Outdoor Emergency Transportation (OET) is the official NSP-branded name for rescue toboggan training education. All alpine patrollers are required to take annual refreshers at their mountain to maintain their status. Local mountain OET Toboggan Instructors run refreshers and train incoming patroller candidates. Since 1996, NSP has created an educational program structure that develops a training curriculum, assigns highly skilled and experienced instructor trainers (ITs) to recertify instructors, mentors incoming instructors, and manages the quality assurance documents for maintaining continuing education and certifications.
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A staff of 37 instructor trainers across the Eastern Division work closely with the 15 Regional OET Advisors, maintaining the OET program’s quality with in-service training, continuing education courses, feedback, and observations. Each advisor maintains their own OET Staff of trainer-evaluators (TEs) to serve and advise the local mountain toboggan instructors helping them with the latest educational techniques and methods.
The OET Program is committed to continuous education, maintaining educational courses on Eastern Division’s Online Moodle School (a Learning Management System maintained for delivering continuing education for instructors) to provide access to the most up-to-date teaching methods.
Over the decades, the division’s OET Staff has maintained a long tradition of providing instructor training to improve the quality of on-snow education and unify it between the regions. The evolution began in 1997 with the introduction of formalized instructor mentoring. In 2003, OET Teaching Methods were introduced to give instructors tools for teaching on the snow. Using the Instructor Development textbook, a training program was developed emphasizing 6-Pack Lesson Planning, “positive immediate student feedback,” and most importantly, ADAPT.
ADAPT is a cyclical teaching tool that instructors use to improve student learning activities and monitor teaching effectiveness. It allows instructors to customize learning to the needs of each student, with the mission of building skills and then progressing learning by adding additional skills. Its goal has always been to offer instructors a path for taking candidates from day-one learning all the way up to passing their senior level at the student’s pace.
In 2017 NSP’s OET Director adopted the Technical Fundamentals of Skiing as the instructional language for on-snow teaching. The Professional Ski Instructors Association and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI) created the fundamentals covering skiing, telemarking, and snowboarding. These technical fundamentals bring teaching concepts to life with practical applications adapted to the student’s ability level or desired outcome. OET Instructors have been using the language of the fundamentals as a tool to provide consistent, accurate, and concise feedback.
Building upon past changes to further improve teaching effectiveness, the OET Program is once again evolving instructor education and its teaching methods. Beginning in 2025, OET Instructors will be learning how to refine cyclical ADAPT-based teaching to include a closer student collaboration using meaningful two-way communication. Instructors will learn how to incorporate listening as students reflect on sensations, feelings of movements, and outcomes – both good and bad. The new on-snow teaching methods are designed to add more effective tools for instructors to create progress in student skill development.
OET teaching evolutions often take several years to roll out across the division. This one is being introduced nationally with a series of Toboggan Technical Fundamentals. Watch the next issue of Ski Patrol Magazine for more about the OET Educational Program. Also, watch for the next issue of Trail Sweep to learn how instructors and students benefit as the program rolls out improved on-snow teaching tools.
It’s that time of year when the temperatures start to cool, leaves start to change, and there’s pumpkin spice everything. That means it’s time to start thinking about Ski Patrol training. Have you started to think about your OET training opportunities? There are training events everywhere – at your home area, in your region, and at the division level.
Where do you find these fun events? Patrollerschool.org has links to events in each region and in the division. As a local patroller, look for Ski Enhancement and Toboggan Enhancement Seminars. These are training events where you can refresh your skills, learn new techniques, and challenge yourself.
The next step is the Senior Program. This training fine tunes your skiing and toboggan handling skills in the “more” or “most” difficult terrain. This allows you to train with patrollers from other ski areas in your region. Challenge yourself to ski on new terrain, meet new people, and better your skills.
Following are the goals of the Senior Patroller Outdoor Emergency Transportation program:
To provide a training and evaluation environment which encourages all Patrollers to participate.
