clayson.matt at gmail.com

Matt, a third generation competitive skier whose family has roots in various ski clubs - both defunct and current - in Western Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, is father of two alpine racers in Crystal Community Ski Club.

When not at Crystal Mountain, the Village of Empire or the Upper Peninsula, Matt is in Detroit where he is Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Detroit Trading Company, a leading automotive digital marketing agency. He’s been named to the TechWeek 100 Most Innovative Leaders in Tech and Entrepreneurship, and has been recognized by the German Marshall Fund, Crain’s Detroit Business, the AdCraft Club of Detroit, the American Institute of Architects and the BMW Foundation for his commitment to leadership, service and innovation.

Community ski clubs have been the backbone of introducing the sport to generations of youth; through delivering inclusive, kind and fun programming across various disciplines, CCSC understands and embraces that role.

Matt was a USSA and FIS ranked ski racer back in the day, and enjoys running coats and gatekeeping at CCSC meets.

Matt looks forward to establishing CCSC as a premier organization that connects youth and their families to winter sports and activities, instilling a lifetime love of winter in all Michigan residents. He became President of the CCSC Board at the end of 2022.

stevenkermode@gmail.com

Steve Kermode was fortunate to have a family friend teach him to ski at the age of 10. His love and joy of skiing instilled a desire to slide on snow, whether alpine or nordic, a sense of wonder at God’s beautiful winter creation and a career in the Snowsports industry for over 50 years. Starting when he was was 15 years old, Steve has been a National Ski Patroller, PSIA ski instructor, USSA ski coach, collegiate ski racer, nordic ski racer, NASTAR coordinator & pacesetter, ski shop owner, and involved in ski area management for over 30 years.

Steve has been involved with local ski clubs before the formation of CCSC and has served as past CCSC President and current Treasurer. Introducing youth to healthy, outdoor activities and sport skills is his goal at CCSC, so needed for many of our youth today.

Steve encourages everyone to help support the efforts of CCSC to make a difference in our youth thru winter sports and activities.

carolynkt@charter.net

Crystal Mountain has been a very important part of Carolyn’s childhood and adult life. She grew up in Hart and looked forward to getting on the school bus every Monday from middle school through high school when her school ski club headed to Crystal Mountain. When she moved back to the region in 1998 with her husband Kelly, they settled in Frankfort. In her first winter back, she was hired as a ski instructor and Crystal Mountain again became the center of her winter time activity.

Carolyn and her husband’s two sons were part of the local ski club at Crystal Mountain, and continue to have a very strong passion for skiing into their adult lives. Both boys were alpine ski racers from an early age in the local ski club through high school, and their youngest son continues to alpine ski race in college. Skiing has been and continues to be a very special way for the Thayer family to spend time together throughout the winter.

Carolyn is a full time alpine ski instructor at Crystal Mountain with an alpine PSIA level 2 certification and a Children's Specialist level 1. She is currently the Jr. PSIA-AASI program coordinator and has been involved in a local ski club program at Crystal Mountain for the last 15 years as a parent helper, board member, and ski community member. She also served as parent helper for the Frankfort/Benzie High School team logistics for 5+ years. She says, “As an instructor and parent helper, I always enjoy the excitement on a skier’s face when they have just finished a ski run, accomplished a race course, or ridden the chair lift for the first time. It is very special to see an athlete’s skills and confidence build with each run.”

After being part of CCSC from the very beginning, Carolyn is excited to see its continued growth.

mattbishop@sbcglobal.net

Matt Bishop grew up in Traverse City, Michigan, and currently resides in the Grand Rapids area with his wife and their three daughters. For nearly a decade, they’ve spent their winter weekends at Crystal Mountain watching their girls grow and develop as skiers in the CCSC alpine racing program. Each of the Bishop girls learned to ski with the incredible instructors at Crystal Mountain and then moved into the racing program.

Matt has close to 20 years experience working as an attorney, providing counsel to both for-profit and non-profit business organizations of all sizes.

Although they are still relatively young, Matt says that his girls surpassed him in skiing ability quite a while ago. Matt wanted to get involved with CCSC after all that the club has done to help his girls become confident skiers while building great friendships on the mountain.

Matt is excited to help CCSC grow and expand so that other young people will find the same love of winter sports through CCSC as his girls have.

Andy was born and raised in Northern Michigan. He left to attend college, but during a brief hiatus home, he learned how to ski and snowboard. This led him to becoming a snow sports professional, working in and around the ski industry for over 18 years - holding positions ranging from lift operator to race coach.

In addition to his career as a ski coach, Andy has worked in a supervisory or management position at The Cherry Hut for 25 years.

