Rider Rally 2025

In April, I attended my 5th consecutive Rider Rally. It’s the annual end‑of‑season gathering of snowboard instructors from around the country, hosted by AASI (American Association of Snowboard Instructors).

Since joining PSIA-AASI (Professional Ski Instructors of America & AASI) in 2020, Rally has become the week I look forward to all season. It’s a chance to push myself on snow while connecting with instructors from across the country. Attending Rider Rally has made me a better rider, deepened my passion for instructing, and bettered me in my role as a part-time instructor at Breckenridge.

The last three Rider Rallies at Big Sky have each been highlight weeks of my winters. This year’s 25th‑anniversary event, though, promised a few changes—and I wasn’t sure how to feel about them.

From Big Sky to Copper, and Not A Skier In Sight

For the first time since I’ve attended, Rider Rally stood alone instead of running alongside National Academy. That meant I wouldn’t see the alpine, telemark, cross‑country, and adaptive instructors I’d become friends with over the past few years.

The format also shrank from having a five day option to only three, and after three consecutive seasons at Montana’s Big Sky—with its intimidating Lone Peak terrain and compact central village—we were heading to Copper Mountain, just 30 minutes from my home in Breckenridge.

I was apprehensive.

Big Sky had been the peak (pun intended) of my last three seasons. We’d all stay in the village, share breakfast and lunch in one big dining room, and run into each other all around the resort. At Copper there was no central lodging, and sleeping in my own bed—I couldn’t justify staying in a hotel so close to home—meant early drives instead of laid‑back mornings.

Add in the physical struggles I’d been dealing with since getting sick and injured in March, and I wondered if the week would feel like the same event that has meant so much to me.

Rider Rally 2022 Big Sky, MT

Looking across to Lone Peak's massive steep terrain, Big Sky, MT.

Scoping out the Big Couloir at Rider Rally 2022 in Big Sky, MT.

Views from my first trip to Big Sky during Rider Rally 2022.

Familiar Faces, Same Energy

Those concerns evaporated over the course of Monday night’s welcome reception, as I caught up with familiar faces from Alaska to New Hampshire. Over five years of Rally I’ve built relationships with instructors across the country and with the national team members who host the event. It was great to see everybody and to meet new team member Josh Smith from June Mountain. (I already knew the other rookie, Cori Lambert!)

Rider Rally is choose‑your‑own‑adventure. No assessments, no formal clinics—just groups that loosely organize around park & pipe, carving, big‑mountain riding, or exploring the mountain. You can seek feedback from your national‑team group leader, practice at your own pace, or simply cruise with new people. The energy stays high throughout—though by day three, “high energy” is relative.

Spring Conditions and Private Mountain Vibes

Running a week later than National Academy meant Rally fell in the last week of April. That had two direct effects.

First, we practically had Copper to ourselves; few other visitors were on the mountain outside the Woodward parks. Second, we were deep into spring conditions.

Warm days and cold nights produced a familiar cycle: bulletproof mornings that softened through the day. Much like my Mt. Bachelor trip, timing was everything. I saved park laps for afternoons when jump landings were forgiving—even as the lips became sloppy. The frozen off-piste kept us out of the trees (except for one “sporty” detour through the woods due to terrain closures) and spiced up the steeps in Spaulding Bowl. The sketchiest moments came on the way out of Spaulding, traversing the ice rink that was Slot Car Track cat road to Oh No and the Super Bee lift.

We made it work, but I definitely missed the late‑season powder days we’d enjoyed at Big Sky.

Physical Struggles and Park Sessions

My body wasn’t cooperating. Poor sleep, early drives, and the lingering effects of March’s illness and back injury meant choosing when to push and when to dial it back. I had a blast hitting jumps and rails in Peace Park on day one, but the same lower‑back and hip issues that had plagued me all season forced me to be more conservative afterward.

Even so, I kept up with the crew and made the most of the experience, if not quite at full throttle.

Highlights Of My Week

The event offered plenty of memorable moments on- and off-snow. I got back on a rollerboard at the Woodward Barn, and launched into the foam pits for the first time in almost eight years—thanks to some much-appreciated encouragement from national team member Matt Larson (who was throwing double backflips off the large jump).

I joined up with a crew of Northwest friends to dominate (i.e., win by 1 point) a very AASI-focused trivia night thanks to some obscure snowboarding knowledge. I also had the chance to ride with visiting national team members from CASI (Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors), which led to some engaging discussions comparing teaching systems and finding out that we have a number of mutual connections through Nonstop.

One of my favorite moments came when I split off from the main group to work with Ben, a primary skier attending Rally to support his son Jack. We worked on a progression for blending movements to manage icy snow conditions—exactly the kind of discussion that permeates Rider Rally–while Jack honed in on his retraction technique in preparation for his Level 3 exam.

The Rider Rally Experience

Leading into the event I heard worries from other past attendees that separating from National Academy would diminish Rally. I shared those concerns.

I was proven wrong. The excitement, the joy of riding with a crew, the connections, and the high‑level progression were all there. It still felt just like Rider Rally. While I missed friends from other disciplines, the smaller group allowed for more conversations with every snowboarder in attendance.

It turned out that Rider Rally founder Eric Sheckleton—now president of Interski—had championed a standalone event for the 25th anniversary, returning Rider Rally to its roots as an independent event. National‑team coach Eric Rolls shared just how much daily and weekly effort the national organization put into making this event successful, and new PSIA‑AASI CEO Jeff Lifgren emphasized how committed the organization is to making Rally thrive. While I might not have chosen some of this year’s changes myself, I have full confidence that decisions about future Rallies are being made with a deep appreciation for what makes Rider Rally unique, and with the full effort of the national organization to make it a premier snowboarding event.

Building Community Continuity

Over the past few years I’ve joined discussions on how to grow Rally and what makes it unique compared to National Academy. The skiing event has decades of history, with many participants returning year after year. Rider Rally is newer, and for many attendees it’s a one‑time opportunity, often enabled by scholarships.

That’s why, at this year’s closing dinner, we announced the Rider Rally alumni scholarship to cover all expenses for one or two recipients each year. I took inspiration from my startup experience: retention is the best form of customer acquisition. There are many instructors from past rallies that I’d love to ride with again, and this scholarship embodies that spirit—grow the community by bringing more people back.

Details for Rider Rally 2026 haven’t been announced yet, but if you’re a PSIA‑AASI member I highly encourage you to participate. If you’re an alum considering a return, keep an eye out for scholarship information. I’m already looking forward to next year—and very curious where we’ll ride.