Eric Sheckleton: Chairman of the Board
Eric Sheckleton is the chairman of the board of PSIA-AASI and an instructor trainer for Bridger Bowl Resort in Bozeman, Montana. A PSIA-AASI board member since 2002, he previously served the association at the national level as communications vice president from 2002 to 2006 and executive vice president from 2006 to 2010. Prior to that, Sheckleton served stints as president and vice president of the Northern Rocky Mountain Division of PSIA-AASI, and as the division’s Snowboard Committee chair from 1996 to 2002.
As a member of the AASI Snowboard Team from 1997 to 2000, Sheckleton was instrumental in AASI’s early development. He traveled the country to help train instructors and was a contributing author for the Snowboard Manual, AASI’s first manual for snowboard instructors, and both AASI video projects. Sheckleton serves as a snowboard examiner, alpine clinician, and children’s clinician for Northern Rocky Mountain Division. He is also a Level I-certified Nordic instructor.
Since 2000 Sheckleton has owned and operated a property and lodging management company. He lives in Bozeman with his wife and two daughters.
John Peppler: Vice Chair and Central Division Board Representative
John Peppler is the PSIA-AASI Vice Chairman and the Central Division representative. He teaches at Michigan's Boyne Highlands. A member of the association’s executive committee from 1998–2006 and again from 2008 to the present, Peppler’s other roles at the board level have been as executive vice president and operations vice president. His professional recognitions and certifications include alpine divisional examiner and clinic leader, Accredited Children’s Educator, and member of the PSIA-C alpine training committee since 1999. In addition, he has been a member of the United States Ski Association since 1980, and is a certified alpine coach, referee, chief of course, and chief of race for the organization. In 2008 he was inducted into the Michigan High School Ski Coaches Hall of Fame.
Peppler has been involved with real estate sales since 1974 and is currently a broker with Coldwell Banker in Glen Arbor, Michigan. He serves on the Glen Arbor Township Zoning Board of Appeals, volunteers with the Empire Lions Club, and spends his free time hunting, fishing, golfing, boating, and skiing.
Ed Younglove: Treasurer and Northwest Division Board Representative
Ed Younglove is the treasurer of PSIA-AASI and the Northwest Division representative to the PSIA-AASI Board of Directors. He is a former Northwest Division president (2001–07). In addition, he chaired the PSIA-AASI National Council of Presidents from 2005 to 2007. Younglove is alpine Level III and snowboard Level II certified. His recognitions and accreditations include Accredited Children’s Educator (ACE), Senior Specialist, and Certification Level I examiner. He is a divisional clinic leader and a supervisor/trainer for the Crystal Mountain Ski and Snowboard School in Washington State.
An attorney specializing in business, employment, and real property litigation, Younglove is a partner with Younglove & Coker in Olympia, Washington. He received his law degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane and has earned numerous professional service awards during his career. Community activities include committee membership with the Citizens for the Twentieth Century Library, Safeplace, Ballet Northwest, Citizens for Better Dental Health, Nutrition Services for the Elderly, and the world champion South Sound Baseball team (Pepsi).
Peter Donahue: Secretary and Rocky Mountain Division Board Representative
Peter Donahue is the secretary of PSIA-AASI, joining the national board of directors in 2006 as the Rocky Mountain Division representative. He has been a Southern District representative on the Rocky Mountain Board of Directors since 1999. In his first term on the national board, he served as the Children’s Education Task Force chair, bringing the divisional Children’s Committee chairs together to create the Child Specialist Certificate program. Donahue holds Level III certifications in alpine and telemark, holds Children’s Accreditation (now Children’s Specialist 2), and is also an examiner for his division. Since 1983, Donahue has been teaching at the Ernie Blake Ski School in Taos, New Mexico, where he is currently the Children’s Snowsports School training manager. He is also an age class coach for the Taos Ski Team, and at National Alpine Ski Camp at Mt. Hood, Oregon. He has been a PSIA member since 1982.
The father of a special needs child, Liam, 10, he is an active adaptive instructor pursuing adaptive certification with the Rocky Mountain Division. When not on snow, he can be found mountain biking, cycling, windsurfing, or guiding river trips on the Rio Grande.
Warren Souther: Alaska Division Board Representative
Certified at Level III in cross-country, telemark, and alpine—and Level I in adaptive—Souther is a clinician/examiner and has served several leadership roles in Alaska Division—including board vice president, nordic chair, and certification/education chair. In addition, he is the editor of the division’s newsletter, The Arctic Turn.
Souther started teaching skiing in 1992 while enlisted in the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team 2. Well-travelled within PSIA-AASI’s divisions, he taught cross-country and telemark skiing at Sugarloaf in Eastern Division and Beaver Creek in Rocky Mountain Division. In Northwest Division, he has conducted telemark clinics at Crystal Mountain and helped with division training at Mt. Hood. In Alaska Division, he’s worked with nordic ski clubs to promote the value of affiliation with PSIA-AASI, and seeks to make Alaska a model for further expansion of PSIA-AASI into other nordic clubs throughout the west.
