Adam Jewell – Search & Affiliate Marketing

The day started dozing off to sleep at about 2:15am after getting finished packing, waking up in a panic at about 4:45am in a frantic rush to get out the door for a 7am direct flight from Philly to SLC.

Somehow I always manage to hit things just right in such situations and make the flight as was the case today. The flight got in at 9:30MST. The shuttle came within a few minutes and arrived at the Snowbird for the 2009 PSIA National Academy. The room wasn’t ready to check into at 11 so the bags went to the bell desk, the skis came out and the week od skiing at Snowbird was underway.

For the last month or so, Snowbird has been getting tons of snow and they do have a lot but it’s like sking in wet cement with tar on top of it in most places. Some people seemed to think it was a great day out there and the weather was nice, there was LOTS of snow. The snow just sucked. Maybe I’m becoming a ski/snow snob but I never skied anything like what was out there today.

The snow was brown in many places even where nobody had skied on it. It seemed like the winds associated wiht one of hte recent storms brought all the diirt from the lower elevations up and sprinled it all over the mountain.

Some sections of Mineral Basin were ok. Terrain off the Little Cloud lift was fairly good and there were a few decent spots down the front side but for the most part it was deep, thick and slow.

I skied with Alex from Big Mountain/Whitefish and Wayne who is a dentist down in Virginia. They skied for about 2 hours and went in. It’s a crime to not ski when you are at the slopes and to leave the slopes when you still have time on a lift ticket so I stayed out till the slopes closed. I’m already sunburned, totally exhausted after pigging out at the opening night buffet and getting zero sleep last night.

The roomate this year is Bruno, a railroad enginer who seems to be a bit of a party animal. Nice guy. A few Polygamy Porters have also added to the exhaustion and I’m about ready to knock off for the night. Breakfast starts at 7:30 and we have to be out on the snow at 8:45am in the morning ready to rip. More commentary and more pics to come tomorrow in PSIA National Academy Day #1 in 2009.

The PSIA National Academy is less than four weeks away now. Just like last year at the 2008 PSIA National Academy, you ski daily with one group and the pick a new elective for the afternoon session.

This year there is a great selection of elective to choose from including skiing bumps and crud, carving, kids programs, park and pipe sessions, women’s ski groups (um, where are the mens ski groups?), various indoor sessions like bootfitting, Interski and the Matrix and even an opportunity to try telemark skiing.

Last year the lineup I chose included an Avalanche training course, bumps and crud, boot fitting (to get rid of the tears in my eyes at the end of every day of skiing in boots that didn’t fit quite right), a video session and one afternoon of skiing with an international pro from one of the visiting countries including Argentina, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Great Britain.

This year will be bumps and crud, some carving and free skiing, personal improvement in the park and pipe (I’m a raw beginner there!), maybe a day of telemark skiing (raw beginner there too but still have the knees to be able to handle it!) and possibly a race clinic or something related to teaching kids.

Aside from the variety of clinics, we’ll have one pro that we ski with each day in the morning. Last year it was Steve Smart of the Rookie Academy. Steve lives the life bouncing back and forth between teaching skiing in Canada, taking some time off and then teaching over in Australia/New Zealand with the Rookie Academy. He’s a great skiier and a great teacher as well.

24 more days till heading off to the 2009 PSIA National Academy in Snowbird, Utah! Can’t wait!

Now that spring is in the air and the snow is melting here in Pennsylvania, the next big trip to look forward to will be a 4 ski day, 5 night trip to Winter Park Colorado with the King of Prussia Ski Club in early April. On April 18th, 2009 the REALLY big ski trip happens again and that is the PSIA National Academy In Snowbird Utah. It is where the top instructors from around the world gather to learn the latest teaching techniques, ski their hearts out, and have a big end of season blast out in the best ski resort in the US West – Snowbird Utah.

The event is limited to 200 participants this year and I booked early to ensure there was no being on the wait list this year like last year. Booking early made it easier to plan everything out and get a much better deal on airfare on a direct Delta flight to Salt Lake City.

Only 1 month left to go till the best ski trip of the year! Let the count down begin!

It’s time to start thinking snow! The dates for the 2009 PSIA National Academy in Snowbird Utah will be April 18 – 24, 2009. The event is limited to 200 people level 1-3 PSIA certification. The cost for Full Academy Registration is $1,095 and includes six nights lodging at the Cliff Lodge (double occupancy), all ski clinics lift tickets and educational seminars, opening and closing receptions, five breakfasts (great buffet breakfasts!), five lunches (it didn’t include lunches last year!), and two buffet dinners and lots of FUN!

The resident academy registration fee is $645.00 and includes all the above except for the lodging. The registration deadline is March 10, 2009 but if people cancel, sometimes you’ll be able to go from the waitlist to actual participation in the event after March 10th.

For the 2008 PSIA National Academy in Snowbird (which was my first), I was waitlisted at first and then made it out there. The plan is to go every year from now till I can no longer ski. It is really a great event.

Since the Academy ends on the Thursday morning, it makes sense to extend your stay for three nights till the Sunday after the Academy is over. You’ll get a good deal on a room at the Cliff lodge and the slopes will be fairly empty, though many of them will be closed. Last year there ws no fresh snow during the Academy but the skies let loose the Thursday the event was over and everyone ws driving back down the mountain.

If you plan to register, the 2009 PSIA National Academy Registration form is now available. It is a .PDF file so you can print it out and fax it back to PSIA. If you are going, I’ll see you there!

Last year, I decided to go experience something I’d always wanted to do, the 2008 PSIA National Academy. As is often the case, it was held in SnowBird Utah where they have the best snow on Earth, though not always in April. After the amazing experience this past April, I’ll definitely be going again. PSIA has the dates for the 2009 PSIA National Academy posted on the PSIA website. If you are interested in going, be sure to keep an eye on that page and signup fast cause spots go quickly. I got lucky last year and made it through the waitlist after signing up late.