First Chair: Psia-aasi Podcast

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Mermer Blakeslee! Mermer shares how she got into snowsports instruction. Mermer is still instructing at Wyndham Mountain in the Eastern Region as she has been for the last 4 decades. Mermer was a key player at Women's Summit 2024 in Solitude, UT this year and speaks about her experience there. A previous keynote Mermer gave was on stretching yourself to the point of failure and learning from that. This is what she addressed at Women's Summit 2024. Listen to this pod for examples on what she delivered. Mermer has her Alpine Level 3 and Children's Specialist 2 certifications.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Katie Brinton. Katie is the Senior Editor for Ski Area Management (SAM) Magazine, . Katie talks about her journey into snowsports instruction and how it's not too dissimilar from other stories she's heard. She left a career as a "professional" and got a job for a winter as a ski instructor. She eventually went on to earn her Level 1 certification from Okemo Resort in Southern Vermont that season. "It was eye-opening and refreshing." Katie met people who instructed in New Zealand and Japan and was able to work a season in the southern hemisphere. Katie now has her Alpine Level III, Children's Specialist I, Freestyle I certifications and is an Alpine Examiner for the Eastern Region of PSIA-AASI. Additionally, Katie is on the training staff at Okemo and serves as Vice Chair of the Eastern REgion's Board of Directors. Katie was named one of SAM magazines 10 under 30 at which began the connection with her and the magazine. On top of all of this, Kati

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with instructors from Mt. Hood Meadows in Oregon on the process of Ed Staff training and tryouts. George catches up with Jeremy Riss, Jen Lockwood, Tyler Barnes and Katie Foyt. Mt. Hood Meadows had 5 members of their team chosen to join the Northwest Region Education Staff. Hear from Katie on why she chose Mt. Hood Meadows as her home resort to teach at. Tyler chats about his 18 years at the Mt. Hood Meadows snowsports school and how he's sharing the culture and knowledge to the rest of the staff. Jeremy started his skiing career when he was a teenager and worked his way up through the snowsports school and now is the COO of Mt. Hood Meadows. Jeremy talks about the perpetual stoke of the industry. If the instructors are happy, the guests are happy and people will return to experience the great culture of an area. George questions the group on the training culture at Mt. Hood Meadows and why it's such a valued area to work at. Jen talks about how they

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Ying Liu who attended this year's Women's Summit in Solitude, Utah. Ying chats about how she learned better ways to teach and how to communicate more effectively. The feedback that Ying has gotten from students after utilizing what she learned from the Women's Summit has been great so far. Angela Lemmons was the Keynote speaker the first night and talked about daring to be extra and the importance of pushing forward and surrounding yourself with like-minded people. The on-snow portion of the event covered drills like progressions, connecting your body to your skis or board and steering with your knees. Ying talks about the mentorship session that happened the second night and how it was so valuable to see the stats around women's mentorship in snowsports. Ann Schorling hosted a Q+A around gender equity in snowsports instruction in which a great talk happened about the importance of female instructors. Ying talks about how seeing females in 'trad

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas checks in with Ying Liu who is at the 2024 Women's Summit. Ying talks about her highlights from the Women's Summit and mentions how she has been working with Mermer Blakesly on steering with the inside ski and how Mermer was able to guide her through that progression. The Women's Summit this year is at Solitude, UT and is made up of over 130 women from all over the country. Some of the workshops were geared towards 'daring to be extra' and the 'importance of mentorship and career progression.' Ying helped lead a mentorship session which showcased that everyone brings something unique to the table that others can benefit from. There was a great panel discussion with the CEOs of PSIA-AASI, NSAA, NSP and Solitude who are all female leaders. Learn more about the Women's Summit, the Women's Virtual Summit and stay tuned for more! Women's Summit info: thesnowpros.org/events/womens-summit/

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Melodie Buell again and in this pod, they continue the chat about providing effective feedback to your students. George kicks off the pod with his own experiences with getting feedback from bosses and coworkers. Melodie goes on to explain how building a relationship with whomever you're working with or collaborating with is essential to building trust within the relationship. Melodie talks about how providing feedback on things your student did right is equally as important as critiquing something they did wrong. Error-focused feedback can be phenomenal if you have a good relationship with the student but if you're growing and connection with your student, being vulnerable and providing feedback on the good things, automatically creates a better connection. George questions Melodie on what instructors can do to improve the way feedback is given which Melodie answers by saying that you should have an understanding of how the teaching and people s

