Mad River Glen, PSIA, and Blogging

Where am I?

This was our view for most of the day (except when we were in that cloud and our view was "chowdah").  Give up?  Here's another pic:

Okay, maybe that one gave it away (How many mountains have a single chair? With "Mad River Glen" written on it?). I think this is my first Mad River Glen visit (couldn't remember if I came here as a kid), and I gotta say: I'm a fan.  Nice to see a place that doesn't put grooming, groms, and "guest services" above everything else.

Today was kind of windy/rainy/soft/cruddy, so I didn't want to bring the camera out with me.  Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm, and there are $17 lift tickets for people who wear green, so I'll try to bring the camera tomorrow and snap some crazy pictures of crazy people.

I'm here for a PSIA event, and there is a dearth of PSIA material online.  I think this might be because people are trying to work on their ski instructing careers, and don't want to jeopardize it by posting things about PSIA on the internet.  Well, I'm going to change that.  I love the fact that people like "The Rusty" post some of their tricks, tips and tactics online.  And I love it when people get down and dirty and discuss ski instructing on Epicski.  I may not participate in their ridiculous discussions on proper edge angles or inside leg steering, but I read a fair amount of it, and the back and forth has really helped my instruction.

So here it goes: I'm taking a trees and steeps clinic at Mad River Glen today and tomorrow. On Friday, I'm probably going to do some backcountry in the Camel's Back area, and then I'm taking my Level III Telemark Exam at Sugarbush on Saturday and Sunday.  My intent is to blog about the entire experience.  If PSIA doesn't like that, than I guess I'll fail.  But I really feel like it's important to let people who are going through the system know what the system is all about.  I'm going to try to be honest and direct about everything, without any sugarcoating or gloss overs.  Hopefully, this turns out to be a positive experience.  But I'm ready for anything.  Here's to adventure.