A day in the life of a ski patroller

Being a patroller isn’t all about having fun and skiing around.

It’s early mornings. It’s long, busy days. It’s intense situations.

“Although, we do love to ski,” says Drew Pearson, assistant director of ski patrol at Marmot Basin.

“There have been some days where we’ve had to deal with eight accidents at once,” he says. “We’re prepared for anything from an out-of-bounds multiple-person avalanche all the way to serious medical issues, to significant trauma.”

Though volunteers beef up the ranks on weekends, most ski patrollers are paid, full-time employees at Marmot Basin. They start their shifts at 7:30 a.m. daily, when they get ready for the day ahead and take part in a one-hour training session. The sessions are used to address the technical skills required on the job, such as rappelling to the ground from the chair lift.

And they have to be prepared, as there can be up to 24,000 people on the hill at one time on some of the busiest days of the season. “Sometimes we have to manage it like a town,” Pearson says. “There have been days where we’ve had to deal with eight accidents at once.”

All 26 full-time patrollers have passed a first responder course, and those at Marmot come from varied backgrounds, which can give them an advantage. Some, like Pearson, are volunteer firefighters, some are paramedics, and some have search and rescue experience. 

Though they’re prepared, ski patrollers would like to see more accidents and injuries prevented. “It just boils down to common sense and awareness,” Pearson says. “When people come up it’s a fun time, a safe time, but it’s their responsibility as much as ours.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize that they can’t expect to come up and be 100 per cent safe without having a part in it.”

All skiers and boarders should wear helmets, Pearson says, and follow the skiers’ responsibility code, which is posted on trail maps and signs around the mountain as well as on the hill’s website.

“You want to show up with the right equipment, the right attitude, and a healthy respect for the mountain and other people on it,” he says. “Get lessons, lessons are so important. A large portion of injuries are skiers or boarders who have never taken a lesson.

“All accidents, in my opinion, are preventable.”