About the Mt Pinos Nordic Ski Patrol

The Mt Pinos Nordic Ski Patrol, is a volunteer organization working in partnership with the United States Forest Service since 1976. We are located on Mount Pinos in the Los Padres Forest near Frazier Park, California.

Our patrol is a member of the National Ski Patrol system and is organizationally part of the Southern California Region in the Far West Division. We have been named the National Outstanding Nordic Ski Patrol by the National Ski Patrol System for 1993, 1996, 1999, 2006, 2011, 2017 and again in 2023. Snow conditions permitting, we patrol on most weekends from December through mid April. Our patrollers include professionals, tradesmen, techies, students, retirees and all kinds of folk!

What We Do

The Mt Pinos Nordic Ski Patrol provides winter safety services, including emergency first aid and search & rescue. We are trained in first aid, professional rescuer CPR and Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC).

We patrol the wilderness atop Mt. Pinos (elevation 8,831 ft). By traveling on skis, we can quickly and efficiently access a large geographical area and provide assistance to people that may be lost, caught in bad weather, or simply would like advice on the safest route of travel. We have rescue sleds which contain first aid and medical supplies such as splints and backboards. We are prepared to immobilize and/or treat injuries and we can transport an injured patient back to safety in a sled.

We are also trained in a variety of mountain skills such as Mountain Travel and Rescue, and avalanche avoidance and rescue.

Where To Find Us

As the bird flies, Mt. Pinos lies roughly 75 milesNorth-West of downtown Los Angeles. Mt. Pinos is located in the Los Padres National Forest. The mountain’s northern half lies in Kern county while the southern half is in Ventura county. At an elevation of 8,831 ft., it is the highest mountain in the Los Padres National Forest.

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Interested In Joining?

Types of Membership

The National Ski Patrol (NSP) has several levels of qualifications. We are nordic/backcountry, so the ones that apply to us are:

Nordic Patroller - An individual who has all the qualifications needed to access an incident on skis (or snowboard) and to transport a patient in a toboggan.
Patroller - An individual who has all the qualifications of a Nordic Patroller except for skiing and toboggan transport.
Mountain Host - An individual with a lower level of first responder training who has a primary duty of providing information to the general public. They may assist a patroller or nordic patroller.

Qualifications for “Patroller” or “Nordic Patroller"

The NSP requires “Outdoor Emergency Care” (OEC). This is typically a 150 hour class and most classes start in late summer and end in late fall. Since COVID many of these courses have been hybrid in nature with the lectures held by Zoom but hands on practice and evaluation still in person. If you have current EMT certification then you can “challenge” the course though it is highly recommended that you attend at least the course sessions for areas where the focus is a bit different than for an urban responder. The course instructor can let you know which lectures and sessions you should focus on. Word has it that trying a challenge without attending these sessions will almost certainly result in a failure. And a failure in a challenge then requires the full OEC class. There is no bridge or challenge path for wilderness first responder but the skills there would in some cases be similar and so might make the OEC class a bit easier.
The NSP requires professional rescuer Basic Life Support (BLS) (CPR and AED).
The NSP requires completion of ICS-100 and our patrol requires ICS-200 and ICS-700 as well. These are online classes provided by the Department of Homeland Security.
Our patrol requires completion of the National Ski Patrol’s basic mountain travel and rescue (MTR) course.
Our patrol requires completion of the National Ski Patrol’s basic avalanche course. There are a number of non-NSP avalanche courses available and there are agreements between organizations that allow credit for this from different providers. Details on transfer of credits seem to vary from year to year, so double check if you decide to take a non-NSP avalanche class.
Our local patrol has a candidate training program that covers:
- Patrol room procedures
- Radio procedures
- Hill familiarization
- Map & Compass
- Low angle rope work
- Toboggan transport
- etc.

Our local patrol requires spending a night out in the snow with only the contents of your patrol pack. This is usually done during the MTR field session to provide a safe environment. For a Nordic Patroller, ski or snowboard proficiency is required (we do not teach this). In the case, “proficiency” means “strong, stable and under control”. We do not require expert level of competency. For a Nordic Patroller, we teach toboggan transport of a patient.

Qualifications for “Host”

In recent years the NSP has created a “host” program. The mountain host training is much less involved but the allowed activities are also restricted. Training consists of:

NSP requires “Outdoor First Responder” certification. This consists of an on-line first aid class and a single in person skills session.
The NSP requires professional rescuer Basic Life Support (BLS) (CPR and AED).
Our local patrol requires:
- Patrol Room Procedures
- Radio Procedures

One path to becoming a patroller or nordic patroller is to become a host first. This allows you to see what we do and how we do it without spending a huge number of hours in training. From there, either later or at the same time, become a “candidate” and go through the formal training to become either a patroller or nordic patroller.