A unionized ski patrol

IT TAKES FOUR YEARS to become a “competent patroller” at Stevens Pass Ski Resort, a couple of hours east of Seattle, Washington. Such a ski patroller, said Katrina Rostedt, a longtimer herself, will have absorbed the idiosyncrasies of twisted knees and broken wrists and know exactly where wet snow poses an avalanche risk unless explosives are properly deployed.

Yet the patrollers who know these things are precisely the sort who tend to leave. Evan Woods, who began patrolling in the 1980s, has seen “hundreds” grapple with the same question after three to five years: Embrace a lifestyle that leaves you earning barely more than minimum wage, or hang up the red coat and trade passion for practicality?

For those who regard patrolling