SPRING NEWSLETTER, JUNE 2019 President ’s Letter a division the Northern Intermountain us succeed in meeting our clinic and Board and Operations staff needs to be exam requirements. They have a special Recapping the Future diligent in our reaching out to the snow- knowledge achieved through advanced sports schools and communities that we training and education and I offer my First and foremost, it is an honor to be serve to understand their individual sincere gratitude to each and every Edu- elected as President of the Northern Inter- needs. These needs, although they may cation Team member. mountain Division of PSIA/AASI. In my seem unique to the individual resorts, Lastly, I am confident the Board of current capacity as President of the North- span to other resorts within the division Directors and Operations staff will serve ern Intermountain Division, I have a great and need to be addressed. We in turn as as your leader in the division to accom- working relationship with other division a board have goals that we need to plish the future goals and re-define our presidents and the National staff which has achieve to ensure our community needs position within the scheme of the PSIA/ helped me to address our current needs. are addressed and resorts can be confi- AASI divisions to emerge as an instru- To date, we are ahead of other divisions dent in knowing we are there for them. mental leader. We will continue to in- in that we have opted early on to pursue This year one of our resorts, Sun Val- crease our membership count to produce Policy Governance within the division. ley, has opted to pursue dual member- another fruitful year as a division. I look Other divisions are just entering the pro- ship with the Northern Intermountain to each and every instructor and commu- cess of Policy Governance and adapting to and Intermountain Division, which will nity member to reach out to us and have this National standard. We undertook this strengthen the resort and facilitate addi- the confidence in the team to guide you endeavor a year ago and it entailed a lot of tional training. The Sun Valley Snow- through our future to emerge as a leader hard work and checking in with other divi- sports School feels more aligned with within the Divisions and industry profes- sions and National to fulfill this goal. larger destination resorts in our neigh- sion and community. Thank you! Many months were spent analyzing the boring Divisions and is looking for addi- current structure of the division to reach tional education/certification opportuni- “Be thankful for each new challenge the end product of where we are today. We ties for their instructors. because it will build your strength and have adopted updated Articles of Incorpo- What does this mean (for any mem- character.”—Anonymous ration, Bylaws, and Policies and Proce- ber)? You have choices: dures. In addition, we have identified the 1) maintain your current Divi- Sincerely, need for an Interim Executive Director as a sion membership; Fernando Veloz key element to help us achieve our end 2) become a dual member with President PSIA/AASI Northern Inter- result and this decision has made us Northern Intermountain and the Division mountain Division, Bogus Basin Resort stronger. We have many challenges and as of your choice; or 3) transfer to another Division. We encourage you to look at both Divisions and what each has to offer, Inside this issue: such as Certification pathway require- ments, education, and event fees. President’s Letter 1 Which brings me to the point of the instructor community and our need to NI News 2 keep our continuing education current. We have a well-rounded staff of Divi- NI Scholarship/Season Awards 2-6 sion Chairs that represents the specific disciplines and if you’ve ever taken a Articles 7-8 clinic or pursued certification, our team administering education clinics, prep Congratulations 9-10 clinics and exams are keeping pace with National standards. I know for a fact that Board Ballot 11 the team of dedicated clinicians and ex- Heinz Karl Sodamin aminers will make every effort to help Courtesy Mark Poore Photography PSIA-AASI NI JUNE NEWSLETTER 2019 PSIA-AASI NI NI News P.O. Box 2587 Ketchum, ID 83340 President’s Letter on Dues and Fees Increase Officers This past November the Northern Intermountain Board of Directors reviewed the financial Fernando Veloz, President status and budget for the upcoming year. Unfortunately, expenses have risen to outpace cur- (208) 891-9568 rent incoming dues, clinic and exam fees. For the last few years, the Northern Intermountain [email protected] Division has been running in the red. We have tapped into our cash reserve and although there is enough money in our savings, our auxiliary funds continue to be depleted. For this reason, Christian Luening, Vice President the Board