’Tis the season to recognize snow pros who recently received their honorary pins, acknowledging a specific decade of membership with PSIA-AASI. As we commemorate the 2,010 members who were presented with an anniversary pin in 2026, we’d like to extend our appreciation to them for their dedication to the snowsports industry. Whether you are celebrating your 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, or 60th anniversary – or your first – thank you for being a member!

REGION CEOs REFLECT ON THEIR PSIA-AASI ANNIVERSARIES

In 2026, four PSIA-AASI region CEOs are celebrating milestone anniversaries: Herb Davis, Northern Rocky Mountain, 50 years; Ron Shepard, Central, 40 years; Kirsten Huotte, Northwest, 30 years; and Kirstie Rosenfield (pictured above with her kids, both instructors at Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort), Intermountain, 10 years. In addition, former PSIA-AASI board chair and current Interski president Eric Sheckleton is celebrating 30 years, as is Lynnea Anderson, deputy director of the Western Region.

Shepard (A3, TM3, CS2, FS2), who has served as Central Region chief executive officer since 2017, began his snowsports career as a member of the courtesy patrol at Elk Mountain, 30 miles north of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then as an instructor at nearby Montage Mountain. He earned his first certification, Alpine Level I, at Tussey Mountain, in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.

“It’s surreal to wonder where the time went,” said Shepard. “I’m so proud of the industry leaders who were once candidates or trainees, and I’m so happy to have been part of their journey – and so grateful for those who influenced me.”

In sharing one of his favorite teaching moments, Shepard recalled a career-validating lesson with a woman named Susan. “She had fear-induced paralysis from a childhood trauma, and yet she developed an incredible set of skills and style,” he said.

Huotte (S3, A2, CS2) began her career as an instructor at 49° North Mountain Resort, near Chewelah, Washington, earning her first certification, Snowboard Level I, in spring 1996.

Like Shepard, Huotte’s time as a member of PSIA-AASI has centered on fellowship, particularly as snowboarding was still gaining traction. “When I started, there were only a couple of us snowboarders and training was somewhat limited,” she said. “I had the opportunity to train with skiers and learned so much in translating concepts; through the process, I made lifelong friends and mentors who were a large part of my success.”

Over time, the association helped sustain her and provided growth opportunities. In the Northwest Region, she first served as education and program director, then executive director, and in 2018 was named chief executive officer. “I’m not sure I ever realized instructing could be a career,” she said, adding that it took 15 years for her mom to stop asking her when she was going to get a real job. “Our community is what makes the profession what it is, and it has been quite the journey being part of it.”

Rosenfield (A2, H1, CS1) got her start at Park City Mountain Resort and then earned her first certification, Alpine Level I, at Deer Valley in 2016.

She didn’t necessarily have designs on teaching skiing, but a friend talked her into it when Rosenfield was between jobs. The rest is history. “The association taught me to teach, inspired me to keep going, and opened the door to a second career,” said Rosenfield. 

Her experience as an instructor paved the way for her involvement with the Intermountain Region and the realization that teaching can be more than an advocation. “When I replied to a job ad in the Intermountain newsletter for an event coordinator, I thought, ‘well, why not – a theater director coordinates events all the time,” she said. “After only six months as a member, I didn’t quite understand that ‘events’ were educational clinics.”

Soon after, she began working with the Intermountain board to take on more executive responsibilities, enabling them to focus more on governance. By then, her “part-time in-between job” had become a career, as she was named executive director in 2018 (and CEO last year).

“I love working and training with my fellow instructors, meeting our members on the snow, and growing the organization with the small and dedicated group of executives I’m part of,” she said. “This has been a decade of progress for PSIA-AASI, and I’m grateful to be a part of that.”