Thursday, February 18, 2010

Spending a Weekend at Seven Springs With Top PSIA Ski Instructor, Michael Rogan

I am busy in the city wrapping up another week. I'm finding it hard to keep my mind on my ToDo list because I keep getting distracted by the piles of snow outside my window.

Snowlapalooza has been a blessing to those of us who ski or snowboard and I just can't wait to get up to Seven Springs this weekend. I'm excited to get on snow to work on the tips and techniques I received this past weekend from top PSIA ski instructor Michael Rogan.

I was in the lucky position to spend nearly the entire weekend with Rogan as Willi's hosted his Nordica sponsored trip here to Seven Springs. We were incredibly lucky, as I understand, because aparently Seven Springs was the only North American resort on Michael's schedule this season other than his home base, Heavenly Ski Resort - we really made the most of it.

It was Wintefest for Pittsburgh's local TV station WTAE, Seven Springs was buried in snow and it couldn't be a better time to showcase Rogan's on-snow talents.

Having arrived Thursday evening Rogan worked early on Friday with the Seven Springs Snowsport School. Iwan Fuchs, Seven Springs Snowsport School Director, was grateful he and his staff had the chance to work with Rogan - remember he is the Top Dog in their world :)

Seven Springs Snowsport school is already recognized as one of the greats in the East and adding on-snow training with Michael Rogan helps them to stand out just that much more. They felt the time spent with Michael was immensely helpful and they continued to learn from him as they shadowed the 'civilian' groups that worked with him on Friday afternoon and Saturday after he did a quick live spot on WTAE.

Rogan has a light air and good sense of humor. When asked if he prefered 'Mike' or 'Michael' he smiled as he answered, "If your asking, it's 'Michael', but not because I care - my mom does." At dinner Friday evening Michael talked about developing his passion for skiing in his early years at a local resort with his younger brother. In 1985 he turned that passion for skiing into a passion for teaching skiing. That passion was shining brightly when he worked with approximately 30 people, in 3 two-hour sessions. Each of the groups that went out with Rogan came back all smiles - many felt working with Michael gave them the critical breakthrough they'd been hoping for. Rogan is incredibly kind and personable with a gentle demenor that immediately puts people at ease. His great communication skills makes him incredibly easy to understand and he is able to explain concepts well enough for his students to truly understand complex concepts and then translate those ideas to on-snow performance. The ski instructors that shadowed the civilian workshops were a huge help and in turn they enjoyed listening to Michael work with the group and learned a great deal about how to integrate those skills into their teaching style by helping students utilize that knowledge on the hill.

This amazing event gained much attention in the Twitterverse and the entire mountain has been a-buzz with talk of how great working with Michael Rogan was. I can only hope we will be so lucky to have him back next year!

Until then I'll see ya on the slopes!

Kjerstin
Snow Deva

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Packed, Stacked and Jacked: Double Header Evens the Field

This has been a winter for the record books - the snow just keeps coming and the conditions at Seven Springs have been amazing.

Seven Springs had a wild weekend - after most of the Pittsburgh area schools had the week off due to weather conditions Seven Springs kicked off Winter Fest, held the USSA J3 State Ski Racing Derby, hosted Michael Rogan, top PSIA ski instructor and a Packed, Stacked and Jacked Double header - all of this on top of the Presidents Day weekend which happened to coincide with Valentines Day.

There was so much going on that the mountain literally hummed with frenetic energy.

All of the events on the mountain show the enthusiasm of the ski crowd - none more than the back-to-back PSJ freestyle ski and snowboard events. The PSJ weekend started on a high note when Joe Green, our Oakley rep, showed up with basketball t's with bib numbers that the competitors got to keep. The weather caused a slight change of plans for the Oakley Big Hit comp on Saturday and it was shifted to a modified slope style event - everyone of the competitors loved the format so I expect we will see more of this type of set up in next years PSJ events. It was an exciting day and brought out some great new competitors we have not seen in previous PSJ events. The winners for the day were:

Lds Ski:
1st Julia Schwartz
2nd Elle Pappas
3rd Emily Cocco

Lds Snb:
1st Ashley Vander Meer
2nd Shelby Layman
3rd Shannon Branthoover

Men's Ski:
1st James Rullo
2nd Freddy Brideweser
3rd Tyler Pence

Men's Snb:
1st Chuck Lengle
2nd Cory Cissel
3rd Clint Cooper

Day two of the Double header was the make up day for the K2 Big Air comp that was postponed last weekend due to Snowlapalooza. The make up day turned out to be tough - the expert park crew was sent out to do a final evaluation to determine if conditions were safe enough to send competitors over a 70 foot jump. The night before a 30 footer was built in anticipation of the nasty conditions and it proved to be the saving grace of the comp. The light was flat and the snow was heavy but it paid off big for those competitors who hung in there and has proven to be the great leveler in the over-all point spread for the entire Packed, Jacked and Stacked series.

