Eric Rolls
Snowboard Technical Coach
Where is your home mountain?
Park City Mountain, Utah
What other occupations are you involved in?
Ski and Snowboard School Training Manager at Park City Resort. PSIA-AASI-I Examiner.
Describe a teaching or learning experience that sticks out in your mind.
For me, the most impactful learning experiences are when I start out as a teacher and then become the learner during the process.
What are your specialties as a team member?
As a coach, my role is to lead the team, help team members develop, and demonstrate skills and behaviors by example.
Relevant certifications?
PSIA-AASI Snowboard Level III and Alpine Level I with Children’s Specialist 2 and Freestyle Specialist 2 credentials.
Is there anything we missed asking?
I’ve served on the PSIA-AASI National Team for three terms (13 years). This will be my first full term as a coach, and I’m excited to learn, grow, and lead the snowboard team for the next three years.
Tony Macri
Snowboard Development Coach
Where is your home mountain?
Copper Mountain, Colorado
What other occupations are you involved in?
Chef Executive Officer and Owner of Snow Trainers LTD
Describe a teaching or learning experience that sticks out in your mind.
I would say the first-time teaching in China. No one in my group spoke English, so the lesson had to be extra fun and engaging to keep everyone’s attention and for them to understand the exercises.
What are your specialties as a team member?
Snowboard Development Coach, I have been in involved and continue to specialize in Freestyle as the chair of the Freestyle Task Force and Co-Author of the freestyle manual as well as the snowboard certification process.
Relevant certifications?
PSIA-AASI certified Snowboard Level III and Alpine Level III with Children’s Specialist 2 and Freestyle Specialist 1 credentials. Two-Time SBINZ National Team Member (Snowboard Instructor of New Zealand).
Is there anything we missed asking?
I love to meet and engage with people all over the world about how we can continue to grow our sport.
Cori Lambert
Where is your home mountain?
Aspen Snowmass, Colorado
Where did you learn to slide on snow?
I am self taught, and started riding on big mountain in whitefish, MT
As of 2024, how long have you been instructing?
13 years
What are your specialties as a team member?
Technical skills. (How to be a better skier, rider, etc., and how to teach others to be better), Teaching skills., People skills., Preparing for certification. Freestyle / freeride, Translating snowsports instructing skills to other roles / jobs (outside of snowsports industry), Mentorship, Engaging underrepresented groups in snowsports / instruction, Running special events or group programs, Training (physical, mental, summer prep, etc.)
What other work do you do?
Coach CrossFit and coach gymnastics competitive and recreational.
Brian Donovan
Where is your home mountain?
Mount Snow Resort, Vermont
What other occupations are you involved in?
I work at the resort year-round, but have spent time in the past working full-time as a whitewater raft guide and safety kayaker, as well as working as a guide and trainer at an aerial adventure park and zip line tour.
Describe a teaching experience that sticks out in your mind.
I instructed a couple who returned almost 10 years later for me to teach their son. They said the snowboard lesson had been a great experience and they wanted their son to learn so they could snowboard as a family. I realized that lessons can be potentially life-changing to our students. The experience reminds me to be 100 percent clued into the moment when working with students.
What are your specialties in your role as a team member?
I’m a member on the AASI Snowboard Team, but have been working with all of the disciplines on the Certification Standards and the Certification Standards Performance Guides for a few years now.
Relevant certifications?
AASI-certified Snowboard Level III, and Children’s Specialist 2 and Freestyle Specialist 1 credentials.
Jesse Yedwab
Where is your home mountain?
Breckenridge, Colorado
Where did you learn to slide on snow?
Alpine Valley / Brighton / Pine Knob, Michigan
As of 2024, how long have you been instructing?
9 years
What are your specialties as a team member?
