Plake

My last post was about the PSIA-E Pro Jam at Killington December 12-16 2011 with somewhere near 500 ski instructors from all over the East attending. The exceptions to the east thing are that some of the course conductors are from the PSIA National Team and are from all parts of the skiing country. The other exception this year was the Glenn and Kimberly Plake. They were enrolled in the event. Both are preparing for their level 3 certification. Glenn was in a Level 3 part 2 preparation group (part 2 is the teaching portion of the test). Kimberly was in the level 3 part 1 (skiing) preparation course. I believe Glenn decided last season to peruse the PSIA certification and should finish it up this season.

They are amazingly friendly people. I ski on Elan skis and am friends with one of Elan's National Sales managers. He informed me Monday that the Plakes would be coming in Tuesday morning. Glenn skis on Elan skis too. At any rate, fist thing Tuesday morning they walk in with no entourage or pomp, set their ski bags down at a table in the lodge, and begin getting ready to ski just as the other 500 attendees for the event were doing. The difference was that 45 minutes later, Glenn was still standing in his socks without his ski boots on. In those 45 minutes he at greeted everyone that approached him with a smile and a handshake. He was not too busy for small talk or to have his picture taken with anyone that asked. Both Plakes seem genuinely interested in meeting and talking to everyone. For me this makes sense as he has built a pretty nice career with a wild dyed mohawk hair do and apparently no trace of a "what if" in his brain. With a little help from Warren Miller, he has become as recognizable skier as there is and has spent over 20 years entertaining skiers both on and off the snow. In my opinion, he has mellowed a bit as he has grown older and has slowly morphed into a fabulous ambassador for the sport of alpine skiing, not just the off piste stuff but all of it. The Plakes continued to make time for anyone approaching them all week. On Wednesday afternoon Glenn spent the afternoon skiing with 10 lucky people that won a raffle for the chance. Glenn wore his mohawk up at the Thursday night banquet. He was the MC for the door prizes and began his remarks with and apology for disrupting the week and thank yous for allowing he and Kimberly to take part. I would find it hard to believe anyone found their presence a negative distraction for the event. I found them very non assuming. They each skied as a regular group member in there respective courses, sat with those groups at the banquet, and added a, sort of, excitement to the week. Their passion and enthusiasm are very infections for skiers they interact with. For me it was really fun having them part of the event. Yup, I got my picture taken with Glenn and Kimberly at the banquet. I am sure that the great percentage of people at the Pro Jam that went home with a picture of themselves standing with Glenn.