AASI Rider Rally Weekend

I attended the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI) Rider Rally this past weekend, held at Mount Snow in Vermont. Designed as an early season tuneup of sorts for snowboard instructors, the Rider Rally brought all sorts of snowboard instructors together for a few days of hard riding, learning and discussions about all aspects of our sport. All told, it was a great time and well worth the time and money spent! I won't go over everything I learned at the Rally (us instructors want y'all to come to us for lessons, after all...just kidding!), but I would like to touch upon some of the more insightful comments, as well as some of my observations about Mount Snow and the weekend in general.

I'll start with Mount Snow. It's hard to argue that things hadn't gone downhill during ASC's (the now defunct American Skiing Company) ownership of the resort, but I'm happy to report that after being sold to Peak Resorts, Inc. in 2007, just about everything about the resort has improved noticeably. The base area has received a fresh coat of paint, the food has improved (at least as much as a $9 cheeseburger can improve), snow quality is way improved, and service seems better, too - a few employees even wished me good night as I left the resort Saturday afternoon! Mount Snow may be a competitor to my home resort of Okemo, but nevertheless I'm glad to see things improving at the long-time east coast player.

On to the Rider Rally. Like I said - great riders, great coaching, and great discussions were what I experienced throughout the weekend. Props go out to Greg, Dave, Tom, Mark and the rest of the AASI Education Staff on hand to run the event. Spending time riding with these guys always reminds me of two things: 1) How much better they are, from both a snowboarding and a teaching standpoint, than the rest of us mere mortals; and 2) How hard I want to work to become as good as them. Watching Dave, Greg and Tom teach our diverse group (diverse in both age and ability) the fundamentals of freestyle riding was nothing short of awesome. These guys can break down the most complicated or frightening maneuvers into manageable, bite-sized bits. This is what anyone that's ever wondered if the money spent on a snowboard lesson is worth it should know. It's worth it...and then some! Sure, you could spend days beating yourself up trying to learn backside 180's...but an AASI certified pro can teach you that same move quickly and painlessly!

One of the most insightful comments I heard all weekend came courtesy of Dave Lynch, who hails from Sunday River in Maine. As we rode up the chairlift over the Nitro terrain park, Dave noted that resorts spend an inordinate amount of time and money building and maintaining big features - big jumps, big rails, and big, scary jibs. This is despite the fact that 95% of skiers and riders won't hit the big features. What's needed, as Dave pointed out, are more small and medium setups. Those are the features that everyone wants to play on! Hopefully Ski Area Management and Terrain Park managers are beginning to realize this. Guys - progression is cool, and it only happens when the right sized features are in place!

After a great weekend, I'm more ready than ever to sink my teeth into the meat of the snowboard season. It's cold outside, there's snow on the ground (even in Southern Connecticut!), and skiers, riders, and instructors everywhere are ready to go. As I've said before, it's game time! Have a great season...