Myron Crispino

It is with great sadness that the Swain Ski Patrol announces the passing of Myron Crispino, and his loving wife Anne, who were killed in a tragic motorcycle accident in early June 2014. Myron started his patrolling career in 1970, at Pinnacle Mountain as a junior patroller. While at Pinnacle, Myron worked his way through the Senior rank, and with the encouragement of Jack Huntley at Greek Peak, became a Senior S&T T/E. When Pinnacle closed in 1977, Myron transferred to Ski Denton in Pennsylvania for several years before transferring to the Swain Ski Patrol in 1981. While at Swain, Myron served in many capacities, including OEC instructor, S&T instructor, Chair Evac instructor, APD overseeing the S&T program, Coordinator for Trail Marking repair and replacement, Awards Chairman, and Patrol Director.

Myron was never one to sit still. Several years ago he decided to become a dual registered Patroller, going back to Denton Hill as his secondary patrol. While there he volunteered for many of the patrol’s fundraisers, including the summer archery festivals, and annual ski swap. He would volunteer to patrol on the day the Denton Hill Patrol did their annual On The Hill refresher in January, so that all their patrollers could be refreshed at one time. He would also contribute his decades of experience patrolling to the patrol and help advise on policy/procedure changes and updates, or on any subject where a need arose.

Myron has two sons, Matthew and Nicholas, both are patrollers. Matthew, who started at Swain, moved to Colorado, married Rachel (also a patroller), and is now a pro patroller at Steamboat. Nicholas also grew up in the Swain Patrol family, and is still a patroller with us.

Myron was never at a loss for words. As Swain Patrol Director, he constantly acted as a strong, outspoken advocate for the well-being of all of his patrollers with mountain management and Region program administrators to ensure that everyone under his direction was treated fairly. He took the job of Patrol Director very seriously, and protecting his patrollers was part of the job description. After many long years of service to the patrol he was awarded National Appointment #9092 in 1999.

He wasn’t afraid to have a good time, kick back and have fun either. He was happy to have a beer with you, light a good cigar, and talk deer hunting, tell tales of sailing across the Gulf of Mexico and eating fresh caught yellow fin tuna, driving out to Sturgis for the motorcycle rally and almost getting run over by a bison, or about doing laps around Watkins Glen in one of his Audi’s. He would often regale us with tales of his home town of Corning, New York, or his annual ski pilgrimage to Steamboat to visit Matthew and Rachel, often dragging along other patrollers with him to enjoy the trip and some great hidden area skiing with Matthew and Rachel as tour guides. Even on the trips to Steamboat Myron would inevitably end up in the patrol room talking patrolling techniques, stories, motorcycling, hunting, or anything that came to mind.

Myron was always cool under pressure, and in the many serious incidents we worked with Myron over the years, he always kept a level head. That same trait he shared with Matthew and Nick. He always had a great sense of humor, even as he was transitioning to telemarking. He wasn’t too graceful at first, and we would often tease him about needing to screw his heels back down, but he kept at it until he was good enough to patrol on his telemark skis. He still maintained his checkouts every year on both skis and teles.

Myron was involved in many activities in his home town of Corning as well. He served on the Corning City Council, on the Corning City Finance Committee, as Deputy Mayor, and as President of the Corning Lions Club. He put his financial experience as a Credit Union professional to good use in service to his community by volunteering to teach Corning High School students the elements of personal finance to establish their creditworthiness and avoid financial perils as they entered college or the job market. He had such an influence, that his presence will be greatly missed by many people for a very long time. Myron was a great father, husband, and patroller. He was a friend to everyone who knew him. He will be sorely missed by both patrols. Post Script: Myron was awarded a Distinguished Service Award, posthumously, in September 2014.

Written by Tom Wallin – Swain Ski Patrol