NEIHART — If you've spent your days at Showdown Ski Area, whether it'd be skiing or snowboarding, there's a solid chance you've come across a group of people in red coats with the first aid symbol on their backs.
While you might not think of it, those men and women are in charge of maintaining the safety of the ski area while providing a fun and interactive environment.
Those men and women are known to be part of what is called, the "Great Falls Ski Patrol."
Founded in 1938, the Great Falls Ski Patrol is one of the oldest volunteer patrols in the nation.
While the National Ski Patrol is made up of over 600 patrol units and over 32,000 patrollers worldwide, the Great Falls Ski Patrol has 49 members, barely meeting the 40-member criteria to be a Large Alpine Patrol.
While they may be at the bottom of the threshold for the Large Alpine Patrol category, this doesn’t stop them from being awarded the "2022 Outstanding Large Alpine Patrol in North America" award - the highest honor awarded by the National Ski Patrol. In fact, GFSP refers to themselves as “a small large alpine patrol”.
We got the chance to check up with members of the Great Falls Ski Patrol to get a closer look on their experience being a part of GFSP.
Allan Rabbit has volunteered for GFSP since 1979. He says it's like a 'job,' noting the time and commitment it takes to be on the mountains watching over the public's safety.
Rabbit stated, “There’s a pretty good time commitment between refreshing and the days that you do your duty on the hill. It’s not a real arduous task to do any of it because you are doing it with fellow people that you want to be around that are your friends.”
Rabbit says it is the 'camaraderie' that he enjoys most about volunteering for GFSP.
"In my mind, the group that makes up the Great Falls Ski Patrol, there’s probably not a better bunch of people that I can possibly want to be around," he said.
Justin Grohs has not only been with GFSP for about fifteen years, he is also the General Manager for Great Falls Emergency Services. He said being in the medical field gives him a great advantage in the event of helping injured skiers.
He also noted that he enjoys the people that come to visit Showdown and the people of Great Falls Ski Patrol.
"It's a great group of interesting folks with different backgrounds," he said. "All of us enjoy helping others, so doing what we can to ensure that a skier or boarder is having a pleasant experience, and make sure they're not too cold and still having fun, it's a good time."
Grohs touched on some of the training aspects that Great Falls Ski Patrol partakes in.
"We do annual medical refresher training every year before the season starts," he said. "We do quite a bit of skiing and toboggan work when the season is just kicking in. We do ongoing training fairly regularly and have meetings every month during the season as well. The Ski Patrol has a very high standard for taking care of the public, and there’s a commitment if you want to be a patroller, to put in the time and effort, and making sure your skills are up.”
Towards the end of a busy weekend, you can find a large table of patrollers unwinding. However, their work isn’t complete until everyone has safely left the mountains.
"You’re pretty involved throughout the day," said Ryan Smith, who's on his fourth year as Ski Patrol. "Doing everything from hill maintenance to the final sweep of the day, making sure that everybody is off the mountain, just being on call in case there are accidents on the mountain, you've got to be ready for all that.”
Showdown owner and general manager, Katie Boedecker praised the Great Falls Ski Patrol for all their years put into ensuring the ski area is as safe and prosperous as it can be.
She stated, "The best thing about the Great Falls Ski Patrol and maybe what sets them above all others, is the love and dedication the individual members pour into each other, this mountain, and this community every day."
While you might hear about members of Great Falls Ski Patrol themselves, it is also about their family members. Whether it'd be their spouses who work alongside them, or their children who grow up learning to ski in the area and inevitably join the patrol or the Showdown staff themselves, it is generations of patrollers and families that keep the decades long tradition carry on.
For more info on Great Falls Ski Patrol and how to join: https://gfskipatrol.org/
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