Pajarito Paid Patrol

The Pajarito Mountain Ski Patrol has a long tradition of competence, hard work, and dedication to the public. For many decades, this tradition was upheld by a very impressive all-volunteer ski patrol. In recent years, Pajarito Mountain has expanded its operation to 5 days a week from 3 days a week. Like the many challenges it has faced in the past, Pajarito Mountain and the Volunteer Ski Patrol found a way to meet the challenge: It formed a small paid group of patrollers, primarily from within its volunteer Ski Patrol ranks. This small paid group consisted of patrollers who are able to bend their lives around availability on Wednesday and Thursday, and for this, they are compensated for their time.

Due to the smaller team associated with weekday operations the training in skills such as lift evacuation, self evacuation and snow mobile operations are considered essential. The paid group is, in all other ways, peers to its volunteer colleagues.

The Pajarito Mountain Ski Patrol prides itself on having one unified Ski Patrol, with intermingling Volunteer and Paid groups. The Patrol has only one Patrol Director who is a volunteer, and who oversees both groups with the help of 2 volunteer assistant Patrol Directors. To facilitate our patrol operations during the week, we have a paid Ski Patrol Supervisor who oversees staffing, ensures proper training, and is responsible for day to day operations of our ski patrol on Wednesday and Thursday.