A Day in the Life: Dave Tepper. Renoun Skier & Ski Patroller.

While most skiers are queued up for their run of the day, David Tepper (like many other ski patrollers) is already halfway through his morning duties. On the to-do list on a standard operating day: checking trails, inspecting fences, and making sure Jay Peak, located in northern Vermont, is safe before the public arrives. With over 17 years on ski patrol, Dave is one of the many people keeping things running smoothly behind the scenes, regardless of what the mountain throws his way.

Patrollers at Jay clock in early. “We’ve got a 7:30 a.m. stand-up meeting,” Dave says, “where we talk about snowmaking updates, any events going on, what’s open and closed, and assign projects for the day, like replacing fencing or signage.”

From there, each patroller is assigned a trail to inspect and a 90-minute “sit:” a rotation where they’re strategically stationed throughout the mountain to respond to any situation that may arise. “It’s all about coverage,” Dave explains. “You want someone in place so that when a call comes in, help gets there fast.”

There are often assigned chores to-do to make sure the mountain is well marked for hazards, risks mitigated, proper closures are in place and helpful customer service explanations on certain signs for information like trail conditions, grooming info, dangerous temperatures or wind. "We also work closely with the operations and snow reporting teams to update trail and lift status." Dave adds.

The rest of the day? “You ski,” he says. “You’re free to roam as long as you’re ready to respond. And with terrain like Jay, you never know what’s coming.”

Some calls are routine, like guiding a lost snowboarder or helping a cold kid who just wants to ride down in the sled. Other calls have higher stakes.

“One guy walked into the base and said, ‘I think I cut my leg,’” Dave recalls. “Another patroller started to roll up his pants and just looked at me and said, ‘HELP.’” It turns out, the wound was massive—“like a shark bite,” Dave says. “We ended up packing it with hemostatic gauze, applying a tourniquet, and getting him stabilized before the ambulance arrived. It missed his femoral artery by millimeters”

It was, he says, “the worst flesh wound I’ve seen in nearly two decades of patrolling.”

Whether it’s routine sweep laps or off-trail rescues, Dave logs a lot of vertical and needs skis that can handle it all. When duty calls, he reaches for Renoun. “The Citadel 107s are great for those consistent, deep days,” he says. “They're light enough to stay nimble, but they have enough power to charge when conditions call for it.”

One of his favorite memories from the season? “We had a little fresh snow in André’s Paradise, and I had the Citadels underfoot. Perfect float, really playful.” He’s already thinking about getting back on them this year, possibly mounting a pair with demo bindings so other patrollers can try them out too.

When the lifts stop spinning, ski patrol carries on. “There’s always sweep at the end of the day,” Dave says, “and sometimes it turns into more than that.” One evening, just as darkness settled over Jay, Dave got rerouted from his normal sweep route for something more serious: a missing snowboarder deep off-trail, somewhere near the golf course far below the boundary line.

Armed with his mountain bike light and GPS coordinates, Dave dropped in with a teammate to start a nighttime search—a story we’ll be sharing in full later this season.

Spoiler: he was on Citadels for that one too.

Thank you to Ian Potter for providing imagery of David's ski patrol activities.

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