NATIONAL SKI PATROL SYSTEM INC
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : f*****e@n*p.o*g
Mission Statement
Our mission: to help keep people safe on the mountain and during other outdoor activities.
About This Cause
Who is NSP? The National Ski Patrol originated in Stowe, Vermont in 1938 after founder Charles “Minnie” Dole suffered a skiing injury and lost a friend in a ski racing accident. He began looking into ski safety and organized a volunteer safety patrol for a ski race in March 1938, where the National Ski Association saw the effectiveness of the patrol and approached Dole about creating a national patrol organization. Dole agreed to chair the new National Ski Patrol System, which he led until the NSP moved its headquarters from New York to Colorado in 1950. The program gained significant interest in the 1960s, when the number of volunteer patrollers nearly tripled from 5,000 to over 14,000; today, nearly 31,000 NSP members make up more than 650 patrols across the United States and in parts of Canada, Europe, and Asia. More than 70% of NSP members are volunteers. We are represented at 97% of ski areas in the U.S., and over 94% of patrollers in the U.S. are NSP members. We provide the highest standard in outdoor emergency care education and set the standard for ski patrolling in the U.S. and beyond. Our most recent expansion initiative now includes qualified bike patrollers as members. The members of NSP apply their hearts and minds every day to ensure the safety of those enjoying the outdoor mountain sports. Our core values are: excellence, service, camaraderie, leadership, integrity, and responsiveness. The National Ski Patrol’s mission, “To keep people safe on the mountain and during other outdoor activities,” requires a great amount of work to execute. Ski and mountain bike patrollers prepare the mountain and trails in the morning, provide rescue and care for guests during the day, and make sure everyone gets down the mountain safely at the close of the day. There is no cost to the injured guest and no cost to the ski area for these services. Meanwhile, NSP patrollers donate the equivalent of $75 million in personal time to the organization . No one plans on getting hurt on the slopes, so NSP members plan ahead for the injuries that can quickly turn more serious due to the surrounding environment-- extreme temperatures, weather variables, steep terrain, and isolated settings. Patrollers play a vital role in mitigating serious injuries and saving lives. NSP serves its member base, which also includes associate members and affiliate organizations, with education and credentialing for our Outdoor Emergency Care program. This is a nationally recognized program designed to train patrollers to manage the toughest outdoor medical emergencies in all seasons. All patrollers, both professional and volunteer, complete mentally and physically rigorous educational trainings and tests before being accepted as candidates. They then work in outdoor field conditions to ensure peace of mind and safety for skiers, snowboarders, mountain bikers, river rafters, and wilderness enthusiasts. We provide a level of outdoor safety unparalleled by any other organization. What is our future? Our Strategic Plan encompasses NSP’s current strategies toward enhancing our organization. We are working to ensure that our curriculum-based educational programs continuously provide value to the student; to enhance our external value to ski areas; to increase our brand awareness; to establish an effective internal technological system that serves our members; and to strengthen our OEC program. Our consistent goal is to support our members and to collaborate with external partners to positively influence the industry. We constantly refine our OEC curriculum to update it with new information and more technologically advanced ways to access material. The emergence of new snow sports like tubing, snowboarding, and snow biking) and advances in the medical field create the need for frequent updates of our safety and emergency procedures. We have implemented a comprehensive, robust database system that tracks our member information and course registrations, and we hope to implement systems that better measure our impact. We want to attract new generations of patrollers who continue to carry on our legacy and founding credo of “Service and Safety.” Why do we need funding? National Ski Patrol serves the public by meeting a critical need in the outdoor sports community: assisting people in emergencies in the mountains. Our current funding structure includes revenue from membership dues, sponsorship agreements, and our online store, which provides discounted gear to members so they have the jackets, backpacks, snow gear, and medical equipment necessary for their work. NSP does not charge a fee to resorts for their services, and patrollers do not charge a fee to guests for their medical support. The majority of our members are volunteers, and our Pro (paid) patrollers often work long hours under harsh conditions for minimal wages. When examining other nonprofit organizations comparable in size and industry, on average the National Ski Patrol’s budget falls below the 75th percentile. The NSP has operated effectively under our current revenue structure, but we are entering a period of necessary modernization and enhanced marketing to strengthen our membership numbers and remain relevant in the outdoor emergency services industry. The average age of our members is around 55 years old, and we hope to raise funds to increase the involvement of younger generations in patrolling and their awareness of these opportunities. Additionally, with our nonprofit status and the dearth of income to our members for their work, we need outside funding to help us grow and institutionalize the organization. Charitable funding ensures the strength of the NSP and the capacity to continue delivering services to both our members as well as the outdoor recreation guests.