The winners for the K2 Big Air contest include:

Lds Snb:
1st Ashley Vander Meer
2nd Shannon Branthoover
3rd Shelby Layman
Snb Men:
1st Chuck Lengle
2nd Zack Yourd
3rd Chris Poe

Lds Ski:
1st Emily Cocco

Men Ski:
1st Justin Petriko
2nd James Rullo
3rd Jimmy Hill

Now, due to the shortened field competing on Sunday the point spread is far closer now than it was at the end of Saturday's Oakley event. As of now Chuck Lengle is still out front but not as many of his snowboard buddies came out to support him - more skier guys showed up, girl skiers bailed for the most part and girl snowboarders stayed fairly consistent - gaining the girl snowboarders some much needed points.

As of now the over-all standings are as follows:

Chuck Lengle - 90 Points
Justin Petriko - 84 Points
James Rullo - 80 Points
Zack Yourd - 76 Points

At this point in the game Justin and Zack are leading for the 16 and under points and Ashley Vander Meer is leading the ladies with 32 points with Shannon Branthoover close behind with 26!

This tight of a point spread means that Anything can happen at the final Nordica, Monster Energy Drink, Gnu Snowboards wrap-up event on March 13th so it should be very exciting for everyone.

Keep in mind there will be tons of prizes and sponsorships being handed out on that final day as well as the grand, Packed, Stacked and Jacked prize package going to the top skier or snowboard - this years Seven Springs King of the Hill!
See ya on the Slopes!
Kjerstin Klein
Snow Deva

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Willi's Ski Shop Welcomes Mike Rogan to Seven Springs

Willi's Ski Shop is pleased to welcome Mike Rogan, one of the Country's top 100 ski instructors to conduct lessons at Seven Springs February 12th and 13th.

Willi's Ski and Board Shops announced today that some local skiers will be fortunate enough to learn from Mike Rogan, one of the country's top ski instructors. Mike Rogan is the Director of Instruction for Ski Magazine and is listed as one of the top 100 ski instructors by that publication. Mike is a member of PSIA National Alpine Team and Past Ski Director at Hotel Portillo, Chile.

Mike will begin his visit and tour of the area by spending Friday morning with the talented instructors from Seven Spring's Snowsports School. He plans on conducting small group lessons at Seven Springs Mountain Resort from 2:00 - 4:00 pm. on Friday, February 12th and Saturday, February 13th. Thanks to the folks at Willi's Ski Shop and Nordica, these lessons are being offered to to select Willi's customers. They are free but each session is limited to eight students.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer this level of instruction to our valued customers" said Greg Klein, Owner of Willi's and a former FIS ski racer himself. “This winter has been one for the record books in our area. Conditions are perfect, we have plenty of snow, and we can offer a level of instruction that is typically reserved for destination resorts out west, so this is something special." Klein hopes to continue to offer unique opportunities like this to his customers.

Packed, Stacked and Jacked: Double Header Weekend!

Packed, Stacked and Jacked ran into a little hiccup last weekend, 7 Springs was hit with Snowlapaloza as some are calling the Blizzard of 2010. The K2 Big Air event had to be canceled due to the 30+ inches of snow that closed the slopes until 10:00 AM Saturday. While it is clearly the storm of the decade there appears to be no end in sight as scattered snow showers are expected through next week. Schools all over the district have been canceled and since the Governor has declared it a state of emergency schools are not obligated to make up the lost days.

At this point we are planning to go ahead with the Oakley PSJ event as planned on Saturday. As it currently stands it will be a double header weekend as we have scheduled the postponed K2 Big Air event for Sunday. We are, however, aware that Mother Nature may have other plans so keep tuned into the Packed, Stacked and Jacked Facebook page for details, updates and discussions.

