by Chuck Boyd, Nordic/Backcountry Supervisor | Nov 19, 2025 | Division News, Program News
Nordic Fest is back, but with a new date…January 30-February 1, 2026! We will again be at Highland Forest in Fabius, NY, with most of us arriving on Friday January 30. You can enhance your ski skills with L3 PSIA XC instructors who will provide personal instruction on your specific skill set needs.
Group meals, good lessons, and great people will make this an awesome learning experience. If you’re looking to test out as Nordic Senior, contact both your patrol director and me.
By the time you read this I will already have skied the toll road on Whiteface. The only way to catch this early season snow is to earn your turns. This is what Nordic skiing is all about.
It will be a couple more weeks before ski areas start spinning their lifts, so if you feel the urge, now is the time to get out there before everyone else. Just don’t be too aggressive as the snow will not be deep enough to hide all the hidden obstacles. Don’t hurt yourself before the season gets started. Work on getting in shape and having fun.
See you out there.
by Chuck Boyd, Nordic/Backcountry Supervisor | Jul 4, 2025 | Program News
What is a Nordic Master? As the name suggests, it is a master of all Nordic skills. These include Nordic Senior, MTR 1 & 2, Avalanche 1 & 2, instructor in one or more NSP disciplines, holding or having held an NSP administrative position, and demonstrating proficiency in XC and Nordic downhill skiing, as well as toboggan handling skills. Once these prerequisites are met, candidates must pass three final evaluations and an oral review board to earn this coveted certification.
Currently, there are 22 Nordic Masters across the country. One is a division director, two are on the national board of directors, another is the national Nordic/Backcountry program director, and three are division Nordic/Backcountry program supervisors. All the Nordic Masters have worked tirelessly to master their skills and provide leadership and education to help make NSP the best it can be.
This level of achievement does not happen overnight. I’m NM 005 and have been a patroller for 31 years. With determination, you might be able to achieve this goal in 10-15 years of service, but being a Nordic Master is about being the best that you can be. We now have a couple of patrollers starting the final evaluation process and several others who have almost completed all the prerequisites.
Planning for this season is already underway, with the AMN scheduled for the weekend of September 26-28, 2025, at Pike Glades, NH. This is an instructor education event, but all patrollers are welcome, especially if you are considering becoming an instructor in any of the three disciplines.
We plan on running our three Nordic Senior/Nordic Master events similar to last season. First will be Nordic Fest at Highland Forest, NY, January 9-11, 2026. Second will be a Nordic/Backcountry event at Pike Glades, NH, February 27, 28, and March 1, 2026. The third and final event will be the Nordic Senior/Nordic Master event at Bolton Valley, VT, on the weekend of March 20-22, 2026. These events will be posted on the division calendar as well as Patroller School once the final details are worked out.
Hope you all have a great summer and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on skis this winter.
by Chuck Boyd, Nordic/Backcountry Supervisor | Jun 5, 2025 | Program News
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.
After lunch, we headed out to do rope rescue work. Jeff Sergeant led the group, demonstrating the raising and lowering systems we are trying to standardize throughout all division programs requiring rope rescue skills.
The main event started in the evening. Jeff Sargent was about to be evaluated for his Nordic Master overnight SAR exercise. This is one of the three final NM evaluations required once you meet the prerequisites and is considered by many to be the most demanding. Our suite became the ICS command center with Greg France as the Incident Command (IC), training Mike Lapierre and Brian Doyle to take over in the future. Jeff started to prepare the ICS 200 paperwork. Mike Balk, our patient and lost person, headed off to a location only known to the rescue support team. Once in place, a set of GPS coordinates was called in as the last seen point of the missing skier. Jeff downloaded the coordinates into his phone. All systems were double-checked before Jeff headed out the door.
A cold front was approaching with strong winds picking up to 25-35 mph and gusting to 45, snow flurries, and temperatures dropping to single digits. It was going to be a cold night for the participants. We discussed our backup rescue plan for the rescuers, hoping for the best. The overnight SAR exercise requires the participant to navigate to the missing person, treat their injuries (at least two), build a shelter, spend the night, prepare a hot meal, and evacuate in the morning.
We tracked Jeff’s movements and studied his search patterns. He called in at regular intervals, reporting his progress. Making it to the first set of coordinates, he was surprised no one was there. A second last seen point was called in. Jeff added this to his phone, and after another 20-30 minutes of searching, the subject was located. He called this in along with his first set of vitals and treated the subject’s injuries.
Once the patient was stabilized, Jeff called back in for assistance with the evacuation. IC notified Jeff that the rest of the team was involved in another callout and that no help was available. He would have to spend the night with the subject. He replied that he was starting to build a shelter. Two hours later, once we knew Jeff was settled in with Mike, we went out to observe his situation without them knowing (evaluation and safety factor).
For Mike, part of the NM IT training is to be the patient for several of these events. As an IT, I have suffered dearly for it. Jeff was a strong candidate for this scenario, and he did very well. After making breakfast, they were both evacuated and returned to the IC smiling.
Except for the sun coming out and the temps going up to 20, the weather on Sunday was still like the night before. We spent the morning building improvised toboggans and had the students demonstrate their rope skills. We finished the day debriefing, and all headed off in different directions.
We will be back at Bolton next year, so check the division’s website calendar for the dates and registration information.
