Meet Mingg, a Pinkname who's well discussed on Newschooelers. Her name is dropped in threads, on the NS Army Facebook page, and even in conversations. So, who is she, and what are her thoughts on skiing?
First, it’d be great if you could introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you.
Hi there! I'm Mingg. I'm currently in my second year of accounting at UB just trying to ski as much as possible and balance everything. I also am the marketing director at Schussmeisters here so when I'm not skiing or in class, I'm usually here in the office doing marketing stuff!
Mingg at the Schuss Rail Jam // photo: Bryan Murphy
You work for Schussmeisters Ski Club, inc. For those of us who are unfamiliar, what is it and what do you do?
Yeah! So Schuss is a pretty large part of our local community. We sell a pass to students, faculty/staff, alumni, and their family members. It's basically a season pass to the 5 mountains in our area that they can get really cheap. We've brought in up to about 5,000 members which makes us the largest ski club on the East Coast! On top of the pass we do a bit that's open to everyone else in the area too. We go on trips throughout the season; this year it was to Whistler which was totally epic! We host our Fifth Season Rail Jam every fall as well which is a really awesome time. We get all the local shops here and it's a great way to give back to the community in my opinion. And then we'll link up with redbull every now and then for on hill events. So it's a good time! A lot of people at our school are international students who have never seen snow before. So it's great to offer them a cheap, easy way to get involved with skiing/snowboarding while they're living here.
How has Schuss helped you in your skiing?
Speaking of this winter, how was your season? Your trip to Canada was pretty well documented.
haha my season was awesome, actually. I know the East had a bad winter snow wise but it was one of the best for me! I was able to get out to iF3, Rails 2 Riches and the NS Gathering which were all such great times. Hands down the best weekends of my season.
Whistler was amazing. It's always a challenge going out west but Whistler was something else. My friend Shea is a local and showed me around while I was there. We spent a lot of time around Harmony and Symphony which was sooo much fun. Not to mention we had like 3 pow days while I was there and it was just incredible haha. I've never skied pow like that before. Then on my last day(another pow day) we scoped out the mountain looking for a side hit or wind lip or just something to huck a backie on. I got called out on NS and I knew I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't send one. So we found this not very good wind lip, did a few speed checks andddd I sent the backie to my face hahaha.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAx9DN5tdR2/
You’re looking to get out to Hood this summer, what do you want get up there?
Yup! I'm going out there for the end of Spring Pass with the Lost Girls Tribe. I've never been out there so I'm not sure what to expect. But I'm hoping to meet some new people and I'm honestly just stoked to be able to ski more, especially after this season. I also might be working at Windells so if you're going to camp, come say what's up! :)
What is Lost Girls Tribe, and what do you with them?
The Lost Girls are a group of ladies in action sports who ski, snowboard, surf and skate. They're all out West mainly based out of Summit County, so I hold things down for them on the East Coast! The overall goal is to inspire more girls to get out on the mountain, skate park, etc. So I rep them out here, basically.
That's sweet! There definitely needs to be a push for ladies in action sports, and just girls supporting girls in general.
Hell yeah there does!
Mingg at Loon
In terms of community, how do feel about NS?
NS is awesome though. There's always the few haters, but overall I love Newschoolers. I've met so many awesome NS'ers throughout the couple years I've been on. I've learned a lot about the industry from them that I probably wouldn't have and I've had a lot of damn fun along the way! Learning how to Flabongo and thumb gun might be my proudest accomplishments yet hahaha
What are your views on women's skiing? Do you think there needs to be more focus on "skiing" and less emphasis on the fact that it's women?
Women's skiing. Ahh. It's a tough one. In one sense I would LOVE to see more ladies progressing the sport. This year's Dew Tour and X-Games stood out a lot to me in terms of progression. There's definitely a new generation of younger skiers coming in that are going to do insane things. I also really love what the Diamond Annies are doing. I think it's important that girls don't just stick to comp skiing, so they're making moves on the film side of things which is awesome. I personally can't wait to see where that goes for them!
As for the second part, I think there needs to be a balance. I think a girl should be able to embrace that she's a girl skier and be proud of it. I also think that if you're serious about skiing you shouldn't have the mentality of "I'm a girl so what I'm doing is good enough.”
It seems progression is really hindered by the "good enough for a girl" mentality. Any plans for next season, is there anything you really want to get?
I'm GOING to land a backie this summer. I also would like to nut up and start hitting larger features. As far as trip plans go, I believe I'll be in Utah for a bit of January. There has been some talk about maybe a trip to Japan or Switzerland, but I'm not sure yet! 
grass skiing at Holiday Valley // photo: Jenelle Gefaller
After your attempt in Whistler, you so got this. Thanks so much, we'll see you at Hood!
Thanks Sammi! I'll see you then! :)
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