Schuss'n Ladders

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of articles about members moving forward with their careers in the industry. It’s awesome really, to read about people who got their start on here and to see how far they are going. I’ve been on Newschoolers for a little over a year now and as a 19 year old college kid I’m really just trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype regarding skiing on here. With the way Newschoolers is organized you can get hyped about photography, videography/cinematography, and journalism just as easily. For those who have dreams of pursuing a career in these areas, these sections of newschoolers are the perfect way to get started. A unique feature of NS is that each of these sections is open for all members to post in. You won’t run into this kind of set up on other websites, but how sick is that?! Your content is published alongside very well known people, which just goes to show you all the opportunity you have here on this site.

This has me thinking though, what about people like me? I’m not going to be a professional skier, I’m an average photographer and filmer at best, and if you haven’t yet noticed I’m not particularly skilled in writing. So what’s out there for me?

Well, theres actually a lot; a lot more than I thought possible. So here's what I've been up to the past year.

Last summer was the summer before I started attending the University at Buffalo. I was looking for things I could get involved with. Obviously I was going to look for a ski club or team, but the only thing that I could find was Schussmeisters Ski Club Inc. I got frustrated. I wanted to be a part of something at UB not this private club.

Well, I stopped searching after a while because there was no ski club specific to UB other than Schussmeisters. So I looked into that and I was an idiot for not having faith before. Turns out Schuss is technically it’s own organization but they are based out of the University at Buffalo. So I had found what I was looking for!

I remember looking through and reading everything they had on their website. I was so stoked; I think I may have read everything twice. My heart was racing as I watched their edits and even more so when I saw all the events that they hosted each year! At the time I didn't realize how much was going on in my area in regards to freeskiing and snowboarding so finding this out was awesome and pretty unexpected.


At my freshmen orientation I spent the entire time at our club fair talking to a girl named Becca Justinger who was the treasurer at the time. She told me about everything: the rail jams, the parties, the trips to Breckenridge and Smugglers Notch, everything. Words cannot explain how stoked I was. Here I was just out of high school, starting college, and it just seemed like so much was happening all at once in my favor. I left the student union that night looking forward to volunteering and meeting everyone else in the club!


Some time between my orientation and the start of the semester I was on Newschoolers and I saw a thread for the Inspired Ski Movie Tour in Ski Gabber. I clicked on it and they were looking for a ski club in Buffalo to host the premier. Well I just about lost my shit. I knew the perfect club to take this on and I emailed Eric Iberg right away on like 2 different platforms telling him about Schuss. About a week into classes I found out that Schuss had agreed to host the premiers and this would become one of the first things I did with the club.

Before I get too ahead of myself, the first day of classes comes around and I found myself already in the Schuss office volunteering. I walked into a room of about 7 people and kind of panicked. I didn’t know anyone; I only knew Becca but she wasn't there. All I could get myself to say was “Hi, I’m Mingg…..Hi.” They invited me in and we just started talking about whatever. After a few minutes my nerves went away and I ended up getting so caught up with the conversation I completely missed my Biology lecture. Oops. Rookie mistakes I suppose?

As we approached the premier, I saw another thread on Newschoolers looking for people to write reviews for each stop on the tour. I was feeling ambitious at the time. Like really ambitions, maybe even too ambitious but I volunteered myself to write it!(even though I had no idea how or what I was getting myself into) Little did I know, by writing this article I had brought myself to the attention of some important people at Schussmeisters.

Time goes on, I keep volunteering in the office and I befriended almost everyone who came in. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t at least stop by to say hey but most times I would spend between 1 and 4 hours in there. This became everything I looked forward to each day too. With roommates who I didn't necessarily get along with and feeling like I had nowhere else to go, this became everything to me. I quickly fell in love with Schuss and was dedicating all my free time to the club.


I got a position as a head bus captain that winter and helped run buses to the mountain every Thursday night. It wasn’t much of a job though, as I was already going to be going to the mountain anyways. I still really enjoyed helping out though. Skiing with these guys and girls was the highlight of my season. My best friend and I had taken different paths for college and riding with her wasn't possible. Before Schuss I didn’t know anyone who I would be skiing with but luckily the guys at Schuss were always down to ride!

I remember on a few occasions there was about 10 of us mobbing around Holiday Valley, carving in and out of trees in some of the deepest powder I’ve ridden and hot lapping park. You know what I'm talking about, when everyone is killing it and you're feeding off each others vibes. Thats how everyday was skiing with this crew. It was unforgettable and is something I hope I can replicate in the upcoming seasons.


Throughout the season I continued to go to the office and volunteer. Basically did the tedious work of cutting paper, signing up members, taking pass photos, and walking around campus putting up flyers. With the group of people we had volunteering, this was always a good time!


The end of March the year started winding down; there were no more events planned for the year and there wasn't much left to do in the office. The winter was over but I had just begun at Schussmeisters. Everyone was graduating from the Board of Directors and it was time to fill those spots. I applied and was interviewed for the Social Director position. The Board had seen different qualities in me however, and I was offered the Marketing Director position and I couldn't be happier about it!


So here I am, a 19 year old college kid given the opportunity to work for this organization that I love. It all started with me engaging in the community and pushing myself out there. Whether you believe it or not, this is something that we all can do. See a thread on NS about an event? Find out how you can help! If your school has a ski club, connect with them! Go to events and make a name for yourself! You don't need to ski like Candide, write incredible articles like Cy Whitling, post perfect photos like Jamie Walter, or produce banger edits like Eheath to be a part of this. You can be involved with so many other things but it's up to you to get yourself out there!

From day 1 I knew that I wanted to be involved with Schussmeisters but never did I think I would take on the role as the Marketing Director after just one season with them. I know that I have big shoes to fill but I'm beyond stoked and I know that with hard work I'll be able to do awesome things for this organization. I plan to take full advantage of this opportunity not only for myself but also to give back to the Buffalo ski/snowboard community. I will be writing about our progress along the way. I'm really excited for what we have planned for this season and I'm looking forward to sharing this with you guys!

So stay stoked NS and get involved in the community. All you need is a love for skiing and the rest will come easy.