Technical skills. (How to be a better skier, rider, etc., and how to teach others to be better), People skills., Preparing for certification., Advancing in PSIA-AASI, such as how to become and excel as ed staff., Safety in navigating pieces of the resort. Children’s specialist, Freestyle/freeride, Gear tech (i.e. boot fitting, equipment tuning, etc.) related to your discipline, Running special events or group programs, Training (physical, mental, summer prep, etc.), Coaching and long-term development of athletes.
What other work do you do?
Landscape design & build / Slopestyle and Halfpipe coaching
Matt Larson
Where is your home mountain?
Big Sky, Montana
What other occupations are you involved in?
Papa and family man, critical care nurse, whitewater kayak instructor, raft guide.
Describe a teaching or learning experience that sticks out in your mind.
Sitting on a 125cc motorcycle with the goal of learning to ride. It reminded me it’s both exciting and scary to learn a new sport.
What are your specialties as a team member?
I focus my attention on freestyle coaching, commonalities between disciplines, and creating environments to coach people skills.
Relevant certifications?
PSIA-AASI Snowboard Level III and Telemark Level I, and Snowboard Freestyle Level 3 and Children’s Specialist 2.
Is there anything we missed asking?
I am goofy footed. I prefer to spin counter-clockwise. I love Lucky Charms. My middle name is Charles. I wore a helmet when driving for the first six months after receiving my driver’s license.
Chris Rogers
Where is your home mountain?
Vail, Colorado
What other occupations are you involved in?
Snowboard, Freestyle, and Children’s Examiner and the Snowboard Education Committee Chair for Rocky Mountain Division. Director of WNTR, an online ski and snowboard school training platform and mountain-town consultancy. Summer Seasonal Assistant Manager, Amenities & Activities, at Colorado’s Red Sky Golf Club.
Describe a teaching or learning experience that sticks out in your mind.
One of my recent focuses has been on the word “control” in the fundamentals, and how that enables us to look at both increasing and decreasing performance in relationship with a specific fundamental. For example, “Control the board’s pivot through flexion/extension and rotation of the body” could be used to look at how someone is creating pivot using front or back leg steering in a skidded turn, or how someone might need to work on reducing pivot in the initiation of a turn to carve better!
What are your specialties as a team member?
Multi-discipline indoor presentations, trainer development, e-learning design, social media management, leadership training and development, meeting facilitation, certification standards, training program development and consulting, improvisation clinics, web design, photo and video work.
Relevant certifications?
PSIA-AASI certified Snowboard Level III and Alpine Level I with Children’s Specialist 2 and Freestyle Specialist 1 credentials. United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association Level 200. American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education Avalanche 1.
Is there anything we missed asking?
Follow my adventures on Instagram: @livewntr
Lyndsey Stevens
Where is your home mountain?
Vail, Colorado
What other occupations are you involved in?
Snowsports instructor and trainer.
Describe a teaching or learning experience that sticks out in your mind.
I taught a never-ever who came back week after week all season. Toward the end of the season, he asked me how he could become an instructor. It was incredible to see him go from never-ever to instructing. His dedication and excitement reminded me that we can all accomplish amazing things.
What are your specialties as a team member?
On snow and indoor training on topics that include people skills, teaching skills, and technical skills.
Relevant certifications?
PSIA-AASI Snowboard Level III, Alpine Level I, Adaptive Snowboard Level I. Children’s Specialist 2 and Freestyle Specialist 1. United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association Level 100.
Josh Smith
Where is your home mountain?
Mammoth Mountain, CA
Where did you learn to slide on snow?
My first turns were in Southern California at Mt High. I did not take a lesson but wish I had.
As of 2024, how long have you been instructing?
13 years
What are your specialties as a team member?
Technical skills. (How to be a better skier, rider, etc., and how to teach others to be better), Teaching skills., People skills., Preparing for certification., Advancing in PSIA-AASI, such as how to become and excel as ed staff. Freestyle/freeride, General professional development in snowsports, such as how to make a career out of it, Mentorship, Background in racing or race coaching, Training (physical, mental, summer prep, etc.)
