Local ski patroller Cathleen Calkins was honored by her peers of the Bear Mountain Ski Patrol staff, as they nominated her for the Outstanding Paid Patroller of the Year award, which six-season staffer Calkins won for the Southern California Region, which includes resorts Snow Summit, Waterman, Baldy, Alta Sierra, Snow Valley and Bear Mountain. Calkins explains to KBHR that nominees are considered anonymously. “They talk about patrollers in non-gender terms,” she says, “so it’s all about your skills, abilities and contributions.” For Calkins, who has also been a patroller at both Waterman and June Mountain, these contributions include teaching first aid, ski training and mountaineering (including women’s clinics and instruction for rookie patrollers), and speaking at various NSP events—this year, she made a presentation in Yosemite, which outlined the sustainability of ski tourism, prompted by her trek through Russia, skiing and camping (in the snow) through Siberia and the Kamchatka Peninsula. Once honored as the region’s Outstanding Patroller, Calkins was considered for the Far West award, which she also won over all other nominees from Arizona, Nevada, Utah and California—but her run didn’t end there. Calkins’s achievements took her all the way to the ski patrol summit, if you will, as she went on to be named the National Outstanding Paid Patroller of the Year, which is actually an internationally recognized title which she was awarded this month. “I was surprised,” she admits. “It was really humbling, and it just makes me want to be a better patroller.” Calkins is grateful to her fellow ski patrol staff at Bear Mountain who nominated her for the National Ski Patrol award and though she has been busy in the off-season, as a writer, photographer and yoga instructor, she looks forward to returning to the slopes come winter. As she explains, “I enjoy the physical challenge of being outdoors and skiing, while also helping people and making sure they are safe.”
