When JoAnna O’Neill moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico in second grade, the Pajarito Ski Area ski patrol room became her second home. Her dad had been hired as a patroller, and she said she “pretty much grew up hanging around the patrol room.” When she turned 14, O’Neill took the Outdoor Emergency Care Course and at 15 she became the youngest patrol on the mountain. During her senior year of highschool she was named Young Adult Patroller of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Division of the National Ski Patrol.
For the past 12 years, patrolling has been a constant in O’Neill’s life. During her undergraduate at Western Washington University she patrolled at Mt. Baker for a year and after graduating she returned to Pajarito Ski Area in Los Alamos where she patrolled part time. Now, as a second year graduate student pursuing a PhD in neuroscience at University of Oregon, O’Neill patrols when she can — typically during breaks from school when she returns to Los Alamos.
“When people ask me what my life plans are post grad school I like to joke around and say, ‘Maybe I’ll just go back to being a ski patroller,’” O’Neill said. “Who knows? I could just be the most educated dirt bag. There are a lot of people I grew up ski patrolling with who had full careers and were still involved in ski patrol for decades.”
A typical shift starts at 7 a.m. and finishes up at 6 p.m. Patrollers will watch the sun rise and set during their shift in the winter months. O’Neill said some of the most special moments she’s had as a patrol have been on dawn patrol — scanning the mountain for hazards as the sun rises.
“I’ve only done it like a handful of times, but it’s such a special, whimsical experience,” O’Neill said. “The sun is rising and you’re alone on an empty mountain.”
O’Neill said the best skiing she’s ever had was during the morning shift lapping the mountain before it opens.
When she was a youth patrol, O’Neill’s duties were no different than they are now. Every pattroller must take the same ski and medical tests, so there isn’t a watered down version of the program for younger applicants.
“They do a really good job of preparing you. You’ll never be put in a situation that you don’t have the training for,” O’Neill said. “I think more than anything it would just be kind of awkward, for lack of a better word, when you’re 15, 16 and you’re in charge of say, a 60-year-old man that just tore his ACL. Sometimes you can feel your patient’s apprehension, like, ‘Oh, who’s this little girl coming to give me medical attention.’”
At Pajarito Ski Area, patrol duties are mainly isolated to injuries and other emergent situations like chair lift evacuations. Avalanche patrol and rescue isn’t common at Pajarito, but when she patrolled at Mt. Baker O’Neill took two avalanche courses for certified rescue personnel.
Luckily, O’Neill has not been in or had to rescue someone from an avalanche, but she makes use of her certification skiing in the backcountry. She has backcountry skied all over New Mexico and Colorado, most memorably in Silverton, CO, where she and one of her best friends paid $30 for a helicopter drop into the backcountry.
O’Neill said one of the biggest perks of ski patrolling is the friends she’s made through the program. “Finding really good ski buddies is a lot easier through ski patrol,” she said. “You’re surrounded by a bunch of people that shred, and that can make you a much better skier.”
Whether it be to find ski buddies, lap the mountain before opening or give visitors the ride of their life in a toboggan, O’Neill plans to continue to patrol whenever she can. Her 12 year journey is not over yet.
