and aided by expert skiers from the Schenectady Wintersports Club, as well as North Creek High School students, a course on first aid and ski related injuries was taught to several dozen recruits. The Snow Trains were delayed because of a lack of snow in 1933/1934, but sufficient snow cover was achieved late, and the first Snow Train reached North Creek March 4, 1934. The First Aid Committee swung into action, sweeping trails for skiers needing assistance. The train acted as a base camp on the siding during the day. While no injuries were treated on that first trip, the First Aid Committee (AKA Ski Patrol) continued active participation on trains reaching North Creek during the pre-war years. They were assisted by a "physician-on-call," Dr. James Glenn, a family physician and skier who practiced in North Creek. The First Aid Committee of 1933 anticipated the much needed assistance pioneered by Minnie Dole five (5) years later in conjunction with care for injured ski racers who were pushing limits of speed and technique. The first ski patrol was about helping mountainside injuries to regular ski enthusiasts—not racers. National Ski Patrol The National Ski Patrol in USA was founded in 1938 by the NSP's first chairman, Charles Minot Dole. "Minnie," as he was known, decided that a "service and safety" organization was in order after he hurt himself skiing at Stowe, Vermont and had trouble evacuating himself from the slope. He created the Mount Mansfield Ski Patrol for the National Downhill and Slalom Championship at Mt. Mansfield. Roger F. Langley, the president of the National Ski Association asked Dole to consider a national patrol. Dole later went on to create the 10th Mountain Division, after seeing Finnish soldiers on skis destroy two armored divisions. One of the few federally chartered not-for-profit organizations in the U.S., the NSP has since become the world's largest winter rescue organization. The NSP's 26,500 paid and volunteer members serve on over 600 patrols. The NSP is composed of 10 geographic divisions plus a single division for all paid patrollers. Members are recognized on the slopes by the red jackets they wear, marked by a white cross on the chest and a larger one on the back, or by the older style of blue and rust colored parkas with yellow crosses. Merits, Awards and Ranking The levels of the National Ski Patrol are Patroller- work on alpine skis,