Heavenly Again Leads U.S. Ski Resorts with Four Member of the PSIA-AASI National Team

Stateline, CA - he Professional Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors have announced their 2012 – 2016 National Team, and Heavenly Mountain Resort is the proud home to four of those members, which is the most of any ski resort in the U.S.

“Today, everyone at Heavenly has reason to be especially proud of these four talented, dedicated individuals,” said Pete Sonntag, Heavenly’s general manager. “It’s a prestigious honor for Michael, Robin, Heidi and Seth, as well as for the entire Heavenly Ski and Ride School.”

This will be Michael Rogan’s fifth term on the PSIA National Team (breaking his own record of four for a non-coach member) and is the Alpine Team Captain. He has taught skiing for nearly 30 years and is valued by his students as much for his communication skills as he is for his incredible skiing and technical abilities. He is also the Director of Instruction for SKI Magazine and is the general manager of Ski Portillo in Portillo, Chile. Robin Barnes is a two-time member of the PSIA National Alpine Team. She has twice earned a spot in SKI Magazine’s Top 100 Instructors and has been an instructor and trainer at Heavenly since 1989. Robin speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese and is also the ski school director at Ski Portillo. She is an American Council on Exercise certified personal trainer. Heidi Ettlinger is new to PSIA’s National Alpine Team but she is no stranger to the organization, having served on the PSIA-W Board of Directors and leading the annual Women’s Summit providing elite training for female ski instructors. She pursues ski instruction and instructor training year round dividing her time between Heavenly at Lake Tahoe and Mt. Hotham in Australia. Her passion for snowsports led to the development of Gearing to Go, DVDs and educational materials for the skiing trade to improve beginner retention. Seth Johns was named to the AASI National Snowboarding Team for the first time. He has spent the last five years as a snowboard instructor and trainer at Heavenly Mountain Resort and as a snowboard coach for the Heavenly Ski & Snowboard Foundation. Seth is a competitor in the North Face Masters big mountain series and competes at several other events at both the local and national level.

The PSIA-AASI National teams represent an important component of the association’s education programs, instructor training and snowsports industry outreach.