Andy got involved with CCSC after working with a different local ski club. The opportunity to create something amazing, due to the close relationship with Crystal Mountain, was hard to pass up

Andy is a PSIA Certified level 2 alpine skiing instructor, an AASI level 1 snowboard instructor, a PSIA level 1 certified children's specialist, and a U.S. Ski and Snowboard level 100 coach.

He’s hoping to help grow CCSC in both number of participants and number of programs, as well as ensure the long term sustainability of the club.

shawn@tuque.com

Shawn Denton grew up on a family farm in Clare County, Michigan before heading to Michigan State University, where he met his wife. They moved to Leelanau County in the 1990s and built their home there in 2001. Their three kids have attended schools in Leland and Glen Lake and have been in CCSC ever since they were old enough.

After leaving a PhD program in Parks & Recreation, Shawn founded a web design firm specializing in marketing for the outdoor recreation and tourism industries. Later, he spent 16 years in technology, sales, and marketing leadership roles in incentive travel. Recently, Shawn started a construction company to indulge his love of building and Japanese architecture.

Shawn and his wife are passionate about getting outdoors in the winter and wanted their kids to get quality ski instruction. Their kids have had fun in CCSC and grown their skills each year, and their oldest recently earned her PSIA Level 1 certification.

Shawn is looking forward to seeing CCSC continue to grow its offerings and finding ways to bring more kids into winter outdoor sports.

wmuskiracer@hotmail.com

Mark Hughes learned to ski at Crystal Mountain 38 years ago at the age of five, and started racing shortly thereafter. He grew up in Ludington, but his family has had a home at Crystal Mountain in the Club for the last 30 years. Mark now lives in Grand Rapids, MI with his wife Julie and twins Will and Erin. Mark served as President of the board for three years, and this season will be the twins’ 4th year in CCSC.

Mark has been involved in the ski industry since 2014 with Crystal Mountain and various ski and snowboard manufacturers. He’s had the pleasure of working with several non-profits including March of Dimes - West Michigan, Teddy Knape Film Fest, Mrs Mullen's Closet and Officer Slot Memorial Fund. Mark is currently the Quality Manager for Apex Spring & Stamping in Grand Rapids, MI.

Mark got involved with CCSC to give his kids, and all the kids of the program, the best experience and opportunity to enjoy winter sports. He says, “It's really my favorite part of the year and some of my favorite memories of my childhood.”

Everett Leonard grew up in Kalamazoo, MI. His first experience with sliding on snow started at age 2 when his parents would take him once a year to Bittersweet Ski Area for his birthday. When he turned 7, the once a year trips turned into multiple times a week when his father joined the National Ski Patrol at Bittersweet. Growing up, many spring breaks consisted of piling the family into the Suburban and driving out west for week of shred.

Everett played college golf for Ferris State and earned a BS in Professional Golf Management and then a Masters in Accountancy from Western Michigan University. Soon after WMU, he earned his CPA license and was able to combine his passion with a career at Vail Resorts. Four years later, he had a need to get back to Michigan and moved to Traverse area working in Internal Audit at Munson where he met his wife, Jacie.

An opportunity then presented itself in Cheboygan, MI, where they moved and had two kids. In the Fall of 2020, he was fortunate enough to again combine his passion with a career and became the Vice President of Finance at Crystal Mountain. He was recently promoted to Senior Vice President and oversees Accounting, IT, Alpine Tickets and Rental, Golf Operations, Snow Removal and Nordic.

His Wife and kids try to get on the snow as much as possible. In the other months you can find them either on their boat, golfing, biking or in the SXS.

After watching CCSC grow over the past few years, he is excited about the future. He looks forward to his kids being involved as soon as they are old enough.

lutherfamilyparents@gmail.com

Anna grew up in Jackson, Michigan. After a 20-year detour in Cincinnati, she moved to Crystal Mountain in the fall of 2020 with her husband and their three kids. Her kids attend school locally and are involved in most of the CCSC programs.

Anna worked in fundraising for over a decade and then started her own business working with website design, social media strategy and email marketing. She currently works as a consultant helping brands with their digital marketing strategies.

After experiencing it firsthand with her kids, Anna fell in love with all that CCSC stands for. Her kids participated in several of the ski programs their first winter up north, and have continued to expand their love for winter sports.

Anna served as the coordinator for the Nordic Rocks program in 2022 and also had the privilege of being a Nordic Rocks coach. She loved seeing the excitement of the 3rd-5th graders who were trying nordic skiing and visiting Crystal Mountain - most for the very first time.

Anna is looking forward to continuing to advance the mission of CCSC while also helping to establish a strong fundraising foundation.