AASI Team Training And Woodward At Copper

The good folks at the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI) know how to  get the season off to a good start. Each year the Snowboard Team riders take over Copper Mountain for a week before the mountain opens to the general public and has the hill to themselves by day and a private village by night.

This year, TransWorld Business joined the crew for the media day on October 29 as a major winter storm pounded the state. Wednesday morning, before we departed, all the schools on the front range were closed, snow was piling up in Boulder and newscasters were calling for up to four feet. Needless to say expectations were high on the way to the hills and as it turned out the forecasters were right in their predictions (for once) but not where we were headed. While Copper only got a couple inches, the conditions were still epic for early season and it was a great chance to catch up with the AASI team to find out what’s on the horizon for the second year of the current team’s (which includes Scott Anfang, Lane Clegg, Gregg Davis, Dave Lynch, Tommy Morsch, Eric Rolls, and Josh Spoelstra) four year term.

The event kicked off with an awards ceremony for several members including Randy Price who has been with AASI for 20 years and received the Educational Excellence Award. The main goal of AASI, along with it’s sister organization Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA), is to promote the sport of snowboarding and convert new riders into lifelong snowboarders. This year its membership ranks of instructors hit an all time high of over 29,000 and they are showing some strong momentum with the launch of their Go With A Pro TV show which will reach over 41 million households this winter.

The team’s other main goal for the winter is a major push to continue and tailor the approach of its instructors specifically to snowboarding and move away from the tired ski school traditions that don’t translate for beginner snowboarders. Additionally they are putting a huge emphasis on freestyle lessons and training to get young riders hooked and progressing.

After some hot laps that proved super cold on a one degree morning with the team and sponsors including Never Summer, Smith, Hestra, and Flaik it was off to check out the Woodward at Copper building. The photos of the facility definitely don’t do this playground on steroids justice. The place is amazing and I’m going to wrap this story up and get on to the photos to focus on shuffling my schedule to get back up there.