Photo: National Ski Patrol | Cover Photo: Mark Turner

If you subscribe to the stereotype that most people who affiliate with ski patrols are old men with a penchant for crusty attitudes and cold weather than Meegan Moszynski is here to change your perspective.

Related: OSHA Fines Squaw Valley $20K Over Ski Patroller’s Death

The newly appointed Executive Director of the National Ski Patrol is the antithesis of that caricature. For one, she’s never been on ski patrol. Second, the new director brings a litany of communications and leadership experience to the table without any of the ‘it’s always been done that way hangups. One of those hangups is that ski patrol only trains for winter operations. Not the way things are going says the Moszynski.

“When I lived in Jackson I really got a intimate knowledge of what [ski patrollers] do day in and day out. The stuff they do on a daily basis is extremely gnarly and I respect that.”

In the coming years, the first female director of the NSP will be charged with retaining its vast network of over 30,000 ski patrollers while at that same time– helping engineer a standardized patroller curriculum that takes into account new dangers such as drones, increased backcountry traffic, and above all a non-winter sport– mountain biking.

Moszynski said the NSP is working closely with newly implemented ‘bike patrols’ at ski areas such as Winter Park to see how they can better serve summer guests in the next decade. The NSP already includes “several” bike patrols as a part and are looking to grow their reach in the coming years.

“All my experience has prepared me for this job.”

And with winter becoming shorter and shorter each trip around the sun, it only makes sense for the NSP to diversify its support structure. Just so happens, Moszynski is the perfect person to amplify the role NSP members play at such ski resorts. “We want to be sure we can support them in those expansions.” Whether fat biking or mountain biking, some ski areas are beginning to host year-round fun on two-wheels. Luckily, the NSP has Meegan to help with such transitions.

About The National Ski Patrol

In March 1938, while officiating the National Downhill at Mount Mansfield in Stowe, Vermont, Roger F. Langley, then president of the National Ski Association, had an industry-changing idea. Langley was impressed by the “super patrol” for the race that Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole had created from members of the Mt. Mansfield, Pittsfield, and Burlington ski patrols. While watching the race at Shambles Corners on the Nosedive trail, Langley asked Dole if he would organize a national patrol like the one in use at the race. Not one to shy from a challenge, and having lost a friend on the slopes two years earlier, “Minnie” accepted, and the National Ski Patrol was born.

Today, the nonprofit National Ski Patrol still adheres to the creed of “Service and Safety” established more than 75 years ago. As the industry has evolved, so too has the NSP. The emergence of new snow sports like snowboarding, tubing, and snow-skating has introduced new equipment and terrain, requiring new safety and rescue techniques and emergency care methods to be developed and taught. In addition, greater access to the backcountry has brought new training and regimens for NSP members.

As the leading authority of on-mountain safety, the NSP is dedicated to serving the public and outdoor recreation industry by providing education and accreditation to emergency care and safety service providers. The organization is made up of more than 28,000 members serving over 650 patrols. Our members work on behalf of local ski and snowboard areas to improve the overall experience for outdoor recreationalists.

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