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with PSIA-AASI's Education Development Manager Angelo Ross. Angelo is a well-accredited instructor for PSIA-AASI. Angelo spent much of his winter traveling around to regional examiner trainings with a message of alignment focused on movement analysis where examiner skills were practiced. Angelo talks about his experience at the examiner trainings and how the fundamentals of PSIA-AASI's education materials came into play. George and Angelo chat about what next year's trainings look like and how they'll take the experience from this year's travels and morph it into something bigger and better for the next round of trainings. Angelo mentions the gratitude and excitement that came from each training was the most impactful moment.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with National Team member Brian Donovan and chats about handling and working with high-need students. We've all had students who have never been on snow or who don't understand the sport, or have issues with gear from the get-go. Brian and George talk about working with these students and how to address the attention needed. Brian talks about ways that people skills come into play with this. Use two-way communication and try to understand what hurdle they're facing in their personal experience at that moment. George talks about overcoming the anxieties students may feel during lessons and how to help them through those thoughts and feelings. Brian goes on to talk about how these students present an opportunity to become private lessons or students who learn to love the sport even more and become lifelong enthusiasts or even better, future instructors.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with National Team member Tony Macri and a few successful FS I candidates from the National Freestyle Academy event at Woodward-Park City. George talks with Diego about his experience at the full 5-day event and how his experience was. Joel got his Alpine FS I and talked about the experience with the instructors and the facility. Joel goes on to say that the examiners were so attentive and helpful throughout the entire process. Connor got his FS II and talked about how the small group he was in was very encouraging. Keelie was intimidated and worried about the entire process but her home crew from Mt. Hood Meadows stepped in to support her. George questions all guests on the personal impact of the event and what it meant to them and then asks if they recommend National Freestyle

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with National Team members Ben Potts and Tony Macri who are at the National Freestyle Academy in Utah at the Woodward-Park City facility. George, Ben and Tony talk about how this is a national event that travels from region to region. Examiners come from nearby regions to help put this event on and assess the students who were in attendance. Every level assessment in Freestyle is offered at this event including Freestyle I, II, and III for alpine and snowboard. George shares that he got his FS I back in 2009 and Tony shares how things have changed with the FS I assessment since then. Tony and Ben talk about the camaraderie at Freestyle Academy and the support that comes from the people there.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with National Team members Tony Macri and Ben Potts. Tony and Ben are at the PSIA-AASI National Freestyle Academy at Woodward - Park City in Utah. Ben and Tony talk about Freestyle Academy and what it is. Ben talks about comparing Freestyle Academy to National Academy and how they're similar in the way that is brings tradition to the discipline. Tony talks about the worth of joining Freestyle Academy and works through the schedule of the week going from training days to prep days to exam days. Ben goes on to describe what the day-to-day looks like and what people can expect if they attend. Ben and Tony talk about the Woodward facility and how it's so great for this event. Ben shares that February 24 of 2025, the National Freestyle Academy will be the Woodward in Killington, Vermont! This event is open to everyone from beginners to advanced freestylers. Learn more: https://thesnowpros.org/events/freestyle-academy/

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with PSIA-AASI Adaptive Coach Geoff Krill. George and Geoff chat about psychological splits among groups in a lesson. Geoff explains the difference in mentality among some students when taking a lesson. Some are there to learn and get better and others are sometimes just there to experience the thrill of sliding on snow. He goes on to talk about overcoming a negative mentality some students may have coming into the lesson. George details an experience where his mentality going into a lesson was negative due to weather conditions but his attitude and the way he approached the students made the lesson much nicer and enjoyable. Geoff mentions that instructors should focus on the motivation of the students and finding out exactly why a student is there and what they're hoping to leave the lesson knowing.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with PSIA-AASI National Team member Brenna Kelleher on managing class splits when giving lessons. Brenna describes what a class split is and how to overcome working with students in a lesson who want to do different things and have different abilities. Brenna goes on to talk about lap coaching and how it provides a good mid-way point to handling group lessons with different ability levels. Lap coaching works for group lessons but also private group lessons with families. Splits aren't just ability-based. They can be age-based, too. Brenna talks about managing lessons with groups of varying abilities and ages and how to pair people together in lessons as accountability partners who encourage and push each other. George questions Brenna on how to handle groups that are progressing so well that the entire group moves to higher terrain and all of a sudden, the group splits with ability levels.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Kevin Jordan, Mark Aiken, and Ryan Ravinsky on the new Children's Alpine Field guide. Kevin is a PSIA Alpine Team member based in Aspen, CO. Mark is a pro based in Stowe, VT, and an Eastern Examiner. Ryan is based in Jackson Hole, WY, and is on the Alpine Education Staff and an examiner in his region. George chats with this group about how the Children's Alpine Field Guide came to be. This Alpine Field Guide is a great resource for new instructors or an idea book for more seasoned instructors. The new guide is broken up into different ability levels with step-by-step instructions on how to instruct children on the slopes with QR codes to attached how-to videos. This guide, although directed with children in mind, applies to all age groups and skill levels. Get your copy today: https://shop.thesnowpros.org/teaching-children-snowsports-alpine-field-guide/

