North Carolina’s Beech Mountain honored National Ski Patrol (NSP) member Pete Chamberlain earlier this year, dedicating the “Chamberlain Express” rescue toboggan to the longtime patroller. According to Blue Ridge Outdoors, Chamberlain has been an active ski patroller since 1954, making this year his 69th season as a member of the NSP.
“I don’t ever remember a time where I wasn’t skiing. My parents were skiers, and while my mother was pregnant with me she skied in December 1938, and I was born the following May. So naturally I fell in love with the hobby, and I originally became a ski patroller because there was no line or cost for the ski lift.” – Pete Chamberlain
Chamberlain began his career at the Drumlins Country Club in upstate New York, moving to Sugar Mountain Resort in North Carolina in the 1960s. He moved to Beech Mountain around 1978 and never left.
“When Sugar Mountain opened up, the initial ski patrol got a hold of me and said, ‘we understand you’re a patroller, we need your help. Skiing the South was relatively new then and, to be honest, I thought I was going to have to give up skiing once I moved. I ended up working there until about (19)78 when I changed to Beech Mountain and never left.” – Pete Chamberlain
Congrats to Pete on such a long service. We all hope our careers can be as cool and long as yours!
Image Credit: National Ski Patrol System Inc via Facebook