To expand and improve the NSP member’s patrolling knowledge and skills through a national program of training and evaluation.
To provide NSP members with the opportunity to obtain quality upper-level training.
To improve the image of Patrollers and the National Ski Patrol.
To provide a method for members to obtain personal improvement and achievement through definable goals.
To prepare patrollers for leadership positions in the National Ski Patrol.
In order to apply, you must get the recommendation of your patrol director and contact your region OET administrator. Encourage a friend to apply with you!
Young adult patrollers have the same training opportunities as adult patrollers and have additional YAP specific training events available. There is an annual YAP summit in the spring for patrollers throughout the division. Are you a YAP or do you have YAPs at your area or region? Talk to your region’s YAP advisor about events scheduled in the region. YAPs are encouraged to participate in the division OET events at patroller schools. This is an opportunity to ski at new areas, meet new patrollers, learn something new, and HAVE FUN!
I would like to introduce myself, Heather Newman, as the next Women’s Advisor for the Eastern Division. I grew up skiing at a small (one T-bar, six runs) mountain in Northern Maine and started my patrol career in 2010. Since 2013, I have been a volunteer patroller at Saddleback in Rangeley, Maine. I am a Senior Patroller, an OEC Instructor, and an OET TE. Over the past six years, I have worked with the Maine Region as the Women’s Advisor and am very excited to take on my new role.
When asked why I enjoy teaching at Women’s-only events, I refer to comments the attendees made to me during and after the event: “I have never done that before; that was so cool,” “Thanks for taking us to the edge of our comfort zone with confidence,” “You believe I can, I believe I can,” and “Thank you and your friends for showing us women are strong patrollers.” I look forward to working all over the Eastern Division to bring more of those moments to the women of our patrol.
My family and I recently moved to Central Vermont and I look forward to skiing and getting to know patrols in the area.
Each season, at the beginning of December the Outdoor Emergency Transportation (OET) Program gathers OET staff members from across the Eastern Division for a weekend focused on leadership and professional development. This year’s conference was aptly named, Building Great Instructors. So, what makes an instructor great? The International Olympic Committee summarized it well.
What makes an instructor great?
1. Understands the sport and leads by example.
2. Sponge for knowledge.
3. Shares the knowledge with others.
4. Highly energized and a motivator.
5. Knows the student, values, and respects the relationship.
6. Is an effective communicator and teacher.
7. Is a good listener.
8. Is disciplined, strong in character and integrity.
9. Leads by example very high attitude for hard work.
10. Displays commitment and clear passion for the sport.
The OET program’s mission is to create an environment of learning that elevates the skills, ability, and techniques needed to safely and efficiently transport guests to a higher level of care. Delivering on this mission begins with building great instructors, and leaders, within the OET program.
The Learning Connection During this year’s conference, OET leaders were introduced to the Learning Connection model developed by the Professional Ski Instructor Association (PSIA). The Learning Connection emphasizes that great lessons rely on the instructor’s ability to offer a blend of people skills, teaching skills, and technical skills. This approach creates informative, fun, and personalized experiences that keep students engaged in the learning process. To learn more about the Learning Connection, check out this write-up by PSIA.
OET Teaching Philosophy uses FIVE Essential components:
● Lesson Progressions that chain together “snippets” to facilitate incremental success as a pathway for mastering skills.
● Snippet-sized lessons with manageable objectives are designed to simplify guided practice, leading to quicker student success.
● Ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation to re-teach skills, customizing faster student success, known as ADAPT.
● Six-Pack Lesson Planning with an emphasis on creatively re-teaching and re-designing student activities, more ADAPT.
● Individualized Positive Immediate Student Feedback is used throughout all learning activities, practiced as PISE.
● Teach OET Instructors how to structure on-snow lesson activities.