Competitors and spectators alike had a chance to provide input for how to reschedule the K2 event and as it turns out there is no easy way to make everyone happy. The fact of the matter is that The SPOT has a busy winter schedule which has left us with few options. The big thing is that we have prizes and we want to give them away – so we didn’t want to just cancel the K2 event all together – having back-to-back events will benefit some, hurt others and may be the great equalizer in the whole series. The fun part of that is that it will make the Wrap Up Event that much more intense and fun.

It is exciting to see that the PSJ is gaining momentum. It has been so successful that it is garnering national attention and this is good for everyone. It means that individual competitors are getting more of the spotlight, The Spot is getting the attention a #1 ranked park should get and the sponsors are getting more attention for the part they are playing…which means more prizes for everyone. For the remaining events this year we are getting sponsors begging to be involved and sending some great stuff our way. The more people that show up to compete and spectate, the better the competitors throw down the bigger and the better the event will be next year. So bring your friends to compete or just cheer you on – it will be a great weekend with tons of snow, prizes and fun!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Packed, Stacked and Jacked: K2 Big Air Event

The Packed, Stacked and Jacked event series is continuing with an amazing momentum. Last weekend’s Salomon Super Pipe Event was smokin’. The pipe walls were a bit icy but from the looks of the tricks they were popin' no one seemed to be holding back.


The results for the pipe event, Ski Men's: 1st Justin Petriko, 2nd James Rullo, 3rd Jimmy Leslie; Ladies: 1st Danielle Mulkern, 2nd Elle Pappas, 3rd Emily Cocco; Snowboard Men's: 1st Chuck Lengle, 2nd Dan Genditzki, 3rd Mike Anderson; Ladies: 1st Ashley Vander Meer, 2nd Shannon Branthoover, 3rd Sara Godish, brought about some interesting over-all point leaders – at this point in the series snowboarders have out-gunned skiers with more competitors and now take the top 3 slots.

Brother’s Chuck and Chris Lengle sit at the top of the leader board with 49 and 40 points respectively with Zack Yourd nipping at their heals with 39 points. Justin Petriko, with 38 points and Brandon Stark with 37 points are the two top skiers and snowboarder Ashley Vander Meer is the top female competitor with 12 points.

Seems to me that the girls have started to figure out that the more women that compete the more points they get. The Salomon event saw a precipitous drop in competitors but there was an increase in the percentage of female competitors – way to go ladies! Bring your friends, you get more points – they have a good time!

The good news is that the high level of talent we are seeing in the Packed, Stacked and Jacked series is catching national attention. Because of this companies are clamoring to get on board - Skull Candy, for instance, will be providing 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes for the 16 and Under’s in both the Oakley event (Feb. 13) and the wrap-up event (March 13) and prizes for the overall winners 16 and under ski and snowboard categories, as well as something special for the Grand Prize winner! Oakley is also adding a regional sponsorship to the mix so there are more and more reasons to come out and compete.

It is important to keep in mind that this is a cumulative point series so the more events you compete in the better chance you have to gain points – even if that event isn’t your best event. Just by showing up you have a chance to win points as there are points available all the way down to 25th place.

The next event is the K2 Big Air Contest this weekend, Saturday February 6th, 2010 12:00 PM at The Spot. Registration is from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM outside of Willi’s Ski Shop at Seven Springs. The cost is $10 and HELMETS ARE MANDATORY. We also require a waiver signed by someone over 18 years old – a parent preferably, but you only need one waiver for all of the Packed, Stacked and Jacked events. So, if you have competed in one of the #PSJ events already we already have your waiver on file and you don’t need to have another signed. You still need to come by and register though so we pull your papers and give you a bib number – no bib, you won’t be judged – if you’re not judged you can’t win or even get any points…so, register!

K2 has provided some amazing prizes for this weekend’s affair.

Men's Ski:
1st place wins a pair of K2 Silencer Twin Tips
2nd place wins a pair of 4 Speed Composite Poles
3rd place wins a Rant Helmet


Men's SNB:
1st place wins a Parkstar Board
2nd place wins a Helmet
3rd place wins a Hoodie

Ladies Ski:
1st place wins a pair of K2 Misconduct Twin Tips
2nd place wins a pair of K2 4 Karat Poles
3rd place wins a K2 Edge Helmet


Ladies SNB:
1st place wins a Luna Board
2nd place wins a Helmet
3rd wins a Hoodie


The good news is it looks like we will be getting some snow this weekend so the landings will be soft – Joel and the park crew are ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at us and will be doing their best to groom and maintain the jumps so they are in top condition. Whether it is to compete or to spectate – come out and join us at 12:00 PM at THE SPOT!