Rockford native Katie White earns spot on prestigious 4-year national ski instructors team

Rockford native Katie White is going to be even busier shredding on her snow skis over the next four years, but that's just what she was aiming for.

After a winterlong selection process ended with a five-day test of skills at Big Sky, Montana, at the end of last month, Rockford's own Katie White was named to the Professional Ski Instructors of America's 2024-28 National Team.

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"I will get significantly busier, that's for sure, so it will be even tougher to get back to Rockford as much as I would like for the next four years," said White, 35, whose main job is as the ski school training manager at the Yellowstone Club, a private residential club and ski resort just outside of Big Sky. "I am very proud of this honor, and I'm very humbled that I was chosen. It's just crazy to even think that I would be selected, so this is really something."

Along with the American Association of Snowboard Instructors, the PSIA National Team represents adaptive, alpine, cross country, snowboard and telemark disciplines on the snow.

For the next four years, White and her team will be called upon to promote, support and assist in developing all of the training and training materials for instructors across the country, and often, around the world. According to White, they're there to help ski and snowboard instructors — and the ski and snowboard industries — grow positively, in any way they can.

"It's a lot of working together with the leading instructors around the globe," White said, "to find the best safety measures, the best teaching techniques... just the best way to do things."

There are 16 skiers, six snowboarders and eight others named to this year's team. They represent some of the best skiers and riders in the world and most are educators and instructors.

Coming up during White's tenure, the US team will be hosting the Interski Congress, set to be held in the United States for the first time since 1968. That event, which brings in all of the world teams and associations, will be coming in 2027 in Vail, Colorado.

White is from Rockford and considers this at least one of her homes. However, she's only here for a couple of months out of the year. And that was even before her new post on the PSIA National Team.

She enjoys spending time on the water at the West Rock Wake Park here in Rockford when she's home, but she also runs a ski school and is a ski instructor in Chile, which takes her away for much of June-September, a big chunk of the North America offseason for winter sports.

"You could say that skiing has become a pretty big part of my life," White said with a chuckle. "But I love it; I wouldn't have it any other way."