My Slope Guardian Angel

Nothing beats the freedom one gets from zooming down slopes and feeling the crisp air caress your skin. For some, the exhilarating feeling and the adrenalin rush one gets is something that money cannot buy. If you would do anything to have this kind of feeling, then maybe you should consider a career in skiing.

Surprising as it may sound, there are really people who have taken the slopes as their own work station. These people are usually surrounded by snow almost every waking moment. These people are none other than the ski patrollers, ski resort guides, and ski instructors.

Getting a job in any ski resort, however, is no easy task especially if you are looking at a ski patroller job. Ski patrollers are responsible for ensuring the safety of the skiers and vacationers. Oftentimes, ski resort owners would even send them to steep slopes to induce avalanche before the ski resort opens. This prevents avalanche from happening when the ski resort is full of people.

Ski patrollers can either be paid medical personnel or volunteer emergency workers. They usually hold a different day job and have the option of becoming ski instructing professionals because of their good grasp of the different skiing techniques.

In order to become a ski patroller, the first thing that you need to do is develop advance skiing skills. One of the responsibilities of a ski patroller is to be able to rush to scenes of emergency as soon as possible. You can hone your skills by enrolling in any ski instruction school. For auxiliary patrollers, mastering the different skiing techniques is not a requirement.

Once you have mastered the different skiing techniques, you would need to study basic as well as wilderness first aid. You would also be required to take up Outdoor Emergency Care or OEC. This skiing instruction course usually runs for 80 to 100 hours. It also usually includes toboggan handling, mountain travel and rescue, and avalanche identification skills. If you are someone who does not have a good deal of patience or is just in it for the freebies, you might find it hard to adjust as a ski patroller.