Arapahoe Basin will no longer use volunteer patrol after 4 decades

[Tricia]

Arapahoe Basin is going with 100% paid patrol going forward.
I'm not sure what the ramifications are of this, but I have some National Ski Patrol friends who are not thrilled with this decision.
I'd like to hear more from Pugski patrollers

End of an era: Arapahoe Basin volunteer ski patrol program finished after at least 4 decades
It was the kind of party no one wanted to throw, but that no one wanted to miss.

On May 7, longtime local Darla Whinston — a veteran ski patroller of 33 seasons who's been in charge of Arapahoe Basin's volunteer ski patrol program for a decade — threw a sort of forced retirement party for a staff of 22 unpaid patrollers. Dubbed the "End of an Era" party, Whinston and her crew got together at (where else?) the Beach for skiing, sunning, cake-eating and keg-drinking one final time as A-Basin staff. The scene was bittersweet, filled with expert skiers from 30 to 70 years old who spend anywhere from 20 to 100 days per season doing everything the paid staff does, all with no paycheck.

 

[Started at 53]

Interesting, could this be a legal liability issue?

 

[scott43]

Well usually when you go professional (as in paid) it's because you want more accountability and control. I have no idea what the deal is at A-basin but probably stems from something like that..

 

[Tricia]

Interesting, could this be a legal liability issue?

I'm not sure its a liability issue because all the volunteers are National Ski Patrol.

 

[Started at 53]

It's an odd move in a day of cutting costs to move to a paid patrol

 

[mdf]

Anybody know what the paid vs volunteer mix was before?

 

[pais alto]

It's an odd move in a day of cutting costs to move to a paid patrol

A-Basin already has paid patrollers as well as volunteers, they are just cutting the volunteer side. I'm not sure why, I can only speculate. We are all paid where I work, including the yellow jackets. Nearby, Taos is all paid patrol, but Pajarito and Sandia are volunteer. Angel Fire is at least partly paid, and I think Sipapu is too.

A-Basin might want to have the patrol's medical status fully at an Emergency Medical Service level - EMT/paramedic vs. OEC - which would be harder to do with volunteers.

Paid patrollers might be easier to organize and schedule, especially during shoulder seasons. Or they may have had some other trouble with the volunteer patrollers like recruitment or getting them to show up for the crappy work like set up, take down, trailwork, or maintenance.

I'd question whether volunteers "do everything" the paid staff does.

 

[SBrown]

Many answers to these questions can be found in the linked article:

Ask Whinston why A-Basin's volunteer ski patrol program is disappearing — Copper Mountain and other resorts across the nation have sprawling programs — and she'll agree with the ski area's talking points: as A-Basin grows, most notably with this summer's 468-acre expansion, every last ski patroller needs to be on the same page — every day, all season long.

"The volunteer program has always been fantastic and full of qualified, dedicated people," said Tony Cammarata, full-time ski patrol director at A-Basin who started as a volunteer patroller on his native East Coast. "It's always been great to have their help, but as our ski patrol is growing — and we have the upcoming expansion — we're hiring more paid positions. To be honest, our daily jobs are growing more complex."

But that doesn't imply A-Basin's volunteer patrollers are untrained novices, Cammarata and Whinston said. Her staff gets annual Outdoor Emergency Care refresher courses, just like the paid patrollers, and train at least once per year on basic lift evacuation, toboggan transport and other skills. It's a logistical nightmare to train volunteers for some duties — things like explosives and avalanche mitigation work — but Whinston still fights an uphill battle keeping everyone current and up to standard.

"They really need to have everybody on the same level," Whinston said. "As volunteers, no one is putting (us) on an explosives license. We can't go out on control routes with explosives and we're not certified climbers, so we can't climb for lift evacuations."

 

[Nancy Hummel]

I am not sure how they are able to have volunteers do the same things as paid employees from an employment law standpoint.

There was some issue at Aspen a few years ago about volunteer hosts doing jobs that others were paid to do. I do not know all the details but it seemed confusing.

It sounds like this will create more paid positions which seems positive.

 

[nay]

Yea, my first reaction is it sounds like an opportunity to get paid for what was previously volunteer work?



But then, I've never really understood the history of volunteer positions that have first responder responsibilities. You wouldn't necessarily draw it up that way in the 21st century.

 

[pais alto]

I've never really understood the history of volunteer positions that have first responder responsibilities. You wouldn't necessarily draw it up that way in the 21st century.

Volunteer fire departments.

I believe the first patrols were all volunteer.

