When you're hurt, afraid or lost, they are the men and women you want rescuing you-- the ski patrol. They're emergency services on skis.

"You almost have to be not only medically trained, but you almost have to be a psychologist because you're coming across people who are probably having one of the worst days of their lives. So not only do you have to identify and stabilize their injury, but you have to keep your spirits up," said Jeff Salvador, a volunteer with the ski patrol.

When they're not helping the 200-250 people who get hurt each year, they're making sure the slopes are safe.

"We maintain all of the equipment on the hill, trail signs, ropes, closures, hazard markings. We also deal with all of the lift evacuations, should that ever need to happen and training for that. And then we make decisions on terrain accessibility, as well," said Kaitlyn Fowle, the director of Bolton Valley's ski patrol.

It's a lot of ground to cover.

Bolton Valley currently has a roster of 60 ski patrollers. That number is down from 90 members 10 years ago.

"It's pretty concerning considering I'm one of the younger guys and I'm 54," Salvador said.

Fowle says the biggest challenge is that many would-be volunteers don't have enough time to commit to the team.

"It's an interesting job but it does take a lot of training to complete the job we need to do. It's full capacity. So we struggle getting new folks involved," Fowle said.

"It puts more stress on us on a weekend when we can only put two people on top of each peak. We always try to keep at least two, it's good to have four or five so we can rotate around and actually get some skiing in," Salvador said.

While that can make the job extremely demanding, Salvador says it's worth it.

"You get to ski whatever you want whenever you want to ski it," he said. "And you're first on and last off, what's better than that?"

Ski patrol is a critical element at all ski resorts. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says 150,000 skiers and snowboarders get hurt every year. The more patrollers on the slopes, the faster the response time.