Bringing It Home – Building Great Instructors
An essential function of an OET Staff member is to build great instructors in their home region. The learning activities and professional development that Staff members access at the OET Conference help provide them with the tools to bring that knowledge home to their regions, where the Regional OET Advisors can leverage their conference experience into training their Regional Senior Training staff as well as influence training improvements for local mountain Toboggan Instructors. To learn more about the OET Program, visit PatrollerSchool.org.
The 2024 Patroller School schedule and many other training events have been posted on the Eastern Division’s EVENT website. Please use it to find division-based educational events. The four programs that actively utilize Patroller School are:
Twenty years ago, the concept of offering high-level training opportunities taught by Division staff Instructors originated with Outdoor Emergency Transportation (OET). OET was initially known as the “ski and toboggan” program. It created the first Patroller School at Windham Resort in Southern NY as an opportunity for NSP members patrolling at smaller mountains to train on the big slopes with moguls. The event became popular and became a socializing weekend, as Patrollers traveled from all around the division to gather for a common training purpose. Soon, the concept spread to every corner of the Division and today includes Women’s events, snowboard training, telemark skiing, etc.
Avalanche courses follow a high-level curriculum because they deliver certification that some patrollers require as part of their patrolling profession. The course is quite long, with an online study component and a weekend of two and a half days traveling in avalanche terrain. Patroller School is an excellent place for members to shop when considering the type of avalanche certification they should invest in. NSP’s Avalanche Level Once is a little more involved than traditional “Companion Rescue Avalanche” certification because NSP includes a professional group rescue module.
Mountain Travel and Rescue, known as MTR for short, is NSP’s entry-level backcountry travel course. It covers winter ski camping from the perspective of navigation, sheltering in the mountains, staying warm, nutrition, trip planning, group leadership, organized search and rescue (SAR), etc. Completing the course gives members certification for joining SAR activities nationwide, known as ASTM F-2209 Land Searcher One certificate. Watch the MTR Events page to see courses added during late autumn and early spring. This is a great event to attend after the typical ski season concludes.
Eastern Division’s Stress Awareness Team has added a self-paced online course that individuals can sign up to experience. The team has been working on programs for preparing. Patrollers to better handle stress in both their rescue work as well as from the pressures of daily life. Developing individual techniques for handling the more challenging aspect of Patrolling has been found to alleviate the effects of stress. Learn to monitor yourself before, during, and after especially stressful situations. Learn how to recognize if the effects of stress are leading to an injury. Learn that you are not alone; there are Patrollers at your resort who can help; learn how to help yourself.
Visit Eastern Division’s EVENT website to look for educational opportunities by Googling PatrollerSchool.ORG
Outdoor Emergency Transportation (OET) is the official NSP-branded name for rescue toboggan training education. All alpine patrollers are required to take annual refreshers at their mountain to maintain their status. Local mountain OET Toboggan Instructors run refreshers and train incoming patroller candidates. Since 1996, NSP has created an educational program structure that develops a training curriculum, assigns highly skilled and experienced instructor trainers (ITs) to recertify instructors, mentors incoming instructors, and manages the quality assurance documents for maintaining continuing education and certifications.
It’s that time of year when the temperatures start to cool, leaves start to change, and there’s pumpkin spice everything. That means it’s time to start thinking about Ski Patrol training. Have you started to think about your OET training opportunities? There are training events everywhere – at your home area, in your region, and at the division level.
Each season, at the beginning of December the Outdoor Emergency Transportation (OET) Program gathers OET staff members from across the Eastern Division for a weekend focused on leadership and professional development. This year’s conference was aptly named, Building Great Instructors. So, what makes an instructor great? The International Olympic Committee summarized it well.
During this year’s conference, OET leaders were introduced to the Learning Connection model developed by the Professional Ski Instructor Association (PSIA). The Learning Connection emphasizes that great lessons rely on the instructor’s ability to offer a blend of people skills, teaching skills, and technical skills. This approach creates informative, fun, and personalized experiences that keep students engaged in the learning process. To learn more about the 
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