Becoming ski patrol

call your local hill and google it, avy and first aid probably pretty advanced

You need to take a ski patrol course to be specific.
If you're in the interior, I know the College of the Rockies in offers one. It covers EVERYTHING, basically human biology and anatamy, First aid, CPR, Lift evac... On and On

My girlfriend is trying to do the same thing, from the info I have gathered you need OFA3 or OEC to work as a paid patroller, then you can apply for the job and they will give you some on hill training at the start of the season, mostly specific to where you are working.

Contact the ski patrol people for your region and they will tell you where you can get the qualifications and stuff like that.

My advice, call the local patrol and find out what the certifications are. Some hills require you to have your Operations Level 1 avalanche course while some don't (as a minnimal requirement). Also you will need an advanced first aid course, wilderness first aid, Outdoor Emergency Care (O.E.C.), or OFA 3. In my experience, most patrols will not hire you for pro patrol unless you have been a volly patroller with them. The majority of the time, you will get hired on as a pro patroller on the spot only if you have the other skiils to back not knowing the terrain like the back of your hand. Other Courses that make you invaluble would be and ropes course, glacier travel, blasting courses (which you ussually get once you are in with a patrol), weather forcasting, really anything that would relate to becoming a certified mountain guide. One thing I'd look into to is see what hills you want to work at are like , call them up and ask the the basic questions like

- What do your patrolers make? Those at the bottom of the tottom pole and those at the top with years of experience.
-Dose your patrol offer benifits?
-Do you have gear allowances?
-What are the opportunities for advancement?
-What does your mountain focus it's patrol to, first aid/ avi contorl/ whatever else.

all this stuff is super important and each patrol team and mtn have different focuses. Some hills are heavy handed in first aiding while others are heavy handed in Avalanche control.

You will find that even people that volly patrol may have years of experience and are more than qualified to be pro patrol but just volly because they like the free seasons pass and the patrol enviroment.

pm me if you have more questions man

this is kinda useless information... BUT... At Red, because it's all in a union and shit, you've got more of a chance of getting on paid patrol if you work in ski school more than if you were solely a volly patrol - 'cause volly patrol isn't getting paid, and therefor not part of the union? Red's all fucked up, I don't get the place really.

one thing to know about volly patrol is some hills like Kicking horse mountain resort use CSPS (Canadian Ski Patrol System) for their volly program. CSPS is very different from Pro patrol with it's protocols . Places like revelstoke Mountain Resort have it set up so their volly program is almost a part of the pro patrol team as first step on the ladder to get into pro patrol. I also believe this is the same as in whistler and blackcomb.  Ask the mountains what their volly system is like.

NARC