Epicski Team

EpicSki Owners/Administrators

 

AC (AC), Founder

 

Stuck in office-cubicle hell at one out-of-town consulting client after another, wishing he was in the mountains, AC started playing with HTML code on a whim to escape the doldrums of his corporate life. Driven by AC's skiing obsession and his tendency to daydream about epic powder days, the website's focus and name felt obvious from the start. In 1998 EpicSki.com went live. It was a sad little offering of personal reflections and vacation photos, and the most featureless, utilitarian discussion forum application the web has ever seen. AC told some friends about it, and they told some friends about it, and then strangers appeared but were not strangers for long. As momentum grew, talented writers, photographers, illustrators, and computer experts offered to contribute to the cause. New software was installed once, twice, three times to facilitate the shared online experience. Skiing newbies and celebrated industry gurus alike all started to participate on a regular basis. Friendships formed, and a wider and wider range of experts and skiing enthusiasts contributed time and ideas and energy to EpicSki. Now AC just shakes his head and smiles at the living, breathing entity EpicSki has become.

 

Bob Barnes (Bob Barnes), Instructional Editor

 

Author of The Complete Encyclopedia of Skiing and EpicSki’s foremost authority on the Technique and Instruction forums, Bob is a highly respected PSIA Examiner and Clinic Leader in the Rocky Mountain division and is the Director of Training at the snowsports school at Keystone, CO. He has been teaching/posting at EpicSki since the early days and was the first and only Dean of EpicSki Academy, from the original event at Brighton in 2003.

 
 

Dave Chan (dchan), Administrator

 

Dave had been a life long skier and when he joined Epicski, he brought his passion for skiing and working with people to the forum. After meeting AC, and volunteering to be a "temporary moderator" for a week while AC was on vacation, he just continued on as the technical person in the background. Having suffered the fallout of the "Dot.com Crash" in 2001, Dave took up ski instructing part time and is PSIA L2 certified. He is also a L2 NAA Archery instructor.
 

Dwight Cramer (sno'more), Legal Advisor

 

An enthusiastic recreational skier and avid student, Dwight began volunteering his expertise in business law to EpicSki in 2003 and joined AC as an ownership partner in 2004. He and his wife live in Portland, OR, and are parents of two grown children. Dwight balances skiing with many interests that range from from Chinese to calculus.

 

Chris Geib (cgeib), Business Advisor

 

Chris started skiing over thirty-five years ago on the slopes of Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania. In later years, family vacations were spent skiing in Vermont, Colorado, and British Columbia. Chris's passion for skiing has never stopped growing and he has been aptly deemed a "fanatic recreational skier." Finding EpicSki in 2002 and attending the first EpicSki Academy soon after in 2003 rekindled the drive to improve his skiing; as an enthusiastic supporter of EpicSki Academy, he has attended at least a dozen events, to date. Most of Chris' life has been spent in Akron, Ohio where he owns and operates a family business, now in the third generation. In the summer of 2008, the family relocated to Dillon, Colorado to be in the mountains where they love to play and explore during all seasons. 

 

Steve Hultquist (ssh), Technical Advisor
 

A skier since 1971, Steve joined EpicSki in 2003 as part of a last-ditch effort to resurrect his skiing from the frustrations of poor equipment fit. As a result of EpicSki's contributions to his skiing, he became an instructor, passed his Level II certification, and began advising EpicSki on technology. He's an author of a book on skiing's gifts to life, a journalist, a technology advisor, and a leadership coach and educator.

 


 

Stewart Johnston (Wear The Fox Hat), International Envoy 

 

No one is actually sure when WTFH started posting, but fond memories of the Barking Leprechauns thread, and jokes from his sister have definitely been around since 2002. He’s been to all the main EpicSki Academies, and seems to have landed the role of MC at the closing banquet. His Irish roots are ever present, even though he lives in England and France most of the year. His first ski trip was in 1995, but now he has the opportunity to ski all year round at a local indoor slope. What he does for a living is a bit of a mystery, but it seems to involve computers and afford him quite a bit of time to post. 

 

Joan Rostad (nolo), President

 

Nolo has been posting on EpicSki since 2002 and working for EpicSki since the first EpicSki Academy at Brighton, Utah, in 2003. A lifelong skier, she began teaching in 1980 at Showdown Ski Area in Montana. She served as a PSIA examiner for 14 years and as a member and officer of the PSIA Board of Directors for 13 years. She and her #1 ski buddy and husband Phil now ski at Bridger Bowl.