 

[James]

Our mountain has volunteer patrol on weekends except some supervisors, and paid during the week. They do everything the paid people do. There is not so much giving of an asprin whether paid or unpaid. That includes those who are volly''s with MD's. Ambulance does that. Time is basically 7-5pm, 24 or 20 days per season can't remember at the moment.

I would say in general patrollers are treated like dirt and have lots of responsibility.

Other than avy and explosive issues I don't get.

 

[crgildart]

Wouldn't a volunteer have to report their season pass on their taxes as hobby income at the very least if not actual wages? I'd think at the very least volunteer patrols could easily be considered contractors with only a few more forms to sign. I can see the value of full EMT and beyond qualifications. I'm wondering if law enforcement experience is another direction that patrol directors might be heading with all the smoking and drinking that happens illegally on resort terrain.

 

[Chris Walker]

I've never been interested in patrolling since I faint at the sight of blood, so I have no idea how any of this works. But it seems to me an alternate headline could be "Arapahoe Basin Will Now Pay All Hard-working Patrollers Instead of Just Paying Some."

 

[pais alto]

Wouldn't a volunteer have to report their season pass on their taxes as hobby income at the very least if not actual wages?

Maybe, but two things: As a paid 'troller that doesn't ever come up, and their equipment could probably be deducted against that.

I'm wondering if law enforcement experience is another direction that patrol directors might be heading with all the smoking and drinking that happens illegally on resort terrain.

Nah, just call local LE to deal with it. Where I work the Forest Service LEO sometimes comes up to ski, all undercover and shit but he'll respond to LE issues there.

 

[crgildart]

Nah, just call local LE to deal with it. Where I work the Forest Service LEO sometimes comes up to ski, all undercover and shit but he'll respond to LE issues there.

Local grocery stores here pay off duty LEO to stand as security guards at the front door by the cash registers every night. Local clubs pay off duty LEO to work security there too. If a cop can ski, and pass the first aid requirements wouldn't they make a pretty good patrol as well? I know what side job I'd rather be doing of those three options if I were a cop.

 

[pais alto]

Local grocery stores here pay off duty LEO to stand as security guards at the front door by the cash registers every night. Local clubs pay off duty LEO to work security there too. If a cop can ski, and pass the first aid requirements wouldn't they make a pretty good patrol as well? I know what side job I'd rather be doing of those three options if I were a cop.

The ones I've talked to don't seem interested in the medical side, and there is really very little call for LE at the ski area. De-escalation techniques work 99% of the time. One of the de-escalation techniques that work best is letting people know that LE can be easily contacted.

And really, people are just trying to have fun...mostly, usually.

 

[mdf]

Wouldn't a volunteer have to report their season pass on their taxes as hobby income at the very least if not actual wages? I'd think at the very least volunteer patrols could easily be considered contractors with only a few more forms to sign.

That could be part of why volunteers are being phased out. The attention that the "gig economy" has brought to the question of "employees" vs "contractors" classification could easily bleed over into "aren't those volunteers really underpaid employees?"

 

[SBrown]

I've never been interested in patrolling since I faint at the sight of blood, so I have no idea how any of this works. But it seems to me an alternate headline could be "Arapahoe Basin Will Now Pay All Hard-working Patrollers Instead of Just Paying Some."

Right? I was reading the job posting for volunteer patrol at Copper a few years ago, and it was irritating for sure. I know this is under "preferred attributes," but still, it's annoying. (And I guess you could make a case that all patrollers are volunteers, as little as they are paid..)

• Previous patrolling experience, previously employed by Copper Mountain, mountaineering such as Outward Bound, or experience within the medical field.

• Basic computers skills, ACLS certification, EMT-P, technical rope experience.

• EMT-B, American Heart Association CPR, and strong alpine skiing background are minimum requirements, Mountaineering background.

• Industry experience, i.e. ski instructor, lift op, trail crew.

 

[Tricia]

I've never been interested in patrolling since I faint at the sight of blood, so I have no idea how any of this works. But it seems to me an alternate headline could be "Arapahoe Basin Will Now Pay All Hard-working Patrollers Instead of Just Paying Some."

A friend of mine is on the National Ski Patrol and she is a volunteer at Northstar. She was a volunteer at Squaw.
I'm not sure if she did everything at Squaw that the paid patrollers did, but at Northstar she does everything
She is given a season pass and some comp tickets based on how many hours she works, but she also has a full time job and is an EMT for events.

I don't know the ins and outs of the volunteer NSP or the paid patrol. Its all confusing to me.