MMSC Board of Directors 2011/2012

Denise Gutstein- President
Denise moved to Stowe from Rochester, New York ten years ago with her husband, Adam and their two children. Denise is the former president of Frontier
Telephone and has a BSEE from Union College and an MBA in Finance & Marketing from the University of Rochester’s Simon School. Denise has been serving the Stowe community in the roles of Chair of the Stowe Education Fund, as one of the Stowe Electric Commissioners and in the past as President of the Stowe Cooperative Nursery School. Among the reasons we moved to Stowe, was the great sense of community, commitment and appreciation of the outdoors and healthy living. Our family loves snow sports and the MMSC community. The program has been a tremendous part of our lives. Grant & Trent started in the program as (J6s) and are thrilled to be participating in the (J4) program this year.

RB Klinkenberg - Treasurer
RB began skiing at Smuggler’s Notch at age three, while his father was on the ski patrol. He started ski racing with the Cochran’s program around age 12. He raced both alpine and Nordic throughout high school, culminating in winning the Vermont State Skimeister. RB was part of a small group of students who resurrected the Colby Ski Team after a lengthy dormancy and captained the team for three years, working with the athletic department, administration, and Board of Directors of the College to bring the program to varsity status. After college RB worked with the Swiss Challenge program in Zermatt for four summers, was a (J5/J6) weekend coach
at Waterville Valley, and participated on the Masters Circuit for a couple of seasons. After living in New York City and Boston he returned to Vermont to work for Harrington’s of Vermont, where he is the COO. He currently lives in Burlington, he and his wife have two children in the MMSC programs.

Dave Merriam
Dave is the Director of Mountain Recreation at the Stowe Mountain Resort. His responsibilities include overseeing the Ski and Snowboard School and have since 1995. He moved to Stowe along with his wife Eva (Pfosi) Merriam in 1989 from Sugarloaf/USA in Maine after a stint at Colby College. “I was enrolled in the Pre-Med program,” recalls Dave, “but the call of the snow was so overpowering that I put those plans on hold, and never looked back. I skied on the US Demo Team from 1984 to1995 and I was the head coach from 1996-2004. Following being named to the Demo Team”, say’s Merriam, “colleagues encouraged me to move west to maximize my opportunities. So in the fall of 1989, Eva and I moved west to Stowe and we have been here ever since.”  Merriam appeared in Warren Millers “Learn to Ski Better,” and “Learn to Ski Better II” and in Greg Stump’s first film “The Droids.”  He was the instructional editor for Ski Magazine from 1994-97, was on the USSCA Educational Staff from 1988-2002 and coached at the Tecnica Summer ski camps from 1988-92. Dave and Eva (ex US Ski Team and NCAA All-American) live in Elmore and have two daughters, Hannah 13 and Lucy 15. Lucy is currently a first year (J2) and skis full time with MMSC.

Ashley Davenport Sargent
Ashley Sargent grew up in Manchester, MA and began skiing at age three. She attended Shore Country day School in Beverly, MA and ski raced for Attitash Ski Team in Bartlett, NH. At 14, she was the recipient of the Jack Kelly Fair Play Award in 1991 for Bike Racing in the Olympic Festival, St. Paul, MN. Through high school she attended Stratton Mt. School and Green Mountain Valley School. She ski raced on the U.S. Ski Team for five years and specialized in World Cup SG and DH disciplines. Attended Dartmouth Language School for German Instruction. She attended and ski raced for Middlebury College and went on to earn an International Business degree from University of Denver in 2001. She is married to Nick Sargent, a Stowe High School Graduate, a MMSC athlete 1980-1988, a MMWA Board member and Burton Snowboards employee. They are raising their three children in Stowe and enjoy skiing and snowboarding as a family.