 

  
Weems Westfeldt (Weems), EpicSki Academy Director

 

Weems has been a respected voice on the Technique & Instruction forum at EpicSki since 2002. He also was one of the original organizers and coaches of EpicSki Academy at Brighton in 2003. He drew on his 40+ years of ski coaching experience to write Brilliant Skiing, Every Day (2006), which explains the Sports Diamond™, which has become the keystone of the curriculum at all ESAs. A longtime PSIA Examiner & Clinic Leader (Rocky Mountain division), and former member of the PSIA Demonstration team, Weems recently left his position as Director of Operations at the Ski & Snowboard Schools of Aspen to lead the Diamond Ski Weeks program based on his book. Weems’s website www.edgechange.com is a sponsor of EpicSki and EpicSki Academy. 

 

EpicSki Moderators

 

Bill Aitken (BillA)

 

Bill is married to his High School sweetheart , has two daughters both of whom are also married and out of the house, leaving him more time to pursue skiing and instructing. Tried skiing on a whim at age forty and has been addicted ever since. Started as an instructor at Craigmeur Ski Area in the early 90's and moved on to Mt Creek when Craigmeur closed in 99', He stopped instructing in 2000 due to family demands but returned to instructing after being inspired by the dedication of the instructors posting on Epic. He is currently pursuing PSIA Level III certification.

 

 
 

Matteo Bonfanti (Nobody)

 

Matteo doesn't remember exactly when he started skiing, the only thing he remembers, it was in the early '70s. At age 14 skied down the Mont Blanc (the Vallée Blanche, which has now become a classic) with the parent who transmitted him the love and passion for skiing and the mountains. Living at the foot (literally) of the Italian Alps that passion would have flourished anyway. During the day he works as an IT specialist to pay the bills. The encounter with Epicski happened in 1999 while surfing the 'net, seeking info to feed the passion and to maintain his (English) language skills. After a short (but long enough for him) hiatus of 2 yrs (2005 to 2007) he's back in the saddle, or better, in the bindings. He remembers when Fox started to post, but won't tell anyone.

  

Tricia Franke (trekchick)

 

Tricia began skiing in 1984, and skied occasionally until she began volunteering at her nephew's school ski program. The energy of the young people was infectious. Though her niece and nephew are now grown, she continues to volunteer at the school and heads up the ski program, bringing more and more young people to the sport she loves. Tricia came to EpicSki while searching for information on a ski purchase and immediately felt at home in the EpicSki community. When she was asked to contribute to EpicSki as a part of the moderating team, she agreed so that she could give back to the community.

 

 

Tom Hadden (Cirquerider), Chief Moderator

 

Tom lives on the west slope of the Sierra, where he has enjoyed meeting with fellow bears in California. Tom started skiing in the late 1960s and became an instructor at Boston Mills and Brandywine, Ohio in 1970. Skiing continued as an important activity through school at Utah State, and through the current day with both resort and backcountry skiing. Tom is an environmental consultant and owns Hadden Environmental Solutions in Folsom, CA (not the prison). When not skiing, he enjoys dancing Argentine Tango with his wife, and  celebrated their 30th anniversary in September 2009. Summer should be filled with motorcycle riding, travel, hiking, geocaching, sailing, and an occasional good bottle of wine, but beer is more than acceptable.   He is wanted in all 50 States.

Bob Peters (Bob Peters)

 

Bob lives, works, and plays (not necessarily in that order) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He grew up in Iowa and started skiing in 1967 as a college student on a tiny ski hill with a rope tow. Along the way, he's been a trainer/tester with the National Ski Patrol System, a backcountry ski guide at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, a ski author published in Powder Magazine, and is now a part-time instructor at Jackson Hole. He's skied (on snow) at least once every month since September, 1997 and he wants to ski as much of the Teton Range as possible before his knees finally give out. He works as a partner in a real estate firm in Jackson Hole.

 

Phil Pugliese (Phil_Pugliese)

 

Phil is a self proclaimed gear junkie who has been skiing since the mid 70's. He grew up skiing in the Pocono's then expanded skiing skiing frontier to all of North America including Alberta, BC and Alaska. His favorite terrain is trees and bumps with a cornice thrown in here and there. Epic is his "home forum" although he does moderate at a couple of other sites. Phil has been at Epic since 2000, coming over from the old skinet site. He is glad to be a part of a great team here.

