Winter 26/27: Ski Patrol Volunteer

Ski Patrol Volunteer

Copper Mountain Resort is a vacation destination located 75 miles west of Denver, Colorado in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Three vibrant, pedestrian-friendly village areas host lodging, retail outlets, restaurants, bars, and family activities. During the winter months, Copper's world-class terrain offers skiing and riding for all ages and abilities. Each summer, the mountain transforms into a playground for hikers, mountain bikers, and anyone seeking a genuine Colorado experience. Copper Mountain Resort is also home to Woodward Copper action-sports camps, programs, and training facility.

To provide for and ensure a reasonably safe skiing environment for our guests and fellow employees. To provide medical assistance, skier safety, trail checks and sweeps, duty station responsibilities, and other assigned duties. Each task requires a high level of decision making. Basic computer skills, EMT-B, American Heart Association CPR and strong snowboard or alpine skiing skills are minimum requirements.

Essential duties and responsibilities include:

• Guest service and positive interactions with the guests of Copper Mountain
• Must be able to learn all trail names, mountain phones, mountain roads and other patrol-specific areas
• Must be able to use a mountain radio and follow patrol radio protocol
• Medical assessment, treatment and toboggan running. All volunteers will be trained to respond to any likely eventuality in a winter alpine environment and trained in triage, and multi-system trauma.
• Reporting/documentation: Incident investigation procedure, preservation of the facts, forms and records. All volunteers will be familiar with (and held accountable for) the complete documentation of a given event that might include standard reporting, photographs, witness statements, diagrams, etc. There is a necessity to remain sensitive to the needs of family and friends of the injured party. Complies with all OSHA requirements.
• Establish a reasonably safe skiing environment, i.e. trail checks, trail openings/closings, early season preparation, obstacle marking, signage, sweeps, and special race preparation and coverage.
• Snow safety: All volunteers will be familiar with the terrain at Copper Mountain Resort where avalanche search and rescue is likely.
• Lift evacuation: Responsible for the ground-crew evacuation of people from the lift in the event of a breakdown. Specialized training in the form of ski industry standard equipment for emergency evacuation of chair lifts and injured parties.
• Skier education: Enforcement of the Colorado Skier Safety Act, i.e., boundary management, safe skiing, speeder control. Visible to the public for skier information.
• Training/development: All staff will participate in training and demonstrate proficiency in all areas of patrolling. This constant and ongoing process includes medical preparation, lift evacuation, mountain/company policies, inter-agency relations and contacts, etc.
• Inspections of equipment (duty stations, toboggans, medical, search and rescue, radios, and rescue beacons).
• Station assignments: Motel 6, PHQ, and Timberline.
• Technology skills to use a computer and software for incident reporting.
• Integration with other Copper Mountain departments for smoother functioning within the company. Orientation of volunteers in areas of mountain safety awareness.

Other duties as assigned include:

• Functions as an ambassador of Copper Mountain, modeling and sharing the Copper "culture" with our guests and employees. Upholds the most professional image. Continually strives to exceed our guest's expectations and create memories for our guests and staff.
• This description is an overview of the scope of responsibilities for this volunteer position and is not intended to be an inclusive list of tasks and expectations. With the evolution of POWDR-Copper, the responsibilities of this position may change. The volunteer position must be prepared to accept new responsibilities and transfer others.

Personal attributes include:

• Is honest and has the highest integrity
• Is able to handle and manage confidential information.
• Professional appearance. Adheres to all grooming guidelines
• Follows established policies and procedures
• Is supportive of Core Values
• Sets the example for others and is above reproach
• Is comfortable to challenge established policies and procedures, but once established, is supportive of those rules.
• Is organized in tasks. Sees projects through to the finish. Has good follow-through and makes it a habit of getting back to people on issues.
• Can handle fast paced, potentially high-pressure environment
• Is flexible with hours and days of volunteering
• Is able to volunteer required time to fulfill patrol needs (both scheduled and unscheduled time).
• Prioritizes and re-prioritizes personal time and volunteering, to have good balance in life

Basic requirements include:

• Must be able to lift and carry toboggans weighing as much as 70 lbs.
• Other tasks include skiing in difficult conditions, volunteering in cold and often inclement conditions, high elevations, carrying and transporting unwieldy materials such as tower pads, medical equipment, etc. No current physical limitations.
• Ability to volunteer in high altitude adverse cold weather environmental conditions.
• Must be able to hear and speak clearly in order to hear beacon signals and skiers requesting assistance, and for communication to occur using radios and telephones.
• Must be at least 21 years of age.
• Basic computers skills, technical rope experience.
• EMT-B (or in the process of obtaining), American Heart Association CPR, and strong alpine skiing or snowboarding background are minimum requirements
• Due to the sensitive nature of this position, a criminal background check will be conducted after position is accepted. This background check will be done in accordance with standards enacted under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Preferred experience and special skills include:

• Previous patrolling experience, previously employed by Copper Mountain, mountaineering such as Outward Bound, or experience within the medical field.
• Industry experience, i.e. ski instructor, lift op, trail crew.

POWDR-Copper Mountain, LLC is an equal opportunity employer and that race/color/religion/sex/sexual orientation/gender identity/national origin/disability/protected veterans or any other applicable status protected by state or local law, are not taken into account in any employment decision. We offer competitive benefits, employee housing, and a unique work atmosphere. All of our job opportunities are located at Copper Mountain Resort in Summit County, Colorado. 90 miles west of Denver, we are situated in the heart of Colorado's playground. All candidates must fill out an application to be considered for employment.