Navigating the 20/21 Snowsports Season

PSIA-AASI’s COVID-19 Snowsports Education Resources 

Safety, fun, and learning make up the core tenets of PSIA-AASI’s vision to “Create Lifelong Adventures Through Education.” Delivering on this critical foundation for successful lessons is more important than ever as we work together to maintain a low-risk learning environment for ourselves, our guests, and our colleagues – so everyone can enjoy their snowsports season this winter.

The newly published Navigating the 2020-21 Snowsports Season is a comprehensive document reaffirming our commitment to snowsports education during COVID-19.

“By following best practices and taking necessary precautions for healthy interactions, our guests and instructors can continue to focus on growth and development,” said PSIA-AASI Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Herrin. “We hope that, as an educator you’ll use the document as a tool to help you deliver safe, and fun, lesson experiences in the time of COVID-19.”

The document includes:

  • Considerations for instructors to foster conversations around executing practical and successful lessons.
  • How to incorporate – and adapt when necessary – the Learning Connection model and Teaching/Learning Cycle to align with best health and safety practices.
  • The importance of People Skills in welcoming guests, introducing yourself, assessing students, and planning experiences.
  • How you can adapt Teaching Skills to minimize risk.
  • Snowsports school considerations such as lesson products, group size, and instructor training.
  • And a list of additional training resources for every discipline.

You can read Navigating the 2020-21 Snowsports Season or download the PDF and print copies to keep with you. You can also learn more about PSIA-AASI’s response on their COVID-19 updates page.

National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) Operational Best Practices

An NSAA advisory group of ski industry leaders developed this website resource, and the Ski Well, Be Well operational best practices based on scientific guidelines from experts. These practices can be adapted to each ski area’s unique operation, and can be scaled according to the appropriate local COVID-19 response.

National Ski Areas Association’s “Ski Well, Be Well” Website

Education Foundation Annual Impact Report

FISCAL YEAR July 1, 2019- June 30, 2020
info@psia-w.org
530-587-7642
https://psia-w.org/psiaaasi-education-foundation/

PSIA-AASI Western Education Foundation 

Our Mission is to provide educational opportunities for PSIA-AASI Western instructors looking to enhance their personal growth and further their careers in snowsports instruction.  We help 3500+ members  that serve at ski areas in California and Nevada

Education Events Sponsorships 
Professional Development Day, Fall Rally, Big Mountain Experience, NorCal Rally, SoCal Rally and Convention (canceled). The support for Convention went towards a webinar.

Scholarship Awards
Our donors continue to be very generous increasing donations by 75% compared to the 2018/19 season.  This allowed the Foundation to increase the number of scholarships and member support by over 100% from the prior year. We were also able to increase the dollar amount of scholarships awarded by 70%.  Any scholarships awarded but could not be attended because of the cancellation of events will be honored in the 20/21 season.

Additional Grant
The Foundation was proud to sponsor our division’s Alpine and Snowboard National Team candidates for the National Teams’ tryouts.  Unfortunately, they have been postponed until 2020/21 but we will still be there for them.

Website Upgrade
We increased the content on the Education Foundation’s website to include a Donors and Scholarships Recipients tabs recognizing our generous donors as well as the members awarded scholarships of past and present.  We also added two new donor categories because of wonderful donors!

History of the Foundation
The PSIA-W Education Foundation was incorporated in 1993 and accepted as a 501 (c)(3) by the IRS in 1995. The early organizing committee included Greg Felsch, Blaine Lomen and Katherine Hayes Rodriguez.  The Foundation continues today to support the mission of PSIA-AASI West by funding education projects and supporting development of individual members through scholarships. The Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) organization in good standing, Federal ID # 77-0381837. 

For the 2020-21 Season

The Foundation will be supervised by the Education Foundation Board of Directors:
Blaine Lomen, President
Julie Brown, Vice Presiden
Dave Sutherland, Secretary
John Armstrong, Treasurer
Jaime Marso-Tanner, Member at Large

 

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