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Northwest examiner Melodie Buell, the Education and Training manager for Oregon Adaptive Sports and a Lead Trainer for Mt. Bachelor Ski and Ride School. George and Melodie chat about Effective Feedback and the importance of delivering it in a way that students can enjoy. Geroge kicks off the pod with some personal experiences of poor feedback and how reactions were. Melodie then goes into the people and teaching skills fundamentals including; adapting to the needs of the learner, managing emotional and physical risk, and understanding and managing our own reactions. The main point is that the instructor should be the one to morph into the student rather than the student adapting to the way the instructor gives feedback. Melodie then dives into the ways and how to provide feedback. Initially, you'll want to build trust. Be timely. Be thoughtful. Be respectful.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up again with Kyle Wilson, the snowsports school director at Nordic Mountain in Wisconsin. Nordic Mountain is a family-oriented place with 300 vertical feet. Nordic Mountain applied and received the Small Snowsports School Scholarship during the 2022/23 season. Upon learning that Nordic did not receive the scholarship this season, the lead instructors offered funds to provide a level 1 certification course to 13 instructors in January 2024. Kyle mentions that the community that came from receiving the Small Snowsports School Scholarship made this year extra special since lead instructors at Nordic found the value in providing this experience to others. Of the 13 new instructors at Nordic, 6 of them were adults and 7 of them were teenagers. Kyle has a lot of plans for the rest of the season as well including getting more events completed and more instructors trained.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Ying Liu, a PSIA-AASI certified instructor and member of the PSIA-AASI Women's Advisory Group, aka, The Women's Council for Equity and Inclusion. Ying was a 'late-bloomer' in the ski instruction world and found herself part of the Women's Summit in 2023. Ying mentioned that the idea of mentorship was a hot topic at the 2023 Women's Summit. The idea of having someone to instill courage and support is a major factor in creating opportunities for women in snowsports. Ying wrote a feature article in the winter issue of 32 Degrees on Finding Community and Mentor Magic at Women's Summit. Ying goes on to say that the Women's Summit was more focused on community rather than competition. The Women's Summit this year is coming up at the end of February from Feb. 25-28 in Solitude, UT. For more info and to register, go here: https://thesnowpros.org/events/womens-summit/

First Chair Podcast host Goerge Thomas catches up with Randi Sidman-Moore from OnTheSnow - a web and app-based platform that offers weather reports and lifestyle content. Randi has been skiing since she was young thanks to her athletic father. Randi ski raced through college and is now a ski instructor at Deer Valley Resort. Randi is also a photographer. Learn more about Randi and OnTheSnow by heading to onthesnow.com.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with PSIA-AASI National Team member Chris Rogers. George is beginning a "boots on the snow" type series that covers a range of topics including class management. All classes aren't related equally and sometimes there are 'trouble students'. Chris speaks on how to overcome some of these situations and how the Learning Connection Model comes into play. Chris talks about some fundamentals in the snowboard handbook and emphasizes the importance of the SCARF model. George questions Chris on how to avoid spending too much time with certain students and losing the interest of other students and how to avoid this.

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas chats with Curtis Herbert, the creative mind behind the Slopes App. Curtis chats how how Slopes started and what the goal is for the future. PSIA-AASI and Slopes are collaborating on a fun member-facing challenge. This challenge is tracking your vertical stats for the month of January 2024. If you ski or ride 100K vertical feet while using the slopes app, you get a free annual subscription to the slopes app. There will be micro-challenges as well through the month so make sure you're using the slopes app at all times while your out on the mountain! The slopes app tracks your speed, the number of runs you've done, your vertical, and much more. The Slopes App is essentially a skiing and snowboarding journal. Goerge and Curtis talk about the challenge and the benefits of tracking your day on the hill. Have fun! Learn more about the slopes app by heading to GetSlopes.com or by searching for "slopes app" in your app store.