At both the ski areas that I volunteer at, we are now down to approximately 30 members at each one, compared to having 60-70 patrollers at each one. A majority of the patrollers are ages 50-70 (and up) years old and many of those remaining, will be retiring from patrol in less than 5 years. It feels very strange to once see huge numbers of ski patrollers at the beginning of each winter season standing for an annual group photo, but now we all look at each other and say; "where is everyone?". It's sad :-(
Anyone else experiencing this with their ski patrol?
I patrolled for 14 years in MN for a couple different patrols. The vast majority of patrollers in the midwest are volunteers in my experience. I made many lifelong friends and thoroughly enjoyed it for the first decade or so.
I "retired" this season for a few reasons:
1. I was bored with it.
2. I feel like pulling a shift a week, and a weekend refresher did not keep my skills sharp. I understand why more areas are only doing Pro Patrol, and moving away from NSP and volunteers, as the public becomes more and more litigious and judgmental, and tend to have less and less respect for the organization as a whole.
3. National Ski Patrol as an organization is an utter MESS. The NSP Board was deaf and blind to everything going on until it was too late, and then went after an all-too-convenient scapegoat - old white men. "Virtue signaling" became the focus. Politics became rampant. I find both repugnant.
4. Ironically, National dues nearly doubled after the consultants had been hired to tell us what we could see plainly - that the patrol was predominantly older white men (they needed consultants to tell us that??), the leadership purged, and the new direction announced. No thanks. I never had an issue with anyone I patrolled with - regardless of age, color, sex, or sexual orientation, etc, other than the people that were there with the intention of it being a way to ski for free, and giving little to no effort in the actual job. You HAVE TO want to be there if you're volunteering!! I also never had issues with any patients regardless of age, color, sex, or sexual orientation. They were all treated the same by me - and my only interest was making them as comfortable as possible, preventing further injury, and getting them off the hill for additional care if necessary. That was it.
5. Child birthing modules in 3 of the last 4 refreshers - really? I can promise you this - the first call made for someone going into labor will be to their OB/GYN, and the next will probably be 911. They aren't going to sit around while Crusty Old White Guy Patroller pulls on his gloves, grabs his cheaters, and says, "I'll have a look - let me help!!" Lol... Never had it happen, nor spoken to someone who did.
Rather than tending to the injured and broken bodies on the hill, NSP decided that all the other things were more important, and consequently became our focus. My first aid skills were suffering, disillusionment grew, and just decided that it wasn't worth it anymore. It's pretty sad, because I know a lot of people that hung it up the last couple years, and for may of the same reasons I mentioned above - and they weren't just old white dudes...
Basically, I think it's probably time to pay EMTs or paramedics as staffed pro patrollers at this point. When you have broken leadership, splintered membership, and a broken compass, it might be time to say that it's beyond repair, and not what the public wants to have anymore. The only way I'd come back would be for pay, and that isn't going to happen. I don't think that the current "work climate" helps either - people don't want to work to earn money these days, so why would they give their time for free?
I kid... To me, patrolling was similar to my days in the Army in terms of the tightness and camaraderie I had in my days in the dirt. The calling got quieter as the noise of political posturing got louder. I don't have time for it. I ski to get away from the BS of the day-to-day, but suddenly...there it was. "Retiring" is probably the best thing I've done though - I have begun to find the love for skiing again, and have gotten in touch with the reasons I started doing it in the first place.
