Original Article: Shauna Farnell @ The New York Times

“You need to have a good, tight seal. Facial hair will interfere with that and put that ski patroller at risk. I’ve known many ski patrollers whose facial hair is near and dear. This year is going to be painful for them.” -Dr. Kendrick Adnan

Ski patrollers across the country are dealing with facial hair separation anxiety as safety protocols are calling for clean shaven faces so masks can have a proper seal. It’s something you might not have noticed but there’s almost a beard culture among patrollers with the natural neck gators providing a layer of protection in strong winds, blizzards, frigid temperatures and harsh high elevation sun. The New York Times reports at A-Basin, 47 of the resort’s 56 patrollers had to do away with the beards to comply with the new protocols, many seeing their full face for the first time in years. Breckenridge patroller Hunter Mortensen hadn’t shaved in 10 years and had this to say about the new look:

“It was shocking. It was like that jumping-in-a-cold-lake-feeling the first time the wind blew” adding there’s a silver lining to all the freshly shaven mugs “Most of us look a lot younger and less weathered.”