First Chair: PSIA-AASI Podcast

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Scott Behrens, a first-time participant of Adaptive Academy. Scott shares moments about his time at academy and how it's living up to what he expected. Scott mentions how he got into adaptive snowsports and what led him into snowsports instruction. George and Scott continue to chat about his journey in instruction and how he earned f...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with first-time participant of Adaptive Academy Josephine Cormier on her experience so far. Josephine came to Adaptive Academy by way of getting the Nancy Oakes Hall Scholarship this year. Josephine works at Achieve Tahoe, a fully adaptive program out of California. George and Josephine talk about what the experience has been like so far,...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Alpine Team member Ben Potts. George and Ben talk about the big National Academy and what it's been like so far seeing all of the new and returning members coming to this event. On top of this, Ben is staying in Big Sky for National Team selection that happens the week after National Academy and Rider Rally. George and Ben talk all t...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with PSIA Adaptive Team Coach Geoff Krill. Geoff goes into how adaptive skiing and riding is just skiing and riding no matter what you're sliding on. George and Geoff talk about what it was like going from a team member to a coach of the PSIA-AASI National Team and what it means to be going into his third term as the team coach of the PSI...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Dana Forbes who is the Executive Director for the Rocky Mountain Region. Dana wrote an article about a lesson experience that was completely discouraging and made her question whether or not she was a good instructor or not. This feeling is not unique to Dana though. Many instructors have these moments that make them question whether...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host catches up with Jessie Unruh, the marketing director for Breckenridge Distillery. Breckenridge Distillery is one of PSIA-AASI's newest Official Suppliers and has worked with the National Team to create a unique and branded bottle of whiskey. Jessie talks about the history of Breckenridge Distillery and the differences in whiskeys across the country. The PSIA-AASI...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast catches up with CEO Peggy Hiller. Peggy and George chat about Interki 2027 and the USA winning the bid to host the international event. Interski is an international group formed by instructors represented by more than 30 countries around the world. The different countries come together once every four years to share their expertise and learnings of their own snowsport...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Matt Boyd, a recently announced Alpine Development Coach of the 2024-28 National Team. George and Thomas chat about all things snow pros and what it's like being a coach for the best-of-the-best snowsports instructors from around the country. Matt talks about Interski and how important it is to be a player on the world stage. He goes...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with PSIA Alpine Team member Ben Potts. As winter winds down in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere is bracing for a successful winter season. Ben travels to New Zealand for their Rookie Academy where instructor training is conducted. This isn't for locals only, this event brings in members of national teams, like PSIA-AASI's...

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 st...

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...

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 res...

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 f...

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 f...

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...

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 t...

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 a...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with National Team member Tony Macri and a few successful FS 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...

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 attendan...

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 disc...

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 tal...

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 h...

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 abo...

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...

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 i...