When I started skiing 45 years ago, I never imagined how many great opportunities would come to me surrounding this activity.
I grew up in Upstate New York, where the winters were long, the snow was plentiful, and the air was almost unbreathable. Yet, Mom insisted that we get outside to get fresh air! So we hit the slopes.
Every Friday I hopped on the afternoon ski club bus with my friends, rockin' my CB jacket, mirrored sunglasses and acid wash jeans...so cool! During high school my parents took our family on a ski trip to Kitzbuhel, Austria. The size of the mountains absolutely blew my mind!
In my twenties I moved to Oregon. To be within an hour of Mt. Hood (year round skiing!) and an hour of the Pacific Ocean was so unique. I then married into a skiing family and got to ski out West - at Whistler, Vail, Sun Valley, Breckenridge, Jackson Hole, Park City, Deer Valley, and many more phenomenal hills.
My first teaching opportunity came when my wife and I lived at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains and I became a volunteer instructor at a small resort there for an adaptive ski club called Skiforall. I was hooked!
Fast forward a few years, a couple kids, and two moves. I had been a teacher's aid at an elementary school for several years, and so when my kids were old enough to stand up, I figured I would try to teach them to ski. I realized that while I did enjoy the classroom, the best part of teaching for me is enabling others to discover an activity that I enjoy so much and that has given me so many wonderful experiences. Sidenote: both the kids have followed in my footsteps and are also ski instructors at Blue Mountain!
The opportunity to introduce hundreds of new skiers to our sport has been and will continue to be one of the great pleasures of my life.
My goal is to keep working with new (and experienced) skiers for as long as I can get the boots onto my feet. With good habits and a little bit of luck I'll be out there for many years to come....hope to see you on the mountain!!!
Sean Cunningham