About
Patrol history
Wear the shield with pride. The generations that came before set a standard of service and safety that is still the work.
In March 1938, while officiating a ski race at Mt. Mansfield in Stowe, Vermont, Roger F. Langley asked Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole if he would organize a national patrol like the one Dole had built at Mansfield. Dole accepted, and the National Ski Patrol was born.
During World War II, Dole helped establish the 10th Mountain Division. The NSP was then the only civilian organization authorized to screen applicants for the military. After the war, those men helped grow the American ski industry — including areas that still host NSP patrols today.
In 1980 the NSP was granted a federal charter by the U.S. Congress. Northern Division carries that same creed — Service and Safety — across Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Division Historian Steven Thompson collects patrol histories, photographs, and the “then and now” of outfitting a patroller. If your patrol has a story, send it in.