News and Information


Instructors Wanted for Spring OEC Class in Springfield

A few weeks ago Karen Mills sent out an e-mail stating that I will be looking for instructors to assist in the upcoming OEC class. This is a follow up to that e-mail. I have attached a tentative course outline. Please take a look and see there are dates that will work for you or subjects that you would like to work with the students on.

The class will meet Tuesday and Thursday evening from 6:00 PM until approx. 9:00 PM at Baystate Medical Center's Cancer Center located at 3350 Main Street Springfield. I have yet to schedule the final exam but I will be looking for help and a location to run the test more information on that to come soon. We currently have 15 students and unless there are extenuating circumstances I will not be accepting any more students.

I know there are instructors that need to be evaluated to keep current. This is a great opportunity to get that done as well as to sharpen your skills with the new material.

This should be a fast paced fun class and I certainly cannot do it alone. Jim Fesaia has stepped to work as the IT for the course. Thanks Jim! And thanks to those instructors who have already offered to help.

Please let me know if you can help and what dates I can schedule you in. Questions, comments, concerns please get in touch.

Gerry Pollard


WMR Outdoor Emergency Care Course Starts April 24th

Gerry Pollard is conducting a OEC Class running April 24th thru July 24th, on Tuesday and Thursday nights in Springfield. Check back for details.

Gerry is looking for some instructors to help out with Practical skills -- especially for the midterm and final exams. If you are interested contact him so he can fill you in on the details.

2012 WMR Patrol Competition Results

Jiminy Peak SP skied away with the regions trophy after Jiminy Peak and West Point ended in a virtual tie for 1st place. Berkshire East came in 2nd after a red flag penalty on the very last challenge of the last event. Blandford being the ever so gracious host rounded out the top three in 3rd. The competition was one of the best ever run in Western Mass. Region and that was even before the the start of the awards and the pig roast at the SP top house. Blandford's SP started roasting a 250 lb. pig at 2am that morning and was a huge hit along with all the pasta, potatoes , salads and desserts. Many thanks to Russ Sweeny and the Blandford Ski Patrol for raising the bar to a very high standard for all Patrol Competitions to follow. Special thanks to John Tasinari, Regina Frydryk, Brian McClaflin, Connor McClaflin and Jay Gagliarducci for planning and execution of this event.

Senior S&T Evaluation Cancelled

Bruce Lorenzen, the region S&T advisor, has announced that no senior S&T evaluation will be conducted this year due to the lack of suitable terrain.

WMR Senior OEC Evaluation Results

On February 4, 2012 the WMASS region held its Senior OEC evaluation at Otis Ridge. The candidates invested a great deal of time and effort into the six clinics, along with self-study and practice at their home mountains. The following candidates have earned recognition by successfully completing this year's evaluation - please join us in congratulating:

To run this successful program we received support from several regional personnel and patients. The T/E's supporting this year's program were:

Additional support at the final included John Migliaccio, Brian Gallagher, Tom Hultine, Rick Santarosa, Paul Muska, Becky Mudge, Alex Pinigis, John Tonetti, Andrew DeSplinter and Zachery Taylor. We also received valuable insight and support at the final from Bill DeVarney and Deb Foss.

Special thanks to:

Thanks go out to all the aforementioned - and any others who may have been inadvertently missed - for their dedication to this program. We were fortunate to have Otis Ridge welcome us back for next year's final, and Butternut for clinics. Based on the candidate pool we may rotate clinics to other mountains. We look forward to working with next year's SOEC candidates. A tentative schedule will be posted to this website soon.

Bill Welch

WMR Patrol Competition News

Blandford confirms that we will host the 2012 Ski Patrol Competition on March 4. Click here for a description of the events - and here for a registration form.

We guarantee this will be one event you won't soon forget and the bar will be raised. I will need to have a "relative" head count of patrollers and guests so I can arrange food and lift passes. All are welcome.

Game on.

Russ Sweeny
Director, Ski Patrol, Blandford Ski Area

Women's S&T Enhancement Seminar

We're pleased to be able to bring this event back to the WMASS Region this season the weekend of March 3-4, 2012 at Butternut. This popular event consists of one day of ski and skills training and one day of toboggan work. The ski lesson portion will be led by a PSIA III instructor and we have Eastern Division Staff coming in to work the event.

These Ski and Toboggan Enhancement Clinics are open to all skill levels, including Young Adult Patrollers and Candidates. Our focus is to improve your skiing and toboggan-handling skills, building confidence in differing conditions and providing participants ample opportunity to get in the handles.

For those of you who have attended one of these seminars before...you know that it is a FUN event! For those of you who have never done this...sign up and have a great time. Preregistration is required. We will be charging $35 for the two days and that will include an apres ski get together on Saturday.

