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Nick Collins
Year inducted: 2020 Primary Patrol: Brattleboro, SVT Years of Service: 73 |
Leadership Roles, Program Activity, Awards and Recognitions:
- 1982-2018 Avalanche Instructor Trainer
- 1982-2018 Mountaineering/Mountain Travel and Rescue Instructor Trainer
- 1986-2011 Eastern Division Project Coordinator for advanced Avalanche and Mountaineering Seminars at the United States Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL)
- 1986-2014 Brattleboro Ski Patrol Director
- 1964-1987 American Red Cross First Aid Instructor
- 1986-2016 Outdoor Emergency Care Instructor
- 1964-2019 Avalanche Level 2 Instructor
- 1966-2018 Mountaineering/Mountain Travel and Rescue Level 2 Instructor
- 1970 National Appointment Number 3532
- 2011 Distinguished Service Award
Contributions to the National Ski Patrol:
Nick Collins joined the National Ski Patrol in 1946. His patrol career began as a “Junior Patroller” and his ensuing leadership and support of that program helped develop future leaders who have served as members of our National Board of Directors, National Program Supervisors and countless leaders at the Division, Region and Patrol Levels. He served the United States Army for forty years before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. He served two foreign deployments during the Vietnam War. During that period, he brought his Avalanche and Mountaineering expertise to two patrols in the European Division. Nick Collins passed away in 2019 but left us with an amazing legacy of personal contributions for the Avalanche and Mountaineering Programs at the National level when he was selected as an Eastern Division Project Coordinator. Working in concert with Division Advisors Doug Graham (Avalanche) and Ron Clark (MTR-HOF#29) in his role as Staff Engineer at the US Cold Regions Research Laboratory in Hanover, NH, he orchestrated more than twenty-five years of high-level educational conferences directly benefitting the NSP and the US Army 10th Mountain Division. In addition to organizing the technical agendas, he routinely staffed these seminars with experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the National Weather Service, the American Avalanche Association and the International Snow Science Workshop. Educational offerings were focused on topics such as: snow science, cold weather physiology, cold weather injuries, cold weather operations and survival, prolonged exposure in a nonfreezing environment, high altitude physiology and illness. Multiple lectures and reference materials were provided by experts like Dr. Charles Houston, a world-renowned scholar, mountaineer, author and inventor whose 1950 study expedition to the Khumbu icefall mapped the route subsequently taken by Sir Edmond Hillary's first successful Mt. Everest ascent. Several of Dr. Houston's works were instrumental in the development of the NSP's Mountaineering program. Guest lecturers also included Dr. Murray Hamlet, Director of Cold Research at the US Anny Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts. It is estimated that nearly one thousand people, including NSP members, Military Special Operations personnel and international researchers attended. The impact of these seminars, that included a rust and blue National parka redesign in the mid-1980s, has been significant in developing, advancing and updating our educational materials and capabilities. These seminars were open to all members of the National Ski Patrol. The seminars ended after September 11, 2001, when access to the CRREL facility was restricted. Nick's personal knowledge and expertise not only helped the NSP fulfill its mission of "Service and Safety" to the snow sports industry, but helped enable that service by ensuring the safety of all who have served as Outdoor Emergency Care and rescue providers.