By Nick Harper-Johnston, NSP-Subaru Ambassador What's something that the vast majority of Western ski areas have in common? That YOU, the skier, own the actual land you are skiing on. It's no secret that the US Forest Service and skiing have always gone hand in hand, and that the folks attracted to the woods like [...]
By Cody Burns, NSP-Subaru Ambassador Life as a patroller during the summer months in Alaska is as unique as the wildlife, weather, and daylight. In the land of the midnight sun, there is a seemingly endless amount of time for fun and recreational activities. We started our summer program here at Alyeska Resort eight years [...]
By Sarah Chapelle, NSP-Subaru Ambassador Family. We are all born into one, but we also acquire many more throughout life. Whether a church family, work family, or sports family, each makes us feel whole in different ways. The National Ski Patrol family is no exception. Two years ago, my husband and I packed our bags [...]
By Jay Zedak, NSP-Subaru Ambassador and NSP Board Member Every Memorial Day for many years, I have attended the parade in Hudson, Ohio (population 25,000). When I was a child, I decorated and rode my bike (banana seat of course). As an adult, I proudly drove the fire engine or heavy rescue truck as a [...]
By Nicholas Harper-Johnston, NSP-Subaru Ambassador It is 4 am. The frost inside my sleeping bag wakes me up from a restless sleep. All I hear are the sounds of the wind whipping on my tent fly. I try to fall back asleep but it’s pointless. Eventually, it is time to wake up. They give us [...]
By Michelle Longstreth, NSP-Subaru Ambassador Photos by Andrew Longstreth Cirrus sniffed; she moved to the right. I stopped to watch her next move. It is hard as a handler to stop, watch and wait. She kept going across the hill and stopped again. She sniffed, buried her nose in the snow, sniffed a couple more [...]
By Marshal Thompson, NSP-Subaru Ambassador My path to becoming a ski patroller started 51 years ago in an upstate New York hospital where a young 19-year-old college student lay in a hospital bed planning her own funeral with her mother. This young girl was about to undergo another surgery for massive internal injuries, acute [...]
By Chris Tota, NSP-Subaru Ambassador It was a brutally cold January day when I was riding up Lift 7 at Belleayre Mountain with a veteran patroller, and we were discussing mountain procedures for calling in and responding to accidents. As a Young Adult Patroller just turning 15 years old, I had almost two months [...]
