Meet the 2012-2013 NSP Safety Team

In 2008, the National Ski Patrol resurrected its Safety Team. The team worked to promote a variety of safety messages at ski resorts, and position the NSP as the leading authority on skiing and snowboarding safety. The tips went beyond the standards, like wearing a helmet and observing Your Responsibility Code, and got into things like nutrition, hydration, basic backcountry safety, and terrain park safety.

We would like to welcome the new members of the NSP Safety Team, Mike Husar, Brett Henyon, Shauna Bocksch, Patrick Cruver, and Sal Mascarenas, as well as returning members Mike Petrozzi, Lonny Whitcomb, and Ed Strapp. Read more about the Safety Team members below.

"We are excited to welcome the new members to the NSP Safety Team," said NSP Executive Director Tim White. "With their background and extensive experience, it is a great opportunity to take the Safety Team's messaging and impact to the next level."

NSP Safety Team Vision Statement

The National Ski Patrol Safety Team will be the leader in mountain safety, education, awareness and hazards reduction.

Mission Statement

The National Ski Patrol Safety Team is the leader of the ski industry in education and mountain safety for employee and guests. We will represent all members of the National Ski Patrol organization, and its mission statement, with the highest level of patroller knowledge, skills, commitment to creativity, and integrity.

Shauna Bocksch
Shauna has lived and skied in Colorado since she was eight years old, has worked for the Copper Mountain Ski Patrol for seven years as the Mountain Safety Patrol (MSP) foreman, and currently serves as the MSP supervisor. Shauna started promoting safety early in her patrolling career, working to bring back the NSAA Safety Week to Copper. During the 2010-2011 ski season, the Copper Mountain Ski Patrol worked during Safety Week to promote several safety initiatives, including helmets, hydration, skiing or riding with a buddy, terrain park etiquette, and basic avalanche safety. In order to get the Copper staff involved, they had a department decorating contest and employee-only raffle. Copper's Safety Week Program won the Best Overall Safety Program award from the NSAA in 2011. E-mail Shauna Bocksch.

Patrick Cruver
Pat was working on a high-lead logging operation in the steep western Cascade mountains of Washington when he performed CPR (unsuccessfully) on a fellow logger who had fallen off a cliff while setting chokers. He made his decision a few days later to look into work that would utilize his education and first aid skills a little better than logging would, and enrolled in an occupational safety program at his alma mater. Thirty years later, he retired from 25 years as a safety and industrial hygiene professional, having worked in different safety roles in the wood products, risk management, construction, and higher education industries. His seven years as a public school teacher helped him prepare for the massive amount of training he needed to do to preach the safety gospel to workers in the above-mentioned industries. In 2006, after 24 years of full-time safety work and hundreds of hours spent studying, he finally sat the eight-hour Certified Safety Professional (CSP) exam and passed. With six seasons as a professional patroller at Stevens Pass, two years running groomers at the same ski area, and eight seasons as a volunteer patroller at Lookout Pass in Idaho, his passion for protection of workers and the general public has not dimmed. E-mail Patrick Cruver.

Brett Henyon
Brett Henyon's interests in safety extend far past patrolling. An EMS professional since 1990, Brett works part-time as a flight paramedic with the University of Virginia-Pegasus Flight Operations. He started ski patrolling in 1998 at Wintergreen, and is currently a Certified patroller and the co-coordinator for the Southern Division Certified OEC team. He won a Purple Merit Star in 2003, and was the runner-up for Southern Division Outstanding Pro Patroller in 2007. In addition to patrolling, Brett works as the mountain manager at Wintergreen on Saturday nights, overseeing all aspects of slope and resort safety. As part of his continuing educat32ion on ski and resort safety, he has attended numerous NSAA Risk Seminars. E-mail Brett Henyon.

Mike Husar
A member of the Sunburst Ski Patrol in Wisconsin, Mike Husar won the 2010-2011 Outstanding Patrol Representative Award from the NSP, and his work ethic further inspired his niece Emily, who won the Outstanding Young Patroller Award. Mike started patrolling in 1975 as a young adult; in 1985, become the patrol director, a position he still holds. In that time, he has worked with his area owner to implement a post-incident investigation team and a skier education team. Mike spearheaded an effort to create a risk management seminar that could be presented to all mountain employees to increase guest safety. This season, Mike has instituted a new Mogul Mite Safety Program that will bring youths aged 5-15 into the patrol room to teach them not only how the patrol keeps guests safe, but the importance of Your Responsibility Code and Lids on Kids. Mike has also reached out into the community, providing ski patrol training to local firefighters, EMTs, and police officers. This training includes boot removal procedures, spinal care, chair evacuation, and cold water rescue. E-mail Mike Husar.

Sal Mascareñas
The 2012-2013 season will mark Sal's 29th year as a patroller, with the last 20-plus years spent at Grand Targhee, Wyo. In addition to being a Senior patroller, Sal is a member of the Avalanche Hazard Reduction Team, a candidate/patroller trainer, and a Ski & Toboggan trainer at Grand Targhee, and an Intermountain Division Ski & Toboggan Instructor Trainer. He has worked as a Toboggan instructor at several Powderfalls and at the Patroller Education Conference, and was previously the Intermountain Division Ski & Toboggan supervisor. He has numerous awards from NSP, including a Yellow Merit Star, Meritorious Service Award, Distinguished Service Award, Intermountain S&T Instructor of the Year, and National Appointment Number 8160. Sal was also a member of the Utah Olympic Park's ski patrol, where, during the 2002 Winter Olympics, he was assigned to "Field of Play" and responsible for athlete and coach care during the Track and Jump events. E-mail Sal Mascareñas.

Mark Petrozzi
NSP Safety Team Member Mark Petrozzi has worked in the ski industry for over 25 years, including in risk management and resort operations. His work has taken him to a variety of ski areas, working in New Hampshire, Salt Lake City, Lake Tahoe, and Vail. He has also been a patroller since 1978, and has held many positions at the region, division, and national levels. He currently serves as the chair of the National Ski Areas Association Education Committee. As detailed in the fall 2011 Ski Patrol Magazine, Petrozzi is very much an advocate of increasing patroller visibility on the slopes, and has worked to implement several initiatives at his home resort of Gunstock Mountain in New Hampshire. E-mail Mark Petrozzi.

Ed Strapp
Ed, a patroller at Sugarloaf in Maine since 1999, is the head athletic trainer at Carrabassett Valley Academy (CVA), a private ski academy located at Sugarloaf. As part of his duties there, he has worked to institute a high school patrol, teaching the students Outdoor Emergency Care, as well as other NSP courses in Avalanche and Mountain Travel and Rescue. In the course of this teaching, he educates his students on the dangers of frostbite, the value of helmets, and different terrain park safety initiatives. Ed is an EMT-I with Northstar Ambulance of the Carrabassett Valley Fire Department, and as part of his outreach efforts in those departments, he teaches sports medicine, EMS, and CPR to the public. E-mail Ed Strapp.

Lonny Whitcomb
Lonny, a patroller at Ski Liberty in Pennsylvania, takes ski safety seriously. He is the director of risk management and safety for Snow Time Resorts, the company that owns and operates Ski Liberty, Ski Roundtop, and Whitetail Mountain. Before taking over that roll, he served as patrol director at Ski Liberty. As the director of risk management, he has helped to launch and implement a variety of safety initiatives, including Snow Time's Mountain Safety program, a 50-plus member team at each resort that assists the ski patrol in promoting slope safety, and a bus-and-group greeting program that offers safety orientation to arriving guests. E-mail Lonny Whitcomb.