Adam Jewell - Search & Affiliate Marketing

The PSIA National Academy is an annual event where some of the best ski industry professionals (top-notch ski instructors from around the world, World Cup pros, demo team members and others) get together for a week or so and share stories, methods, teaching experiences, and provide tremendous learning and networking opportunities for all involved.

PSIA stands for Professional Ski Instructors of America and the event is packed with people from all of the different regional divisions of the organization as well as instructors from Canada, the UK, New Zealand, South America (Argentina & Chile) and possibly others depending on the year.

The location changes from year to year but when held in the USA is often held at Snowbird ski resort in Utah about 30 miles from the Salt Lake City Airport. Attendance is generally limited to around 180 participants so that there are enough clinic leaders to handle the instructors that pour in from all over the US.

Attendees are segmented into groups by ability level and paired up with one or more world class skier/instructors for the week and then have a series of electives tht may include sking specialized types of terrain (powder, bumps, crud, etc…), backcountry and avalanche skills, video taping sessions, boot fitting, skiing with international ski pros, racing drills and exercises, and other topics that may be of interest and have a qualified pro to lead a group.

The whole trip will typically cost around $2,000 when the cost of airfare, meals, lodging, the event itself and misc other expenses are factored in. All in all it is a great deal for PSIA pros. In otder to attend you need to be a PSIA level 1 certification or higher. If you have your sights set on attaining higher levels of certification, the Academy is a great place to start to do that. While you won’t get any credit for attending the National Academy aside from maybe whatever is needed for the regional membership requirement, you will have the opportunity to learn from the best in a a wide variety of disciplines and hone your skills toward increasing your level of certification.

PSIA doesn’t seem to do much promotion of the Academy outside of its print publications and sometimes a small mention on the PSIA National & Divisional websites. If you are intereted in going, keep your eye out for dates, costs and locations and register early. Slots tend to fill up fast. If it fills up before you get your application in you’ll get wait listed and if other people cancel you’ll get the option to go.