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‘It’s An Honor’

MacQueen Presented National Patroller Award

ASP Nordic Ski Patrol Director Mary MacQueen was recognized at a reception held in her honor, Jan. 26, at the Red House Administration Building where she received the official award, “National Outstanding Nordic Patroller for 2018.” Submitted photos

RED HOUSE — Mary MacQueen is the recipient of the National Ski Patrol’s “National Outstanding Nordic Patroller for 2018.” She was officially presented the award at a ceremony held in her honor at Allegany State Park’s Red House Administration Building last week.

As patrol director and instructor for Allegany State Park’s (ASP) Nordic Ski Patrol, MacQueen received her award on behalf of the over 28,000 members of the National Ski Patrol System.

Along with several guests and the majority of the 18 volunteers who serve under MacQueen, Western New York Region Director Dan Meess, Allegany State Park Manager Tom Livak and John Snyder, Red House manager, were also in attendance to pay tribute to her.

“It’s a big honor to be chosen to receive this award from the National Ski Patrol, and I couldn’t imagine getting anything nicer. It’s a gift,” she said. “It’s an honor, but it’s also funny because those of us who love the ski patrol – it’s in our blood.”

MacQueen said anytime there’s an event or a training going on in the Eastern Division of the National Ski Patrol, they go because it’s their friends who are there teaching. She said they don’t go because they have to; they go because they want to.

“These people are like family. It’s more of the camaraderie than anything else,” she said.

Because she liked the Mountain Travel and Rescue, and Nordic aspects so much, MacQueen co-founded the first Nordic Patrol in Western New York at Allegany State Park, in 2002, along with her husband Butch MacQueen. She said four patrollers out of the original five still volunteer on the ski patrol. Besides herself, the other three are Butch MacQueen, Bill Westner and Gary Maslanka.

As the founder of Kinzua Search Dogs and involved in search and rescue teams in New York State since about 1995, MacQueen was accepted into the Nordic Master program. In April 2017, she became one of 11 Nordic Masters in the country, which is the highest level in the National Ski Patrol. She is one of only two women in the nation who have earned the certification.

MacQueen worked on her Nordic Master certification for more than four years. During that time, she trained mostly in the Eastern Division of the National Ski Patrol that encompasses 15 regions throughout the Northeastern United States.

According to MacQueen, being a Nordic Master enables her to better train the volunteers of the ASP Nordic Ski Patrol on the highest level. She said the status enables her to be a little more knowledgeable in the information that she disseminates to the people, as well as having more “tricks of the trade” up her sleeve, so to speak.

“One of the classes you must have to be a Nordic ski patroller, as opposed to Alpine, is called ‘Mountain Travel and Rescue,'” she said. “That class teaches you about navigation, shelters and travel in the outdoors, as well as hazards like avalanches and a higher level of first aid. The first aid skills are geared more toward long-term care of an injured person because it could be hours or days before help arrives. So, every year, we have to refresh on it.”

Being a Nordic patroller is a lot more than giving first aid. According to MacQueen, there’s also a lot of public relations involved. When the patrol gets to the warming hut at the Summit area and talk to people, a lot of times they want to know how the trail conditions are and where they can rent equipment. She said a lot of people who go cross country skiing have never done it before and don’t know how to do it so, when the patrollers are out and see somebody having difficulty on the trail, they’ll stop and give them a hand, along with some ski tips to help them get interested in the sport and to make their trip a little more enjoyable.

MacQueen said she keeps doing this service for Allegany State Park because it gives her the continued opportunity to do what she loves to do, which is being in the outdoors hiking, skiing, snowshoeing and helping the public.

“The Nordic patrollers do it because they really love the outdoors, so the nice thing about this award is it’s recognizing me for loving the outdoors,” she said.

When she’s not out patrolling the trails of Allegany State Park, MacQueen is a Deputy Sheriff for the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department, and a licensed New York State Guide for hiking, camping and outdoor skills. She is also certified by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) as a wilderness searcher and crew boss.

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