As area mountains are starting to get their first snowfall of the winter, Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club is preparing for a new season out on the Aspen Snowmass slopes.
The club is going through some leadership changes, including the addition of Aspen local August Teague as its new executive director.
He spoke with Aspen Public Radio’s Regan Mertz about maintaining the mission during these leadership changes and increasing access to snow sports.
The conversation below has been edited for clarity and length.
Regan Mertz: You've recently stepped into your new role as executive director at AVSC. How has that transition been?
August Teague: It's exciting. I grew up in the valley. I've been a part of the club my entire life, and I've spent the last nine years in the depths with the Nordic community — focusing on Nordic while still getting the opportunity to see what the other programs are doing. Now, I have the opportunity to have a far greater impact and really support the vision of getting every kid that wants to be on snow on snow. So, that's pretty cool.
Mertz: How do you keep moving forward with an organization that is in the midst of these sort of leadership changes?
Teague: I think you focus on the mission. You focus on your core values. You return to, why are we here? And that's the kids. Our mission is clear, and I think that returning to that gives us direction.
Mertz: Just this past winter, for the first time, there was a community halfpipe rodeo at Buttermilk. There was free equipment given out, and people of all ages could come out and try their own skills on the halfpipe. So, are you looking to do more community-oriented events like this? Or more entry-level events to help people get out in the snow?
Teague: That’s a good question. Right now, we're really focused on getting back to some of the basics. We've had, obviously, a lot of transition of leadership, and we're really excited to focus on some of the small things — and getting our strengths back. That being said, we've got over 2,000 kids in the AVSC program, which are those entry-level points.
Certainly things like the Nordic Bonfire, or the Fourth of July barbecue, or the rodeo that you just referenced are our opportunities to get out into the community. As far as expanding those opportunities, there are probably some opportunities that we will look at, and that'll come from the directors, and what their capacity is.
Mertz: There is sort of a barrier of entry to the sport. It's extremely expensive, it's extremely technical. So, how do you combat that?
Teague: We have scholarships, whether that's at the team level, for athletes that have been in the sport and are trying to reach higher levels in the sport. And obviously, depending on whether you're looking at cross country skiing or alpine or snowboard, there are different cost points and different opportunities.
The Nordic community calls the Nordic trail system here the fifth mountain. We're so fortunate in that, that is a free facility that exists through partnerships with the community, the city, the county, the ski resorts themselves. But I think that there's varying opportunities amongst those levels, with or without scholarship.
Mertz: Could you talk to me about the demographics of the kids that you're seeing? Are they mainly based in Aspen? Are there kids downvalley?
Teague: Yeah, it's a good question. About 80% of the participants come from the canyon, Gerbaz area or above. That being said, in all of our programs, we've experimented with reaching into the greater Roaring Fork Valley, so down into Rifle, New Castle, Parachute. Last year, we had buses coming up and providing the opportunities for athletes on Monday, we brought athletes up on Friday. We're continuing to explore how we reach into those other pockets of the community. Fortunately, we have some opportunities downvalley with facilities at Spring Gulch.
Mertz: Where do you want the organization to go, under your leadership?
Teague: This is gonna sound kind of funny, but we want to be the best club in the world. I think that's an easy thing to say, and so we're measuring that by participation, retention and performance. And performance is both result based, but also process based, and it's going to take us a little time to get there. But we do believe that we are in this community. We have the support of this community. We are a ski community and board community, and we can get there.
Mertz: Thank you so much for talking with me, August.
Teague: Of course. Thank you.
Support for this Nonprofit Spotlight series comes from the Aspen Community Foundation.
