Industry News

National Ski Patrol, Patagonia Renew Longstanding Partnership

September 2, 2020 | 0 Comments

The partnership expands to include collaborating to build a women’s specific Patrol jacket from the ground up

National Ski Patrol and Patagonia this week renewed their longstanding and collaborative partnership through which Patagonia supplies NSP’s more than 30,000 members with patrol-specific outerwear, including the distinguished ski patrol uniforms. Through this new agreement, they will also collaborate to design and build the first Patagonia uniform jacket specifically for women.

Since 2005, in addition to building ski patrol-specific uniforms, Patagonia has offered a wide variety of its products to NSP members at a discount through NSP’s online store. Nearly 85 percent of NSP’s members work as volunteer patrollers and purchase their own uniforms. NSP and Patagonia work together to ensure that these volunteers can get high-quality outerwear that lasts for years and that meets the many demands of patrol work, including rapidly changing weather conditions, physical work that demands freedom of movement, and daily exposure to the elements. Along with other outdoor industry professionals, patrollers have provided valuable input and testing for some of Patagonia’s performance outerwear, including the Mountain Utility Pant.

“We really value our long relationship with Patagonia,” said NSP Executive Director Meegan Moszynski. “Our members appreciate the quality of Patagonia gear – especially its durability under the stresses of patrolling – and that Patagonia works with them to repair their jackets and keep them in service for years and years.”

Patagonia has long provided unisex uniform jackets and vests available in the NSP store, and starting in 2022, it will offer NSP’s members its first patrol uniform jacket designed and built specifically for female patrollers. The new women’s patrol jacket is the result of many years of conversation, work and gathering data about female patrollers’ specific needs and preferences, as well as the growing number of women who are patrollers and NSP members who have long advocated for a patrol uniform jacket designed specifically for them. Patagonia will work closely with NSP staff leadership and Women’s Program to design and test a uniform jacket, so that the product will meet women’s requirements for fit, durability and practical considerations like strategically-placed pockets.

Moszynski observed that, “This jacket shows the level of collaboration and support we have with Patagonia. We are very proud that NSP members have been able to contribute their experience and opinions to Patagonia as they continue to develop the best, most durable outerwear there is.

Eric Wallis, Patagonia’s Snow Product Line Director said, “We are honored and excited to renew the strong and long-held partnership between Patagonia and NSP, built on our shared commitment and collaboration to provide Ski Patrollers with durable, purpose-built products to meet the hard-wearing demands of the job. We truly value the product field testing and feedback from this core user group and have been able to incorporate many of these learnings into our commercial product line.  As we move toward the most sustainable and durable material solutions, we can count on the immediate feedback loop inherent to this partnership”

About National Ski Patrol
The National Ski Patrol is a federally-chartered 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership association. As the leading authority of on-mountain safety, the NSP is dedicated to serving the outdoor recreation industry by providing education and accreditation to emergency care and safety service providers. NSP has more than 31,000 members who are ski and bike patrollers, mountain hosts and associates, and who serve more than 600 patrols around the country and internationally. The NSP is based in Lakewood, Colo.

About Patagonia

We’re in business to save our home planet.

Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California. A certified B Corporation, the company is recognized internationally for its commitment to product quality and environmental activism—and its contributions of more than $110 million in grants and in-kind donations to date.

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