JACKSON, Wyo. — In celebration of Women’s History Month, in 2025 Buckrail spoke to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s (JHMR) first woman ski patroller, Melissa Malm, a ski and medic pioneer who paved the way for other women to join the patrol.
Malm was first hired onto the JHMR Ski Patrol as a first responder during the winter of 1975/76. Malm told Buckrail that she did not receive a paycheck from JHMR, but received a ski pass. She added that, during this time, the Hobacks weren’t always open, lift lines were nonexistent, ski accidents weren’t a daily occurrence, untracked powder could still be skied days after a storm and the base area was much less developed.
Malm said that she first fell in love with Wyoming in 1971, when she participated in a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) trip in the Wind River Range that included a canoe trip on the Green River.
“While in school at the University of Utah, I visited and skied Jackson for the first time,” Malm said. “By the winter of 1975, I was ‘taking a year off’ from school to ski and work at the Mangy Moose Saloon.”
An independent study project allowed Malm to study snow science, weather and avalanche forecasting with U.S. Forest Service Rangers Gary Poulson and John Simms. In January 1976, Malm participated in her first American Avalanche Institute avalanche class.
“Another girlfriend and I were the only two women in a class of 40 men,” Malm said. “I also took an American Red Cross First Aid class that same winter.”
Malm’s experience in first aid allowed for “on the job training for all things ski patrol.” She said that there wasn’t a medical clinic at Teton Village then, so she “sometimes drove patients in a very unreliable vehicle to the hospital.” After working part-time for three years, Malm was hired as a full-time patroller in February 1978, when another patroller was injured.
“I received (and still have) my first rehire letter as full-time ski patroller the fall of 1978, stating, among other things, my whopping salary of $880.00 a month!” Malm said. “We worked 11 days a pay period, and 22 days a month equals roughly $40 a day.”
Malm was expected to do everything that the male patrollers did, including evacuate chairlifts, rescue skiers on cliffs and run avalanche hazard reduction routes. She was also required to carry heavy signs and bundles of bamboo poles used in fencing, set up barricades, run toboggans, assemble and handle hand charges, run mountain sweep and be competent as a first responder.
“It was not intimidating but exciting, to be the first woman,” Malm said. “Often, I felt I was thrown into situations that were tests — ‘Let’s see how she does with this!’ I believe this is true of any male-dominated job or circumstance. Women inherently are fantastic problem solvers and masters of finesse and can accomplish just about anything in a way that works best for them.”
Malm told Buckrail that women will always be under a microscope. Her advice for women is to be confident, understand one’s strengths and weaknesses, learn and practice and be willing to ask for help.
“I never expected or asked to be treated differently,” Malm said. “I proved to an all-male ski patrol that women were capable of doing the ski patrol job.”
In the 1980s, Malm trained to be an instructor for the Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) program developed by the National Ski Patrol. She then taught the course to the JHMR Ski Patrol.
“It was challenging teaching old dogs new tricks, but we did it,” Malm said.
Malm shared with Buckrail how the ski patrol has changed since the mid-’70s. She said that a major difference today is how well-trained the patrollers are in trauma situations, avalanche prevention and response and first aid.
“One could write a book about the changes/atmosphere of the mountain and patrol,” Malm said. “It’s a friendlier and larger group now. About 92 patrollers, 17 women. I think there were about 25 when I started.”
Malm continues to work with the JH Ski Patrol as a liaison at St. John’s Urgent Care clinic in Teton Village. She also founded the Friends of RPK Memorial Fund to provide student scholarships in remembrance of deceased patrollers and continuing education funding opportunities for first responders.
This story runs annually.
