Candidate (Trainee) Selection A potential candidate must possess the ski/board skills required to be a patroller. These are necessary because a patroller will be responsible for taking a patient down any run at Bear Valley in a sled. It is important that every patroller can competently and quickly reach an injured patient anywhere on the mountain, and then be able to transport them in a sled. Our first selection criteria are these ski skills. Ski/board instruction is not a part of our curriculum, although we can help with it to a degree and realize that EVERY one of us can improve. We have posted dates for our candidate selection. On this day, a committee of patrollers objectively views your skiing ability. We also consider attitude and potential for improvement.

When evaluating potential candidates, we are looking for a solid foundation of ski/board skills. We evaluate those skills while the skier performs a series of small, medium, and large radius turns on intermediate/advanced runs. We expect a patroller candidate to be comfortable in moguls and most off piste conditions. Specific skills important for patrolling are for/aft balance and edge control. We are not necessarily interested in perfect skiing, but we expect candidates to be functional in most conditions and on most slopes. By the end of your training year, we want to be comfortable with the idea of you pulling a toboggan with our loved one in it!

If you are not sure you qualify this year, we encourage you to join us for Candidate Selection. If you don't yet qualify, we can give you some things to work on for next year! Please fell free to stop a patroller and ask where we think your ability level falls relative to our minimum standard.

A positive evaluation at Candidate Selection will qualify you to begin the OET (Outdoor Emergency Transportation) training course. The course commitment is every other weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, for 6 weekends (12 days). See Patroller Training for more information about OET.

A person must be 15 years old at the start of the season to begin training as a candidate. Until one is
18, he/she is a junior patroller, and becomes a patroller at 18.

We welcome you to join us on January 6, 2008 and on January 12, 2008 for Candidate Selection. We will meet in the Lodge near the patrol display case at 8:30, then at Bear Top at 9:15. If you have further questions that are not answered here or under patroller training, please email us at info@bvnsp.com If you are interested in attending Candidate Selection please email info@bvnsp.com and let us know your name, email, and phone number.

We look forward to meeting you!

Getting More Information

If you have any questions or want to discuss your interest email info@bvnsp.com or stop by and talk to a patroller while you are at Bear Valley. We look forward to seeing you on the mountain