Official Supplier Après Party an Annual Academy Highlight
Falling snow, an open-air DJ, and hundreds of happy instructors painted the perfect scene for PSIA-AASI’s annual Official Supplier Après Party – hosted by Leki at National Academy in Big Sky, Montana, on Thursday night.
After a day of ski and snowboard demos, inline skate-to-ski electives courtesy of Rollerblade, and even a Ski:IQ Competition hosted by Carv Digital Ski Coach (in which instructors used Carv insole sensors to gain insight into their technique), the party gave PSIA-AASI members and partners the opportunity to share highlights from the week.
“What I love about Academy is how everyone gets to be a rock star while they’re here and close out the season on the perfect note,” said Barclay Rappeport, national sales manager with Marker, Dalbello, Völkl. “No matter how your winter was, if you have fun at the end that’s all you are thinking about when the next season starts.”
For new and longstanding partners, the event also allows brands to showcase new products and enable on-snow test runs for attendees to see how the equipment performs on the slopes.
According to Faction’s North American Success Coordinator Anika Gorham, the ski supplier had a booth at Academy for the first time this year “Because we wanted to celebrate all the support PSIA members have given us and get out and share the mountain with you to show how much we appreciate it.”
Telemark binding supplier 22 Designs partnered with boot supplier SCARPA to host a tent for PSIA-AASI members as well as the skiing public.
“It’s an opportunity for us to put a face to the name of the instructors we work with,” said 22 Designs’ Jake Garcia. “And it also lets us show people who are interested in trying telemark how inclusive the sport is. That there’s really a community around making this beautiful turn and we really love sharing it.”
Supplier SkyTech Simulator shipped a simulator up from California for snow pros to see how indoor training can help them and their students refine their technique and provide an offseason option to keep teaching/learning even when there aren’t any nearby slopes.
“This is our best opportunity to reach so many professional skiers in one place,” said SkyTech Content Director Mili Gevorkyan. “Our goal was to reach more trainers, raise awareness, and find more partners to work with in the future, and we’ve accomplished that.”
Mili said National Academy also allowed the brand to showcase its upgraded simulator while also developing new teaching options, gesturing over his shoulder to where adaptive instructor Katie Zinn was testing out a sit-ski on the simulator as he talked.
It was a sentiment echoed by Andy Hare of Rollerblade and Nordica who said, “This is the best way to get face-to-face with 450 of the most motivated instructors in the teaching community. These are the professionals we want to communicate with, and we look forward to being here to participate.”
See more highlights from National Academy, Adaptive Academy, Telemark Academy, and Rider Rally on PSIA-AASI’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Also be sure to check out current Pro Offers from PSIA-AASI’s Official Suppliers.