Away from his on-snow pursuits, Souther has worked as a wildland firefighter, U.S. Forest Service sea kayak wilderness ranger, and journeyman mason.
Bill Beerman: Eastern Division Board Representative
Bill Beerman has been the PSIA-AASI Eastern Division representative on the PSIA-AASI Board of Directors since 2006. Before that he was president of the division (2002–05). He is chairman of the Presidents Advisory Committee and a member of the Eastern Demonstration Team (serving, from 1999 to 2001, as its coach). Beerman joined PSIA in 1980 and became an alpine examiner in 1989. As a member of Eastern Division’s education staff, he has helped design and conduct examiner, development team, and division clinic leader exams and conducted its master teacher and accreditation programs.
Since 1999, Beerman has been a supervisor/manager within Vermont’s Stratton Mountain Resort and before that served as manager of the resort’s adult programs/training and staff development. Before coming to Stratton, Beerman was the director of the skiing department/summer operations manager at Vermont’s Mount Snow (1993–96) and director of the ski school/race program, children’s services, and pool programs at Holiday Valley, in New York.
Kent Lundell: Intermountain Division Board Representative
Kent Lundell joined the PSIA-AASI Board of Directors as Intermountain Division’s selected representative in July 2011. His previous leadership positions include service on the Intermountain Division Board of Directors (2006–10) and six years as the division’s certification chairman (1999–2005). He is a division clinic leader and examiner, and since 2008 has been the ski school director at Utah’s Powder Mountain.
From 2000-02, Lundell was the on-snow manager at Snowbasin and before that was alpine manager at The Canyons (1998–2000), ski school director at Brian Head (1978–1982), and ski school assistant director at Park West Ski Area (1976–78). In a career that started at Sundance in 1971, he has also been an instructor and trainer at Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort.
Walt Coiner: Northern Intermountain Division Board Representative
Walt Coiner is the Northern Intermountain Division representative on the PSIA-AASI Board of Directors and a 25-year member of the association. He is a past president of Northern Intermountain Division, and served on the division’s board for 15 years. Coiner holds Level III alpine certification, and is a supervisor for the Sun Valley Snowsports School, in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Involved in ranching and farming all his life, Coiner currently owns and operates Hollyberry Nursery in Idaho. He and his wife, Holly, have twin daughters, Michael and Taylor. He enjoys all disciplines of skiing, as well as golf, tennis, biking, scuba diving, and river rafting.
Eliza Kuntz: Northern Rocky Mountain Division Board Representative
Eliza Kuntz received board ratification in June 2010 to serve as Northern Rocky Mountain Division’s representative on the PSIA-AASI Board of Directors. Nationally, she has served on the PSIA-AASI Children’s Committee and is project leader for Children’s Program National Standards. Within her division, Kuntz’ credentials include that of board member and chair of the Children’s Education Committee. She is currently a member of Northern Rocky Mountain Division’s Alpine Education Team, Alpine Committee, and Children’s Education Team and Committee.
Kuntz began teaching skiing in the late 1980s at Maine’s Camden Snow Bowl, then moved to Montana after receiving a degree in Physical Educational and Outdoor Recreation. Certified as a Level III alpine and Level I nordic instructor, she served as a children’s program supervisor and was snowsports director at Montana’s Red Lodge Mountain for eight years. Kuntz is now the resort’s director of base area operations, overseeing the snowsports, rental, repair, building maintenance, guest service, and food and beverage departments. She is also the resort’s alpine training coordinator.
Neil Bussiere: Western Division Board Representative
Neil Bussiere received board ratification in June 2010 to serve as Western Division’s representative on the PSIA-AASI Board of Directors. A PSIA member since 1991, Bussiere has been a Western Division board member since 1999 and is the immediate past president of the division (2006–10). In other division roles, he has served as executive vice president (2002–06) and snowboard vice president (1999–2002). He is a Level-III alpine and snowboard instructor, and has served as the technical director of the Mountain High Winter Sports School in Wrightwood, California, since 1990.
In addition, he has served as an AASI examiner and clinician since 1996 and a USSCA Level II coach since 1997. Bussiere and his wife, Christa, have four children and reside in Calabasas, California.
Bill Stanley: President's Council Chair, interim (Ex-Officio)
Bill Stanley serves as President's Council Chair, Ex-Officio. A PSIA member for more than 28 years, he holds Level III alpine certification as well as the Children's Specialist 2 credential. Stanley also is a Central Division examiner and clinic leader, and has served on the Central Division Board of Directors since 2007. Before becoming the division's president in 2011, he served as its executive vice president. He was elected to chair the President's Advisory Council in 2012.
He teaches at Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs, Michigan. In the off-season he spends as much time as possible outside with family and friends. He enjoys mountain biking, road biking, and being on or near a lake.