It’s A Whole New Game

A summary of AASI-NW for the ‘03-‘04

By Chad Frost

Early Winter 2003

We all long for it, some more obvious than others but we all are still searching for the ultimate feeling when we are out riding.  The obvious ones are easy to spot, just check out the park or pipe and you know everyone in there is after it.  And don’t tell me that you have never got a little extra speed when cruising some terrain with rollers or perhaps dropped in on a little steeper run on the big powder days.  It’s that weightless feeling we are all after and it has literally turned the world of snowsports upside down.

Regardless of how big people go off jumps or in the pipe we all have our own way of playing with the terrain around us, and this creative side of snowboarding broadly named freestyle.  The snowboard world today is driven by freestyle.  From the equipment in shops to the Parks and Pipes at resorts and even our clothes are descendants of freestyle progression.  Although it has always had strong roots in snowboarding, freestyle skiing is coming on strong right now also.  Resorts are flooded with kids that are eager to learn and parents that are just as anxious to tie them up so they won’t get hurt.  So why not teach people how to use these freestyle arenas?  Inform them how to be aware of the flow of traffic in a park, how to get started learning without taking too much of a risk of getting seriously injured.  Well that is the direction that PSIA and AASI are headed and although it may have been a slow start, we are a large National organization, and when large things get rolling they will cover a lot of ground.  Already over half of our Divisions are offering a Freestyle Accreditation Program.  Lane McLaughlin, of the NW Tech-Team, and I were selected to participate in a Freestyle Task Force along with several others from all across the US.  We were presented with a ton of questions regarding the freestyle world from the National Ski Areas Association, numerous resorts, and the directors of our own organization.  It was made clear that we need to provide some help to instructors everywhere on how to safely teach freestyle riding.  Plans for this year will be to get more information on the national websites aasi.org and psia.org.  More educational offerings will be coming also, we don’t know what exactly but people are now aware that we need to addressing freestyle issues, and fast!

Last season we ran our first AASI-NW Freestyle Accreditation Program during the spring Freestyle Camp at Timberline.  The program is still evolving as I write this now so stay tuned to psia-nw.org for the most current information this season.  We will have three levels of Freestyle Accreditation for AASI level I certified members this season.  You must have the level I to make sure that everyone has a basic understanding of snowboarding and riding skills.  The first level of Accreditation will be called Foundations of Freestyle or FS-I.  This level is all about educating riders with the basic principals of freestyle riding.  The next two levels, Fundamental Accreditation or FS-II and Advanced Accreditation or FS-III will both be an evaluated process.  Riders will have one clinic day and two days of working with each other and performing and will be evaluated by two Freestyle Examiners.  Candidates will be recognized with the level at which they coach and ride.  This is just an outline and I hope to have more details available on our website by the time you are reading this.

With the Freestyle Accreditation Program now in effect it will impact our Certification Exams.  Hopefully by now you have heard about the Riding Images movie.  If not be sure to contact our office to order a copy.  It will be a great tool for understanding snowboarding and preparing for exams.

I think that we have more diverse clinics and some great events scheduled for this year and don’t forget to sign up plenty far in advance as we do not have unlimited space for events, especially our Freestyle Accreditation Program and Certification Exams.  The last couple of years our Divisional Clinic Leader and Examining staff has grown with some phenomenal riders and teachers and on their behalf I hope we all see you in the snow… soon!

Chad Frost

AASI-NW Chairman