Please contact me if you have any questions or to register: Laura Tucker (muthrtuckr@yahoo.com)

Introducing the Eaglebrook Ski Patrol

The Eaglebrook Ski Patrol petitioned to join the NSP in 2011, but the patrol has been in action for quite sometime. Eaglebrook School is a junior boarding school in Deerfield, MA. Skiing has long been a core activity for our students dating back to 1923. The schools facilities, now formally named the Easton Ski Area, have morphed over the years. We presently sport 8 trails ranging from beginner to advanced with 450 vertical feet serviced by a double chairlift. Our school supports a successful competitive alpine ski program, a recreational program, and a student patroller program.

While the Eaglebrook Ski Patrol is a small group with two certified patrollers and three candidates, we are proud to be associated with the NSP, and strive to execute with diligence and capability.

If anyone has any questions about our patrol or our programs please feel free to contact me.

Jim Fay - jfay@eaglebrook.org

RD Announces New WMR Treasurer and Nordic Advisor

Joel Sevick announced that Rick Andriole will assume the role of WMR Treasurer as of January 1, 2012. Rick has served as Eastern Division Treasurer. Joel also annouced that Bob Presutti has accepted the role as the WMR Nordic Advisor. Joel also thanked outgoing treasurer Karen Mills for her years of hard work.

A hardy "thanks-in-advance" go out to both Rick and Bob for volunteering their time and energy.

Challenge Test Postponed

Unfortunately, the OEC challenge exam will have to be postponed because we feel the test is not ready as of yet. National is working hard reviewing the questions and answer sheets they are receiving from those who have taken the test. At this point I do not feel it's fair to subject people to a test they are likely to fail due to no fault of their own. Challenge students are not allowed to retest and failing the exam would require them to take the entire OEC class. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. Once the test has been rewritten I will then attempt to reschedule.

Gerry Pollard

Important Notice - WMR Senior Program

CORRECTED UPDATE: The Senior OEC program - formerly know as the Senior EMM program - will be conducted this year in the WMR.

WMR to Run OEC Challenge Course

The WMR will run an OEC challenge course this year. However, the challenge procedure has changed with additional requirements for the challengers.

A series of 36 skill sheets must be completed successfully by the challenger before being allowed to sit for the written certification exam. The bulk of the skill sign-off will be the responsibility of the patrol. This will allow the students to be familiar with local equipment and local protocols and give the patrol a understanding of the skill level of the candidates. The process for signing-off each of the skills prior to the test has not been finalized. The process employed will depend on how many students, instructors location of the students and instructors.

Once the candidate passes this exam they can take the practical portion of the exam.

The location for the classes and exam will be as central as possible -- but please realize we have a limited number of options. The expectation is that the actual test can be conducted in early December.

Patrol representatives should provide us with the list of challenge candidates along with their contact information. Last date for applications October 31, 2011. All paper work must be completed by this date -- this date is FIRM. The test date has not been finalized.

Check the WMR website for updates. Please contact either Karen or Gerry with suggestions or comments.

Thanks, Gerry Pollard

Changes to the Fifth Edition of OEC Textbook

Update your manual! NSP has notified that the revisions to the fifth edition of the OEC textbook are now posted to mynspkit.com. After signing in - on the left upper side - is an option for content revision. Click here to download a summary of the changes. The detail pages are on the mynspkit website.

OEC Rollout Dates and Locations

All WMR OEC instructors need to attend a rollout along with their instructor refresher to be eligible to teach area refreshers. All IOR's (Instructors of Record) and anyone who currently has instructor status or is in the mentoring process, must attend these rollouts, or will forfeit their instructor status.

The following rollout sessions have been scheduled for the WMR:

Please notify Karen Mills which rolloout you are attending so that she may have the proper paperwork ready for you and know the approximate number of people so we can move along quickly and get you out as soon as possible.

If you cannot make any of these rollouts, another may be conducted in October. It will probably be the first week of October as some refreshers start in that month. We will see how many we are missing after these rollouts.

If you have any questions, or comments, you may email either Gerry Pollard or Karen Mills. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Important Notice to All WMR NSP Instructors

... including those in the mentoring process, ITs and TEs

Please be advised that you must attend a rollout refresher as well as either the IT or Instructor refresher to maintain your Instructor status. Karen Mills has sent out an email regarding this. If you did not receive it, please contact either Gerry Pollard or Karen Mills. Some emails are still being returned. Rollout dates and locations will be announced soon. Please check back and watch your emails.

2011/2012 Season OEC Refreshers

Mark your calendars! Karen Mills, the region's OEC Administrator, has announced the following dates for next season.

Contact Karen Mills for more information about these refreshers.

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Summertime

As would be expected, ski patrol activities slow down during the summer months. The plan is to leave material related to the 2011/2012 season on this website until about the fourth of July. At that time, your webmaster will wipe the slate clean in preparation for the 2012/2013 season.

But, if you have something for the website, send it to me. We'll get it posted.