Where Your Support
Helps Build the Future of Veteran Therapy

A skier in pink gear descending a snow-covered mountain slope surrounded by pine trees and mountains in the background.
Man with a beard wearing snowboard gear, including a black helmet, reflective goggles, red jacket, and black vest, smiling outdoors with snow-covered trees in the background.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the Aspen Elevation Institute.

Your support directly enables veterans to participate safely and confidently.

Our work combines therapeutic skiing and snowboarding with research designed to improve care for veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.

Volunteers play a crucial role in creating a safe, supportive, and impactful experience for our veterans — both during our March 22–28, 2025 program week in Aspen and throughout the year in at-large support roles.

Please complete the form below so we can understand your interests, availability, and skills.
A member of our team will follow up with next steps.

Aspen Volunteers

play a critical role in creating a safe, respectful, and veteran-centered environment throughout the week. Volunteers are expected to approach participants with humility, discretion, and professionalism, recognizing that many veterans are managing invisible injuries such as PTSD or TBI. Their primary role is to support logistics, hospitality, and flow—helping participants navigate schedules, equipment, and daily transitions—while avoiding intrusive questions or assumptions about military service or personal experiences.

Volunteers should be attentive to signs of fatigue, overstimulation, or stress and communicate concerns promptly to program staff rather than attempting to intervene clinically. Consistency, reliability, and calm presence are essential; volunteers are asked to model patience, emotional steadiness, and respect for boundaries at all times. Above all, volunteers are expected to help foster an atmosphere of dignity, trust, and belonging, ensuring that veterans feel supported as individuals, not observed as subjects, during their time in Aspen.

Each roll we expect a commitment of 10-20 hrs a month.

Aspen Volunteer Roles

  • Volunteers provide a welcoming, steady presence for participants, assisting with check-ins, daily schedules, transportation coordination, meals, and general logistics to ensure a smooth, low-stress experience.

  • Volunteers help veterans navigate resort spaces, lift lines, and meeting points, offering encouragement and situational awareness while deferring all instruction and safety decisions to certified instructors.

  • Volunteers assist staff with equipment organization, staging, and transitions, helping ensure participants have timely access to properly fitted gear without attempting adjustments beyond their training.

  • Volunteers capture respectful, consent-based photos and video that document the experience without disrupting programming, prioritizing participant dignity, privacy, and presence over posed or intrusive shots.

  • Licensed or designated medical volunteers provide basic monitoring and first response support, remaining alert to signs of fatigue, injury, or distress and coordinating escalation to clinical staff when needed.

  • Volunteers serve as calm, approachable points of contact for veterans, helping communicate needs or concerns to staff while maintaining clear boundaries and avoiding therapeutic or advisory roles.

  • Volunteers assist with shuttles, timing, and transitions between lodging, meals, assessments, and mountain activities to maintain predictability and reduce participant cognitive load.

  • Volunteers help keep the program running on time by supporting staff with setup, breakdown, wayfinding, and real-time adjustments, allowing instructors and clinicians to focus on participant care.