Team Training 2010
So if you haven’t heard, I have this pretty awesome job with PSIA-AASI. We’re the group that certifies all the snowsports instructors you see on the hill. Our instructors are pretty awesome. And the best of the best are on our national teams. We have one for each discipline, Alpine, Snowboard, Nordic (Cross Country & Telemark), and Adaptive. Each year all the team members get together at Copper Mountain for a week to shred, pow-wow, and create a focus for the upcoming season. As national staff we’re invited to the last day of training, which I found out is an absolute blast!
The last day of training is also the day the team suppliers come in to talk to their athletes. We’re sponsored by companies like Burton, Never Summer, Volkl, Salomon, Rossignol, Smith, Hestra, Swany, and Patagonia (to name a few). So in appreciation of our sponsors and our teams we hold a huge reception for them, so everyone can get stoked for the upcoming season. This year’s party was held at one of the restaurants in Copper. Because the mountain hasn’t opened yet it was pretty much a ghost town with us throwing down right in the middle. The sponsor party was pretty awesome. I got to meet all the team members, team alumni and sponsor reps. 
This year Gibbon slack lines decided to set up a demo in the middle of the party. Somehow I found myself in the middle of a huge group all trying to get across a slack line without falling. It’s a lot harder than you would think. The snowboard guys seemed to be pretty good at it though. Gregg managed a few tricks and Tommy impressed us all with his ability to walk it backwards. I got up too, just so you know, and I’m pretty good at the balance portion of it, but once I started moving it doesn’t work as well.
After the party wrapped up the snowboard team threw their own little shindig, and someone decided they liked me enough to invite me. It’s not often you get to throw a hotel party with the doors open and spreading out in to the hall with out security being called. It was cool to see the guys hanging out in their “fun mode.” Like an idiot I agreed to play a dice game and ended up being the only girl at the table with some pretty VIP people. I finally wised up after I realized my glass was never empty and called it a night. After all I still needed to be in good shape for the morning.
The next morning we’re lucky enough to have the whole mountain to ourselves. Okay, not the whole mountain, but the racecourse at the top is rented out strictly for PSIA-AASI. I had been debating all week whether to bring up my board or skis and after the party I decided board was gonna win out. Not having been on snow since April I will admit I was pretty rusty for my first run. Didn’t help that it was a blue/black and used for race training. Basically it was a mental trip. Two of the guys, Tommy and Josh, had watched my first run down, so when I got to the lift they offered to take some turns with me. The rest of the two hours I spent in a private lesson with two instructors who helped me work on my toe side turns. By the end the mountain wasn’t nearly as scary.
By the way, this is Eric’s sexy pose…
I ate lunch with the reps from Burton and two snowboard team alumni after which we decided no ski day was perfect unless you ended it in a hot tub. Lucky me I had remembered my swimsuit, though I always seem to forget everything else that goes with it (flip-flops, cover up, etc.). Hung out with that group for a little while longer before heading back to my room in time for check out.
So, first day on snow, with a private lesson, and getting to meet tons of great people? Yeah my job pretty much rocks. Aspen in April should be amazing.
[...] Training – Copper Mountain: You may remember my post about Team Training from last year. This year was more of the same, but so much different! Since our Meeting/Event Coordinator left my [...]