voted to raise membership dues, clinic and exam fees to offset rising costs. This is (208) 841-2581 [email protected] the first increase in membership dues since 2010. Deann Miller, Secretary The dues and fees increase will correspond with the annual membership renewal on July 1, (425) 442-5584 2019 with the following increases: [email protected] Dues-Northern Intermountain—$10.00 (Effective Date 07/01/2019) Walt Coiner, Treasurer/National Clinc Fees—$10.00 (Effective Date 07/01/2019) Board of Directors Exam Fees—$10.00 (Effective Date 07/01/2019) (208) 539-2253 [email protected] Other reasons for the dues and fees increase stem from the following facts: the division will Tom Koto, Interim Ex Director incur a fee for National to administer the new database which will host membership records. (208) 866-5461 Historically, this fee has always been absorbed by National and they did not pass on the cost [email protected] to the divisions. In addition, the division will consider services to help on the operations side such as a new Membership/Customer Service portal hosted by National. Also to consider, is Meghan Larson, Ex Coordinator the use of National’s Accounting Services. We were fortunate to have an Executive Adminis- (406) 599-7670 trator, Meghan Larson, perform many of the services to the division in prior years. Unfortu- [email protected] nately, due to time constraints and other commitments, Meghan will no longer be able to offer her services. All these services hosted by National come at a cost to the division and will al- Directors low the division to concentrate on managing the core operations. Gary Baarson Deann Miller Colleen Morshita We are hoping this does not greatly affect our membership and that everyone will continue to Paul Blaylock realize the value of PSIA/AASI membership as a contributor to the Northern Intermountain community. If there are any questions, or concerns regarding this increase, please let one of the Board members know. Congratulations Scholarship Recipients 2018-19 The PSIA-NI Scholarship Committee is proud to announce we have awarded over $2000 in scholarships to help nine of our members achieve their snowsports goals. Nathaniel DeMarcus—Bogus Basin It’s never too early to start planning for next season! We will start accepting scholarships for the 2019-2020 Maggie Zee—Brundage season in November 2019. Please check the website for updated scholarship guidelines and the online ap- Daniel Ridgeway—Bogus Basin plication. We are excited to help with the financial Akyrah Case—Bogus Basin expenses related to continuing your education. Please apply early, most awards go out in January and early Linus Goldsborough—Sun Valley February. www.psia-ni.org Maddison Alexander—Pomerelle Angela Jarvis Amanda Dilworth—Pomerelle Division Board Member Rachel Lewis—Tamarak Scholarship Committee Chair Taylor Cabellero—Jackson Hole/ Bogus Basin Page 2 PSIA-AASI NI JUNE NEWSLETTER 2019 Appreciation Letters to the Education Foundation PSIA-AASI NI P.O. Box 2587 Since becoming an instructor and joining the Northern Ketchum, ID 83340 Intermountain Division three years ago, I have had the op- portunity to participate in four clinics, four certification ex- Committee Chairs ams, and one Spring Symposium. My involvement in these Professional Development: Weylin Barrett events have made me a better skier, snowboarder, and in- (208) 720-7060 structor to students of all ages. I feel very grateful to have [email protected] worked with such great clinicians and examiners in our divi- sion who helped me improve my abilities and knowledge on Alpine Certification: the snow and in instructing. I am a big advocate for learning Ben Roberts and training, and really appreciate that there are so many opportunities to advance your own (720) 878-5962 skills. I would like to thank the PSIA/AASI NI Education Foundation for allowing me to par- [email protected] ticipate in these events. Their scholarship is the sole reason why I was able to attend these events, without which I would not have been able to afford them. Alpine Education: Eric Zimmerman (208) 830-3557 By Margaret Zee, Brundage Mountain [email protected] Alpine Level 2 Snowboard Education: Thank you so much for the PSIA/AASI scholarship this Matt Larson year! Through the scholarship, I was able to attend the Level (406) 570-7930 2 snowboard prep clinic and exam. The money I received [email protected] made it possible for me to achieve my Level 2 Snowboard Certification, and helped me by providing me the opportuni- Snowboard Certification/ Freestyle: ty to develop both my riding and teaching skills. Jake Bolin (208) 901-2250 By Daniel Ridgeway, Bogus Basin Resort [email protected] Snowboard Level 2 Nordic: I’m very thankful that I was able to get this scholarship to further my Position open education in the sport I love.