Every autumn, an Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) course is offered at Middlebury College, taught by Sean Grzyb, ski patrol director, with guidance from the assistant director, and student-elected ski patrol co-presidents.
The top-15 candidates who complete the OEC course are then invited to continue in their training, and begin a series of on-mountain skiing and/ or snowboarding physical skills tests, while being evaluated by their senior ski patrol members and staff along the way.
After these skills tests are completed, a group of 7-10 “rookies” are elected by student members, and staff, based on a combination of overall medical performance, individual on-mountain physical performance, and any additional skills-sets they might be able to offer to the larger ski patrol staff.
Once elected by their peers, student ski patrol members will be charged with providing emergency medical care, technical rescue services, general stewardship, and good humor for staff, skiers, and riders at the mountain, ultimately functioning as Snow Bowl ambassadors at large.
As the student members gain experience on the mountain, they go on to train future rookies, with the majority of skills handed down from generation to generation in a familial manner.
Not only is the ski patrol student-governed, and internally self-trained, they are one of only two private collegial student ski patrols in the nation—the other is nearby, at the Dartmouth Skiway.
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