Gretchen Rous Besser, Ph.D.
Year inducted: 2012
Primary Patrol: Smugglers’ Notch VT
NSP Involvement:
Awards and Honors:
Ski Writing:
Year inducted: 2012
Primary Patrol: Smugglers’ Notch VT
NSP Involvement:
- Joined ski patrol at Milton Snow Bowl, NJ, 1967
- Patrolled for 25 years at Vernon Valley/Great Gorge after Snow Bowl closed, and at Smugglers’ Notch, 1970s
- NJ EMT, 1966
- National appointment #5756
- Volunteer in VIP headquarters at 1979 World Cup and 1980 Olympics, Lake Placid
- NSP International Liaison, 1980-85--delegate to FIPS meetings in Australia,1981; France, 1982 and 1983; Japan, 1984; Canada, multiple times
- Represented NSP on U.S. ski industry mission to People’s Republic of China, in Manchuria, 1986
- Attended President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 1980, 1982
Awards and Honors:
- NSP Distinguished Service Award, 1992, 1996
- Ullr Award, International Skiing History Association, 1997
- First recipient of National Chairman’s Excellence in Service Award, National Ski Patrol, 2010
- Inaugural class of National Ski Patrol Hall of Fame, 2013
- VT Ski and Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame, Paul Robbins award, 2015
- U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, Class of 2016
Ski Writing:
- Researched and wrote The National Ski Patrol: Samaritans of the Snow. 1983; updated edition, 2013 Ski columnist for Recorder Newspapers, 1993-2008
- Contributed hundreds of articles to National Notes and its successor, Ski Patrol Magazine, 1976---