Based in 1946, Arapahoe Basin Ski Space has, over time, grown considerably, seen completely different homeowners, and established itself as a hotspot for diehard skiers alongside Colorado’s I-70. However by all these a long time, its ski patrol workforce has by no means had a lady on the helm, till now.
Earlier this month, A-Basin named Lizzy Schofield as its new ski patrol director. With greater than a decade of expertise in a traditionally male-dominated business, she mentioned she felt proud to earn the position.
“I like that issues really feel just a little extra balanced and just a little extra inclusive for everybody,” she mentioned. “I’m actually excited to be a part of that shift and a part of that change.”
Lucas Herbert/Courtesy of Arapahoe Basin
Rising up in a small city in southwest Michigan, Schofield began snowboarding at age three. Along with her household, she went on ski journeys up north and typically out West.
After attending school, Schofield started taking a look at grad college packages—she deliberate to review archeology—however opted to spend a winter at A-Basin first. The mountain way of life caught and he or she determined she wouldn’t return to high school.
“I actually simply wished to at all times be near snowboarding,” she mentioned.
With A-Basin, Schofield began working within the base space in 2010, parking automobiles and shoveling snow. Throughout her second season, she joined the snowmakers and started to work together with A-Basin’s ski patrol workforce extra. She thought what they did appeared enjoyable. The physicality of the work and emergency drugs appealed to her. And, after all, it concerned snowboarding. Schofield started working in the direction of changing into a patroller, incomes her EMT credentials. On the time, positions on the ski patrol crew didn’t open fairly often. However then, three years after she’d joined A-Basin, one did.“I utilized, and by chance bought employed,” she mentioned.Instantly, Schofield was excited and overwhelmed. The job required so many alternative expertise. Understanding snow science, snowboarding properly, and staying calm beneath strain all went into being a patroller. The range had an upside, although.“There’s at all times one thing else to study, which is enjoyable,” she mentioned.The gender ratio of her coworkers added one other wrinkle. Schofield briefly overlapped with an assistant ski patrol director who was a lady, and a few members of the volunteer ski patrol had been girls. Among the many full-time workers, although, “it was me and one different lady,” she mentioned. They usually had reverse schedules.“Once I began, I felt like I needed to work just a little more durable. I needed to push just a little more durable,” she mentioned, chatting with the challenges that got here with that.However Schofield famous that she was impressed by the assistant director who left quickly after she began.“I believe there’s a whole lot of worth in seeing anyone such as you able of management and authority, as a result of it does take form of a psychological leap to think about how you possibly can be in that place sooner or later,” she mentioned.Now, Schofield’s in a kind of positions herself. Earlier than changing into the brand new director, although, she went part-time at A-Basin. Her life circumstances had modified. Her husband bought a job as a firefighter in Denver. She thought-about going to nursing college. They began a household and had two youngsters. Nonetheless, for Schofield, the mountains, ski patrolling, and the relationships she’d fashioned proved too essential to surrender. In 2025, after her youngsters had grown up a bit, she returned to the patrol as a full-time supervisor, later being employed for the director position. Because the director, she mentioned, she desires to convey enjoyable, positivity, and cohesion, serving to all people really feel included and like they belong. Off the mountain, she feels good that for her daughter, she may be an instance of a mother in a management position.“I simply hope to have the ability to make these issues really feel extra doable to youthful individuals,” Schofield mentioned. With much more girls on A-Basin’s ski patrol workers than when Schofield started—she’ll work alongside assistant director Lindsay Wiebold—she additionally mentioned she’s wanting ahead to serving to mentor different girls and creating “an setting the place … individuals who do not match the standard mildew of what a ski patroller continues to be may be profitable.”
Associated: One Man Is Preserving Freeskiing’s Historical past, and It is All On-line
