2021 Stories of the Year: Alpine Instruction
We’re in the final weeks of 2021. As you celebrate the holidays and the end of year, we hope you have a safe, festive season.
As we look back at 2021, here are some of the top stories of the year in alpine instruction.
Meet the Alpine Team
PSIA Alpine Team Coach Michael Rogan and Assistant Coach Matt Boyd selected the 2021-2024 Alpine Team in Breckenridge, Colorado in April. Meet the new and returning team members who are working to enhance your professional experience.
Alpine Team Members Train Racers at Mt. Hood
Several members of the PSIA Alpine Team spent the last two weeks of July at Mt. Hood, Oregon, helping former team member Dave Lyon host his annual summer ski camp for 60 adults and kids.
“It was a blast having everyone together” said PSIA Alpine Team Coach Michael Rogan. “Some of the students really know how to race, and others were just learning how to ski race, which helped make the whole experience vibrant and fun.”
Michael said other Alpine Team members worked as coaches at the camp including Robin Barnes, Ryan Christofferson, Dusty Dyar, Stephen Helfenbein, Ben Potts, and Ann Schorling.
PSIA-AASI Participates in International Education Exchange
PSIA-AASI sent a delegation of association executives and national team members to Lake Louise, Canada, to share best practices with members of the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA). The group also discussed innovations in snowsports instruction.
“Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Herrin, Board Chair Eliza Kuntz and current team members Stephen Helfenbein and Josh Fogg, gave an update on the implementation of our strategic alignment initiative. Built off the Learning Connection framework, our strategic alignment initiative enhances our members’ professional development opportunities and increases the integrity and value of our credentials,” said PSIA-AASI Director of Education Dave Schuiling.
Remembering Esteemed Snowsports Educator Ron LeMaster
The PSIA-AASI community was saddened by the loss of renowned snowsports educator Ron LeMaster, who died in November, and extended heartfelt condolences to his family and friends, as well as the countless instructors who benefited from his wealth of technical knowledge he shared as a coach, ski school trainer, and author of Ultimate Skiing as well as numerous articles in 32 Degrees.
An icon in the snowsports industry, LeMaster was an innovator and consummate professional – whether on snow coaching athletes; shooting photos and videos of the best the sport produced; or writing numerous articles, papers, and books about the sport he loved so much.
Ellen Post Foster Inducted into Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame
Ellen Post Foster, a freestyle skiing innovator, author, and former member of the PSIA Demonstration Team, was inducted into the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame as a “Sport Builder,” in August at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail.
In 1973, Ellen won the Junior National Championship of Exhibition Skiing. Two years later, she scored top podium in each discipline: aerials, ballet, moguls and combined. Ellen earned her Professional Ski Instructors of America certification in 1980 and was selected for the National Demonstration Team.”
An honored member of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, in 2015 she received the PSIA-AASI Educational Excellence Award.
