First Chair: PSIA-AASI Podcast

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 S...

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 hea...

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 come...

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 slope...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas brings you through the story of Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Happy Holidays from PSIA-AASI.

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Melodie Buell from Oregon Adaptive Sports in Oregon. George and Melodie chat about why Melodie has such a passion for adaptive skiing and riding. Melodie goes on to explain how she found purpose through adaptive snowsports and what resources are available to PSIA-AASI members and how to find them. They talk about how to overcome nerves of fail...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Dr. Pete Allison - a professor at Penn State University. PSIA-AASI and PSU have been collaborating since 2016 on standardizing and unifying the assessment process for exams across the country. Starting January 2024, you will be able to earn up to 9 college credits through PSU's World Campus by completing the Professional Snowsports Education C...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with the PSIA-AASI National Team Head Coach, Jeb Boyd. George and Jeb talk about the consistent examing skillsets that have been talked about this year. Regional Trainings have been ongoing across the country which provided a consistent content message across the United States. Jeb talks about how the Regions are aligning to create a premier member...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Duncan Pawson with G3. G3 is “Genuine Guide Gear” which focuses mostly on backcountry gear based in Western Canada but available worldwide. G3 offers several different "families" of ski options, as well as skins, splitboards, poles, probes and shovels. Duncan is one of the engineers on staff at G3 and helps design the perfect skis. George and...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Peggy Hiller, CEO of PSIA-AASI. On this episode, George and Peggy talk about the member survey that was conducted. Part 3 of the survey is how PSIA-AASI can take critiques and make changes. Peggy talks about how PSIA-AASI is striving to accomplish education excellence. We've made strides to do this by creating a unified examination process acr...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas talks with Don Begley who attended the Rocky Mountain Region Season Kickoff event in Breckenridge, CO. George and Don talk about the importance of a good critique and why being an instructor is so beneficial to your life. Don chats about how he left cross country skiing because the recent warming climate has made it nearly impossible to cross country ski in N...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Dave Speer. Dave talks about why coming back to the instruction industry and attending this event is the perfect way to learn about all the new advances in the work of snowsports instruction. Dave acquired his Level III in 2003 and eventually took some time off to focus on other things. He retired and wanted to come back to the sport that he l...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Paul Roberts. Paul is an instructor at Peak 8 in Breckenridge. Originally a ski instructor in Canada, Paul moved to Colorado 30 years ago. The Season Kickoff event for the Rocky Mountain Region happened in November 2023 and provides instructors a chance to catch up with others in the industry, learn the latest trends and get them on snow in th...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Carol Stecker at the Rocky Mountain season kickoff event. Carol has been a Keystone instructor for a long time and joined the season kickoff event to earn more CEUs and engage with other local instructors. George and Carole chatted about the event and how it has progressed this year. Carole talks about what she learned during the event and how...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Rob Crawford at the T-Bar on Breckenridge mountain. George and Rob talk about leading clinics and covering important information that's needed for the upcoming season. Rob is new to the Aspen Snowsports School staff and is thrilled to learn from some of the best in the industry. Rob is part of the Rocky Mountain Education Staff and talks about...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with the Angel Fire crew from New Mexico. The team from Angel Fire joined in on the Member School Management (MSM) event in Colorado to have fun, talk about the upcoming season and make some turns together. They talk about what they're learning at MSM and how they plan to take what they've learned back to their hill, including people skills. Hear f...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas. You'll hear from Board President Robin May at the season kickoff event in the Rocky Mountain Region. The season is starting across the country and our regions are ready for an adventurous season ahead. The point of this season kickoff event is a social and networking event but it also is a sign of the season getting underway. Robin discusses what the event i...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas chats with National Team member Brian Smith who is also a member of the Eastern Region Education staff. Brian chats about the overlap of being on the National Team while being a part of the educational processes with PSIA-AASI. George notes that Brian is a unique team member because of this. Brian talks about finding ways to draw younger members in...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Alpine Team member Josh Fogg at Team Training in Keystone, CO. George and Josh talk about the lack of snow this year and what it looks like at Josh's home mountain of Aspen Snowmass. George asks Josh about the plan for working with his new staff as the Training Director at Aspen. Josh talks about his time on the National Team and how...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Alpine Team member Ryan Christofferson. George and Rayn catch up at Team Training which took place in late October at Keystone Lodge in Colorado. Ryan chats about his time on the team and what he's looking forward to in the future. He chats about his freestyle specialty and what it means to him and how to prepare for your Freestyle Specialist...

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Henrik Lampert from Factions Skis to chat all things new this year. The new skis this year are the very colorful Dancer series. An all-mountain ski that will surely make you slide nicer on snow. PSIA-AASI members get a very special rate off of these skis. Check out the pro offers at https://members.thesnowpros.org/products/pro-offers...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Mike Ma who is a PSIA Adaptive Team member. Mike talks about his week at Team Training and what the adaptive team is looking forward to this season. Adaptive guides and educational resources that are new for this season are ready for you! Mike also talks about his time on the team and how he can serve the membership after this term ends. Mike'...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Brenna Kelleher. Brenna is on the PSIA National Team and talks about her time on the team and what the future looks look. Brenna dives into how she's grown over the last few years and what started her path into teaching. Brenna has continued her education and became a real estate agent and is continuing to grow professionally each year. Brenna...

First Chair podcast host George Thomas catches up with Jeb Boyd who is the Head Coach for the PSIA-AASI National Team. George and Jeb talk about Team Training 2023 and what the focus is. There has been a lack of snow which led to more inside training than on-snow training. In all, the team was able to focus on this year's messaging and what each member's own professional development plans are. Eac...

First Chair Podcast host George Thomas catches up with Sue Kramer. Sue has created and hosts a webinar that is available to PSIA-AASI members. (see link that you can copy and paste below ) Participants will learn multiple exercises for developing core stability, agility, balance, and strength specific to skiing. These exercises can be practiced throughout the fall to develop ski-specific movement...