A Surge of Women in Ski Patrols, Once Nearly All Men

From left, Claire Johnson, Kari Brandt and Taylor Parsons, three female ski patrollers on duty at Diamond Peak in Incline Village, Nev.Credit...Jake Pollock

They have endured the indignity of being addressed in their uniforms as “he” or “sir’’ and at times faced sexism, too, from injured skiers balking at a woman getting them down the mountain on a rescue toboggan.

But as the number of women in ski patrols has increased, so has acceptance that the service, a network of volunteer and professional organizations nationwide dominated by men for decades, is finally catching up to the times.

Kari Brandt, 33, a ski patroller in Nevada, recalled a recent rescue of a 250-pound injured man, who did a double-take upon her arrival, but didn’t utter a complaint as she directed his transport down a mountain on a toboggan.

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