2021 Stories of the Year: Snowboard Instruction

Here’s to hoping you’re getting plenty of time out on the snow with clients, colleagues, and friends. We’re all anticipating a wonderful winter season while also taking time to reflect on 2021.

Enjoy this look back at some of the biggest stories in snowboard instruction.

Meet the 2021-2024 Snowboard Team

Veteran team members Eric Rolls and Tony Macri are now Snowboard Team Coach and Assistant and Development Coach, respectively, along with returning members Amy Gan Bailey and Chris Rogers, who are joined by education leaders celebrating their first term on the team. Meet the AASI Snowboard Team.

Burton Honors AASI with Breaking Down Barriers Award

Burton Snowboards honored AASI with the brand’s first ever Breaking Down Barriers Award during the NSAA Winter Conference Feb. 2, 2021.

Jeff Boliba, former Vice President of Sport & Participation at Burton Global, presented the award noting that for over the last 20 years, Burton and AASI have worked together to break down barriers to snowboarding.

“We worked together to break down the myth that kids couldn’t snowboard, and created a series of myth-busting videos,” said Jeff. “Our newest venture will focus on adaptive snowboarding in a partnership with AASI to create an adaptive snowboard manual, e-learning course, and training so that anyone has the opportunity to snowboard.”

How the ONEteam Approach Supports Members

Along with its mission to support PSIA-AASI’s vision: “Create lifelong adventures through education,” the PSIA-AASI National Team also supports the ONEteam concept that encourages collaboration through learning and growth across all snowsports disciplines. The outcome of the 2021 selection, which took place in April, built a team that best represents the Learning Connection, highlighted in the Teaching Snowsports Manual.

“The ONEteam concept has allowed us to think about and consider different approaches to the selection process. In a year like this, it’s more important than ever,” said AASI Snowboard Team Coach Eric Rolls. “Just like creating a national team with a variety of strengths, having a team of coaches with varying strengths has proven very valuable.”

32 Degrees: Earl Saline Carves Educational Niche

Planning, communication, and flexibility. These are some of the many skills former AASI Snowboard Team Coach Earl Saline learned while working as an instructor, which he now uses to support the snowsports industry in his role as director of education programming for the National Ski Areas Association.

Saline’s snowsports resume is extensive: ski instructor, Northwest Division Snowboard Committee Chair, early member of the AASI Snowboard Team, manager of Winter Park, Colorado’s snowboard school and adult program, supervisor of Beaver Creek’s private lesson program, snowsports school trainer at Cadrona, New Zealand, PSIA-AASI Education Manager, and Rocky Mountain Division board member. Now at NSAA, he is a key conduit in helping resorts across the country develop better programs and grow their businesses. His time as an instructor informs his career every day, from his commitment to learning to his ability to work toward a desired outcome.

Read more about how Earl’s experience as an instructor continues to inform his career in the full article, by Peter Kray, that originally appeared on page 30 in the Spring 2021 issue of 32 Degrees magazine.