 

 

Ron Shevock (Tyrone Shoelaces)

 

Ron has been skiing since the mid-'80's first carving his edges into the icy slopes of the Pocono Mountains in Northeast Pennsylvania and credits Greg Stump's 1988 film, "The Blizzard of AAHH's" with igniting his passion for skiing. He relocated to Northern California in 2001 and since then has claimed Kirkwood, CA and it's surrounding backcountry as his home mountain. He is one of the co-founders of PMGear LLC, a small custom ski manufacturer of big mountain & freeride skis based in Reno, NV and spends the winter testing new prototype skis in big mountain competitions on the US and World IFSA tours. Ron is the author of several ski stories published on AspectJournal.com,has appeared in photos published in Skiing Magazine and PowderMag.com, and has been on the Aegix Performance Apparel freeskiing team since 2006. Ron hopes that his background and passion for freeskiing will be a welcome addition to the EpicSki team.  During the off-season, Ron can be found mountain bike racing on his singlespeed with Team MadCat out of Sacramento, CA. 

 

Terry Terry (T-Square)

 

Terry learned to ski way back when “modern” bindings released the toe in two different directions. Too many thumps in the head from windmilling skis on short leather “safety” straps may account for his sense of humor. He took a short (25 year) break from skiing for college and the Navy; after all, there are no ski resorts on Guam or Midway Island. Terry finally got back to skiing in 1996. He still had his old gear and actually went to the slope with it! He learned quickly that new equipment was a really smart idea. Shortly after learning to ski again he became a ski instructor. He began teaching alpine skiing and then, totally by accident, he stumbled into adaptive ski teaching. There he found his real passion. Now, he’s a Level II Adaptive instructor. He joined EpicSki in 2003. In the “real” world Terry is a professional engineer doing home and building inspections. (The job slows down in the winter and he just gets forced to go out and ski.)

 

Rusty Carr (TheRusty)

 

Rusty came to Epic to learn more about skiing. He has stuck with Epic in order to help the skiing community. Rusty's day job is with a little phone company you may have heard of (hint: Can you hear me now?). As a hobby, Rusty teaches skiing and snowboarding at Whitetail Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania (a 2 hour drive from Washington, DC). He started skiing when the snow was all natural, the skis were made of wood, the boots were made of leather and the clothes itched a lot. He has skied at over 100 resorts on 3 continents. His favorite resort is "the next one".

 

Erik Timmerman (epic)

 

Erik started skiing on a seventh grade school trip to Stratton, Vermont. Girls in stretch pants and going fast on skis was all it took to convince him that "this is the best sport in the world". Stretch pants may be long gone, but Erik is now working at Stowe Mountain Resort where he is a Level 3 Instructor teaching others to love sliding on snow. In the off-season, Erik can be found mountain biking around New England. 

Huddler Platform Team

Among the many developers and team members of the Huddler Platform Team, here are a few of the names you may see around the site.

Dan Gill (Dan Gill)

Benjamin Keyser (benjamink)

 

Benjamin doesn't know very much about skiing, and wouldn't dare pretend he does around this crowd! While he does enjoy the occasional snowcone, sledding and a good snowball fight, that's about the extent of his winter sports

expertise. Get in touch with Benjamin with suggestions on helping EpicSki thrive or concerns you have about what

might be holding it back.

Adam Farren (adamfarren)

Adam started skiing at Ascutney when he was in 5th grade?  Or something like that.  He's skied many spots on the East Coast - Killington, Mt. Snow, Okemo, Jay Peak, Sugarloaf, Jiminey Peak -but achieved enlightenment with his first trip West to Aspen in 2006.  Since then its all West coast, favorites including Alta/Snowbird in Salt Lake, Squaw and Sugarbowl in Tahoe.  Next up? Taos Ski Valley and Big Sky, hopefully in 2010!

Adam will jump in on any revenue-related questions - sponsors, advertisers, Industry Insiders, etc.

Cristina Foung (stins)

Cristina started skiing with her family when she was 4.  She learned on the slopes of Alpine Meadows and still remembers those brightly colored vests the kids have to wear in ski school.  As the years have gone by, she has continued to ski occasionally (and still primarily at Alpine) but unfortunately only gets out to the slopes one or two times a year.  But EpicSki is great inspiration!  You'll see Cristina around the site available to answer any questions about the platform from how to use it to bug troubleshooting.