social time at Thunder Mountain’s Crazy Horse Bar & Grill. Participants and non-participants alike arrived and joined in on the conversation. Some attendees camped out that night and two of us glamped at Patrol Hilltop. More participants arrived on Sunday morning in time for that day’s NSP education programming.
Sunday started with a morning session covering the five modules of the Bike 1 Skills Session. I taught Module 1 which demonstrates the ABCDE-Quick Check and helmet fitting. Kevin Brody of Thunder Mountain taught Module 2 which is about knowing your bike, tools for trailside repair, liability issues, and discussing how e-bikes fit into the bike community. Marc Burdick, the Thunder Mountain PD, taught Module 3 which includes lifting, carrying, and transporting bike patients. Dave Voelxen of GROC Mountain Bike Patrol taught Module 4 giving us an intro to the various different types of patrols and land managers as well as providing a refresher about conducting a scene size up.
Finally, Jason Tamulen of Thunder Mountain led a session about Module 5 where we discussed adaptive cyclists and working with those with diverse abilities. Kevin, a former pro rider and bike mechanic, incorporated a bike maintenance clinic into his session and Marc added a clinic about how to use a one-wheeled litter into Module 3. This clinic was absolutely necessary before we took our afternoon session.
After lunch we rode again! Then, thanks to the incredible support of the entire Thunder Mountain Bike Patrol, we ran two complete scenarios from start to finish which were timed by patrol dispatch. Special thanks go to Jason, Marc, and Kevin who created our afternoon session complete with moulage. Our clock started ticking when Hilltop received a phone call from an injured person on a trail. Dispatch radioed to the bike patrol, and we sent two people to ride to and then size up the scene. The two leads completed their initial assessment and then made their radio call for support. Dispatch released the rest of us and we rode the trail to the scene. They also dispatched two of the patrol’s UTVs (utility terrain vehicle) which could only get close to the scene when using the nearest access road.
The team immediately split, some working on patient care and stabilization while others working to get the necessary equipment from the UTV. We then transported the stabilized patent to the UTV using some tools we learned about that morning, including the one-wheeled litter and vacuum mattress. Both of these were new to everyone outside of TMBP. Finally, we loaded the patient on the UTV. One team member rode in the back to keep the patient stabilized. The rest of us took care of the scene, sent the bikes and helmets down with the other UTV, and rode down to meet the UTV at base first aid. We removed the patient and brought them into the medical center, which is when the dispatcher stopped the clock. The times showed that the team clearly improved when using the one-wheeled litter after the second scenario, which was a much more difficult one.
Overall, it was an exciting weekend filled with excellent learning opportunities mixed with making new friends and spending lots of time on the bike. There will definitely be a second annual Eastern Division Bike Program Weekend next summer, so watch the Eastern Division website and Trail Sweep for information about it.
by Tim Franz, Bike Supervisor | May 1, 2024 | Division News, Program News

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).
- Write unit bylaws and unit member handbook.
- Create and/or fine tune the leadership structure.
- And finally, recruit and train members.
Reach out to your region advisor or to Tim Franz, the Eastern Division Bike Program Advisor if you have questions.
by Tim Franz, Bike Supervisor | Mar 24, 2024 | Division News, Program News
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.
Reach out to your region advisor or to Tim Franz, the Eastern Division Bike Program Advisor if you have questions.
by Tim Franz, Bike Supervisor | Dec 16, 2023 | Division News
As of the fall of 2023, the Eastern Division is working to develop other opportunities for our members, including working on developing its bike program. With bike patrollers and bike hosts serving their community in other areas, this brings considerable visibility to what we do as part of NSP. This provides an opportunity to get more individuals involved in patrolling, renewing the organization, and providing a service to a developing sport.
What is the bike program?
There are different types of bike programs in the division. Some are bike-only units that work in the summer, which is typically the NSP off-season. Some serve alpine patrols that have biking in the summer. Some are stand-alone, lift-served alpine bike patrols that aren’t affiliated with a winter patrol unit. These patrols are proliferating.
The NSP Bike Program aims to identify, implement, and share best practices, develop and expand bike patrolling skills, assist bike patrol and host units with recruitment and retention, and continuously provide value to the NSP organization and its membership.
Who is the new bike program supervisor?
The board appointed Tim Franz, from Genesee Valley to the Bike Program Supervisor position. He comes to the division with 12 years of NSP experience, including positions as patrol director for a bike patrol, an alpine patroller at Bristol Mountain, bike patroller for GROC Mountain Bike Patrol (an International Mountain Bike Association patrol that Tim helped transition to NSP), and OEC instructor.

What’s going to be happening with the bike program?
The bike program is rolling out quite a few new educational programs. If you’re interested in bike patrolling, watch closely for these programs. Only one, bike fundamentals, is available in the LMS so far, but two more hybrid classes should be coming soon. There are several bike patrolling sessions at Powderfall this year, one of which comes from the Eastern Division.
What’s next for the bike program?
You’ll be hearing more about the bike program in the coming months. We’re working to get the program organized and up and running. If you’re interested in more information, please reach out to Tim Franz.