Phil Schoepke
Phil grew up in Bethesda, Maryland as part of a family that religiously traveled to the small ski hills of the Poconos on weekends. Maryland is not a winter sports mecca, so Phil pursued swimming as his competitive passion, where he attained national ranking in high school and college. But the skiing bug plagued Phil, and he kept moving north, to Bucknell University to pursue a chemical engineering degree and then to the University of Massachusetts for a Masters in Engineering and the University of Chicago for an MBA. He was a research engineer with Polaroid Corporation early in his career, then ascended to partner in management consulting firm Pittiglio Rabin Todd and McGrath. Phil now lives in Stowe and consults independently to manufacturing firms wanting to improve their operations. Phil began a short ski racing career after college in adult racing programs in the Boston area, where he met his wife Deb, and on the masters circuit, but now leaves the competitive skiing to his children Sandra (J4), Emmy (J5), and Sam (J6). Phil can often be seen skiing the Front Four on his tele skis and further refining his swimming technique at the Swimming Hole.

Jeff Boliba
Jeff grew up in California and has been snowboarding for over 26 years. Jeff has worked at Burton Snowboards for over 11 years and is the Global Resort Director. Prior to Burton, he worked for Park City Resort developing their snowboarding program from the inception in 1996. Prior to Park City he worked at Purgatory Resort, and Brighton Resort. Boliba has spent his time building the Progression products and Resort programs globally at Burton. Boliba has worked with the snowsports industry to help with education, retention, safety and freestyle terrain. He is currently on the NSAA Education Committee and Terrain Park Task Force, the ASTM F27 Committee, is an AASI Certified Instructor Children’s Specialist and regularly speaks at industry seminars and conventions. In 2004 he received a Ski Area Management future leadership award, which honors those in the winter sports industry, whose strong innovative leadership, demonstrated at mid-career, shows exciting promise for even more accomplishments and leadership in the future. Jeff lives in Williston, Vermont and stays active in the community serving on the Williston Little League Baseball and Green Mountain Volleyball Board of Directors. He is married to Amanda and they have three children Jeffrey, Jacob, and Chloe who also share the same passion for snowboarding.

Graham Lonetto
Graham grew up in the Midwest and competed as a Freestyle competitor out of the Central Division from a young age through college. He has a love for all things on snow: Nordic skiing, snowboarding, freestyle and alpine ski racing. After high school Graham completed a degree in Ski Area Management in Northern Michigan and moved to Utah. In Park City he worked at a ski racing specialty store, where he started to develop his love for alpine ski racing. From there Graham when on to work for the U.S. Ski Team and Rossignol as a World Cup Technician and Jr. Program Director. He opened Edgewise Elite Ski Service in Stowe, his own ski racing specialty store, in 2003.

Terry McNabb
Terry McNabb has a business background with a degree in Business Administration from Saint Michael's College. He cofounded and ran three different companies during his career. Since moving to Stowe in 2007, Terry has consulted for his old company and volunteered for two primary organizations. The Stowe Education Fund raising money for the local schools and the Mount Mansfield Ski and Snowboard Club. Terry is an avid skier who participates in the local ski bum race series each winter. Terry's two children are currently in the MMSC program and love the winter sports environment that exists in Stowe. When Terry and his wife Diane decided to move their family to Vermont, their goal was to choose the best place where they could raise their children. They have not been disappointed.

Eric Smith
Eric Smith grew up in Saranac Lake, NY playing Hockey, and enjoying Alpine and Nordic skiing until attending Johnson State College and graduating with a B.A. in Music in 1993. He worked in the restaurant business in Stowe until 1999, before leaving to raise his daughter Rachel and son Chesley, so his my wife (Sheri Baraw Smith) could continue her role as Vice President, General Manager and part owner of the Stoweflake Resort and Spa.  Eric learned how to race by skiing in the MMSC Tuesday Ski Bum series and then became more involved in MMSC. Rachel (J4) and Chesley (J5) have been in the program since they were 6 years old.  Eric is a licensed USSA Official and works closely with the MMSC event Secretary Laura Farrell on the volunteer program at MMSC.

Ron Biedermann