Junior Ski Patrol day inspires local girls to pursue opportunities outdoors

They may have been smaller than the rest, but the junior ski patrollers buzzed around the mountain on a recent sunny day and had a blast learning about mountain safety and what it takes to rescue skiers in distress.

SheJumps, an organization dedicated to giving girls outdoor opportunities, teamed with the Whitefish Mountain Resort’s Ski Patrol for the second time to offer the all-girls Junior Ski Patrol Day on Sunday, March 27. Big Mountain’s female patrol members along with 10 volunteers from SheJumps and the community – many with tutus or giraffe and unicorn onesies – made the day a screaming success for the 32 girls who participated.

The women of the ski patrol demonstrated first aid, taught avalanche safety, explained tree wells and drove toboggans. The Junior Patrol Day program included stations wherein girls would learn mountain safety but the real lesson was that girls have a place in the outdoors, whether for work or for play.

Melissa Wells, a volunteer and parent, noted that at times older generations remark about how amazing a woman on patrol is but the girls don’t feel it is unusual for a woman to be a ski patroller.

“Representation matters; it’s important for girls to see women doing roles like this,” Wells continued. “To girls [my daughter’s] age, all of this is going to be a little less unique – which is awesome.”

THE DAY began when the girls were divided into groups and sent up the mountain on Chair 1 before it opened to the public. The first job was morning duty which involved making sure the hill was safe by replacing downed bamboo warning signs and checking on the sleds placed strategically around the mountain. Next, the girls traveled to four stations set up by the women patrollers and learned various elements of the job.

The first aid station covered the steps patrollers take when someone is injured or ill on the hill, and the participants got to apply splints and check vital signs. There was also a tree well awareness station and one that taught avalanche safety where girls used beacons and saw the avalanche dogs, Cleo and Skook, hard at work.

Toboggan running may have been the most popular activity of the day. Girls loaded into two sleds that were run by patrollers Kim Lindstrom and Hannah Farrell and took a ride down the Caribou run. Halfway down, they unloaded and the girls took turns driving the sleds themselves with a patroller on the tail rope.

They were determined and focused when it came time to run the sleds and overcame various terrain conditions. For 10-year-old participant Greta Wells, that meant she had to use more leg power.

“We were in the toboggan that got to go the fastest,” she explained. “When I drove it, I got a really flat spot so I had to skate a lot.”

At the end of the day, the girls got to be the last skiers down the mountain as they performed the afternoon sweep with the patrollers. The junior patrollers had a memorable day and enjoyed the camaraderie.

SHEJUMPS IS a national organization whose mission is to increase the participation of women and girls in outdoor activities through free and low-cost outdoor education.

The SheJumps mascot is a girafficorn, a giraffe-looking creature with a unicorn horn, to remind the child in all of us to play outside. Dr. Sara Boilen, a board member of SheJumps and a local clinical psychologist, volunteered on the Junior Patrol Day in a giraffe onesie with a rainbow unicorn horn atop her helmet.

“It's a lot of work to put on these events and I think the rewards are totally worth it when you see the girls just light up and have so much delight and do so much learning,” she said.

She explained events like this give the girls an opportunity to learn new skills in an atmosphere that is supportive and encouraging.

“There are all sorts of other social pressures that come into play when there are mixed genders around,” Boilen said. “By having everyone who identifies as a girl be together, it presents a scenario in which a lot of those social pressures dissipate, a lot of the competition goes away, and things become more supportive.

“(The girls) lift one another up and everybody is allowed to shine,” she added.

Another volunteer, Melissa Wells, has helped out at Junior Ski Patrol Day both times it has been offered on Big Mountain. An outdoor enthusiast herself, Wells knows the value of being in the mountains and the effect programs like the ones SheJumps hosts can have on girls.

“It’s more common (now) but it’s been historically less common for girls to be exposed to those kinds of careers or learning opportunities in the outdoors. Whether these girls end up being ski patrollers or not, they know that it is an option,” said Wells.

Expanding possibilities for girls was the overall theme throughout the day. Boilen echoed Wells’ thoughts, “The girls are now leaving with the impression that being a ski patroller is open terrain for them, whereas they may not have realized that before.”

This year’s event was spearheaded by Whitefish Mountain Resort Patroller Demi Sullivan. Eight current and retired patrollers led the stations in pairs and shared their expertise and energy to provide the group of girls, aged 8-17, with a day they likely will not forget.

Wells observed, “I’m pretty impressed with our Big Mountain Ski Patrol; I would guess there are more women on ski patrol and in leadership roles (here) — more than the national average.”

The statistics back up that statement. According to the National Ski Patrol, in 2021, 23% of the country’s 31,027 ski patrollers were women. That is up from 19% in 2007. On Big Mountain, 37% of the patrol is female.

The Big Mountain’s Ski Patrol is made up of two female dispatchers and 28 on-snow patrollers, nine of whom are women. In general, the number of women on patrol has increased over the years but the struggle for parity is far from over.

WOMEN IN the outdoor industry still face obstacles that their male counterparts do not face, like being paid equally, getting appropriate assignments and leveling up. On the Big, obstacles sometimes include mistrust of the public.

“In at least a handful of incidents that we respond to throughout the season, our patients are hesitant, if not vocally opposed, to being treated by a woman in uniform,” Sullivan reports.

Brenda Guzman is a retired Big Mountain ski patroller and has worked other jobs in male-dominated fields. She remembers the words a female senior river guide told the women guides.

Guzman recalls her saying, “Listen and understand — you have to work twice as hard to get half the respect. Don’t blow it for the rest of us.”

Jobs in the outdoor industry are challenging enough without the additional obstacle of feeling the need to prove oneself on a daily. Sullivan has experienced pressures similar to the ones Guzman described.

“While it's not the same as it was historically, it is impossible to say that the outdoor industry has gotten rid of the male-dominated atmosphere surrounding it,” Sullivan said. “I have found that I have to be hyper-vigilant about my effort, my mental and physical strength, my composure, and my organization.”

Patrols will continue to change because women like those on the Big Mountain Ski Patrol are willing and able to perform at the highest level and show young girls that working in the outdoors is an attainable goal.

“Most of the girls are consistent mountain users and have been for their whole lives so another aspect, besides getting them interested in those kinds of careers and opportunities, is that it gives them respect and understanding of what goes into being a ski patroller and makes them better members of the mountain community,” Wells observed.

The girls who experienced Junior Ski Patrol day will chat with their friends and family about the day they had and the things they can do, thereby helping to chip away at the prevalent male-dominated mentality.

“I think that we’re definitely over the tipping point now but we still need encouragement,” Boilen said. “The natural, easy path is men in these sorts of jobs and that’s not the norm as much anymore but we could go back to that if we don’t keep pushing for something different.”

Pushing back, taking space, being loud — slowly but surely change is happening.

“Women are starting to really push against these archaic ideologies. We all know that the more space we take up, the more space we’ll be given,” Sullivan said. “In an industry that has tried to shrink us, I’ve been excited to see so many incredible women taking important steps towards feeling more empowered to be in the outdoor industry.”