The Young Adult Program

West Michigan Region contact:

Mission Statement

The National Ski Patrol Young Adult Patroller (YAP) Program is a volunteer educational program that provides a structure and atmosphere for young adults, ages 15 through 17, that will help them develop and enrich their lives as they make the transition from teenagers to adulthood by learning skills around snow sports safety and injury prevention, emergency care and response in the outdoors environment, skiing and snowboarding, physical fitness, leadership, and ski patrolling. Through outstanding training programs and engagement of the young patroller, the Young Adult Program provides a foundation for future lifelong patrollers and develops the future leaders of the NSP.

YAP Program description

The NSP YAP Program introduces teenagers to ski patrolling and the NSP. The YAP Program often serves as a training ground for future patrollers. NSP young adult members and candidates must be 15 years old by December 31 of the year in which they begin patrolling, so YAPs are generally 15 years old through 17 (or through their senior year in high school). Young adult patrollers must meet the same patroller training and responsibilities as any other member of the patrol with the same skill set. The NSP imposes no limitations on YAP activities that are not common to all who participate in NSP programs. That said, the NSP YAP Program is not a labor program, and at the local level each YAP Program operates in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and school district policies and procedures relating to youths volunteering their time to participate in ski patrolling activities and providing emergency care and response services, and also operates within the parameters of the program approved by their ski area, including applicable ski area policies and procedures.