First Chair: Katie White + Small Snowsports School Scholarship

Change is in the air! As deep winter storms close out the ski and snowboard season in South America, here at home the PSIA-AASI Scholarship window has opened, offering instructors and small snowsports schools an opportunity to apply for additional resources to help reach their professional goals.

New First Chair Podcasts dive deeper into both these topics, with insight on how the learning process continues, even when you aren’t out on the snow. (The links in each of these stories take you to the SoundCloud Podcast Community pages. You can also now listen to the entire First Chair Podcast library on Spotify).

Catch Up with Katie White in Portillo

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Katie White from the snowy climes of Chile. Katie is the Scholarship Director for Women of Winter and the Ski School Director in Portillo, where she is spending winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Katie discusses her year on snow, how she is helping to grow Women of Winter, and the plans she has for the upcoming winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Find out more about Women of Winter: www.womenofwinter.net/

How Small Snowsports School Scholarships Help Grow the Sport

In this podcast, First Chair sits down with Kyle Wilson, the Snow School Director at Nordic Mountain in Wisconsin. Nordic Mountain was the recipient of the Small Snowsports School Scholarship for the 2022-23 season, which Kyle says helped him train a new group of PSIA-AASI Level I instructors. Kyle talks about the culture of Nordic Mountain and how the area works to welcome new students — and new teachers — to the world of snowsports.

Learn more about PSIA-AASI scholarship opportunities. (Note: Women of Winter applications are due Sept. 30, 2023. Nancy Oakes Hall Women’s Scholarship applications, as well as Adaptive Education Track, Certification or Specialist Education Track, Veteran Workforce and Education Track, and Small Snowsports School Scholarship applications are due Oct. 31, 2023).