Eastern Section Chief Election 2008

(For Blue Knob, Mountain View, Sawmill, and Tussey ski areas)

Candidate: Nancy Heller

Platform - The position of Section Chief entails being the liaison between the patrollers on the mountain and the regional directors. Communication is a two-way street: 1. informing patrollers of what is happening in the Western Appalachian Region & the Eastern Division and 2. listening to patrollers on the hill and bringing their concerns to the Regional Director. After being in this position for a year and a half, I still believe the Section Chief should visit all the patrols in the area and speak with the patrol directors as well as individual patrollers. You have some strong opinions and good suggestions on how to make the National Ski Patrol a better organization. I am a good listener and will try hard to see your point of view when I visit every patrol in the section. Tell me what your needs are and what the NSP can do for you, then I will forward these on to the Region. Steve Schopfer, our Regional Director, has done an excellent job and continues to put the patroller first. The role of the Section Chief is to be his eyes and ears, relating the views and concerns of the patrollers to him, who in turn brings these issues up the line to our responsive Eastern Division staff.

Accomplishments:

1972 joined National Ski Patrol as member of Magic Mountain, Southern Vermont Region.

1985 became Senior Patroller at Stratton Mountain, Southern Vermont Region.

1990 took the Instructor Development Class as a member of Blue Knob, Western App. Region.

1993 passed the OEC II Course, becoming a first aid instructor for Blue Knob

1994 attended the Alpine Toboggan II Course, solidifying my Ski & Toboggan instructor status.

2003 enrolled in a Skier Enhancement Clinic to keep improving my skills.

2007 elected Section Chief representing four patrols: Blue Knob, Mountain View, Penn State Outing Club and Ski Sawmill.

History - My first patrol was Magic Mountain in Southern Vermont Region, way back in 1972.

Then I traveled around to Lansing Ski Club in Lansing, MI, also Timber Hill in the Poconos of Eastern PA, and then to Okemo Mountain in Southern VT. This allowed me to see how different mountains ran their patrols, giving me a wide perspective of our sport. My husband and I both became Senior Patrollers in 1984-5 while at Stratton Mountain, in the Southern Vermont Region. We have been on the Blue Knob Patrol in Claysburg, PA since 1987, two-thirds of my patrolling career. When I first came to the Western Appalachian Region, I attended many Senior S & T Clinics, so I have skied most of the large areas in our region. In the early 1990s, I became an instructor, both OEC and S & T. In 2001, I attended Powderfall, our national convention, at Whistler, BC in Canada. My son joined the patrol in 2002 and my whole patrolling family attended Powderfall in 2006, this time in Chamonix, France.