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Ski School

GETTING TO KNOW NICK HERRIN,
PSIA-AASI’S NEW CEO

NICHOLAS HERRIN, A SNOWSPORTS-INDUSTRY LEADER with Julie Shipman
senior management experience in resort management and
snowsports education, is the new CEO of the Professional As an industry, regardless of what our role or sector—
Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of instruction, retail, or resort management—we should con-
Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI). tinue to challenge ourselves to make the process easier for
guests to engage in our sports. From the time they pull into
Herrin comes to PSIA-AASI from Crested Butte the parking lot to when they rent equipment, sign up for
Mountain, Colo., where he has been assistant general man- a lesson—hopefully—and get on the chair, guests have to
ager since 2014. He has worked in the ski industry since go through many steps. How can we reduce those steps?
he was a 14-year-old ski instructor at Snoqualmie, Wash. Streamlining the process is one way we can all work together
Upon graduating from Montana State University in 2001 to elevate the guest experience. For its part, PSIA-AASI will
with a degree in history and a secondary teaching endorse- continue to support snowsports education to ensure that our
ment, he joined Big Sky Resort to run its ski school train- ski and ride schools and instructors are prepared to deliver a
ing program, teach skiing, and work in the sales and successful student experience, from the base area to the sum-
marketing departments. In 2006 he became assistant direc- mit and all the terrain in between.
tor of Telluride’s ski and snowboard school, and in 2008
became director of the ski/ride school and director of NJ: At times the ski school is an island unto itself. How
resort services at Crested Butte before taking on the role of can areas do a better job of integrating this department
assistant GM. into the overall resort management structure? What can
school directors do?
In addition to his management experience, Herrin NH: Collaboration and communication go a long way
also served three terms (2004-16) as a member of the PSIA toward breaking down barriers between siloed depart-
Alpine Team. ments. Beyond being able to put faces to names, I’ve noticed
throughout my career that when employees from various
The NSAA Journal recently caught up with Herrin to departments have an opportunity to interact with each other,
discuss the role of PSIA-AASI as an institution, the role of a greater sense of teamwork emerges. Also, the more ski and
instructors at an area, and how the overall industry can help ride schools that can support the check-in process to help
convince more first-timers to take lessons.

NJ: As someone who’s worked in a variety of roles in the indus-
try for a long time, are there any broad-based changes you
think we need to make collectively to ensure the viability of
skiing and snowboarding for future generations?
NH: I think it’s vital that the industry, as a whole,
keep working to understand how to keep people, espe-
cially newcomers, engaged in skiing and snowboarding.
Initiatives spearheaded by NSAA, SIA, Learn to Ski and
Snowboard Month—and supported by PSIA-AASI—have
definitely helped, but the collective goal of increasing
skier and rider visits still requires laser focus. It’s import-
ant that PSIA-AASI continue to work with its key part-
ners to strengthen its relevance as the educational arm of
snowsports, and as the most important source of growth
in ski and snowboard participation.

10 | NSAA JOURNAL | FALL 2016