‘It’s more high-fives and congratulations’: Teague officially begins tenure as AVSC director

By late Thursday afternoon, August Teague was plenty excited for the chance to step outside and escape the office. It had been hours’ worth of meetings and Excel spreadsheets — all part of his new role as Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s executive director.

“It’s obviously exciting to get things going,” he said on Thursday at the tail end of his first day as the new boss inside the AVSC Clubhouse. “It’s a little different because I know everybody. I don’t have to walk around and introduce myself to everybody. It’s more high-fives and congratulations, some jokes about being ‘boss man’ now, which is always kind of funny. It’s been a fun and busy day.”

He was named the club’s new director last month, where he replaces David Baugh, the former Aspen School District superintendent who resigned from the post earlier this summer, leaving just shy of his one-year anniversary.

A native of the Roaring Fork Valley, Teague grew up skiing with AVSC before graduating from Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale. He then had a standout ski career with the University of Denver before embarking on a career in coaching, one that included working the Sochi Olympics and running his own ski club in Tahoe.

For the past nine years, he had been the club’s Nordic program director, a role just filled by Olympian Sophie Caldwell Hamilton.

“I plan on spending my first little bit of time learning and listening,” he said. “And once I’ve got the lay of the land a little bit more, as they say, I do plan on spending time on the snow. Not just on the Nordic skis, though.”

Thursday began much the same as it always has for Teague, watching an early morning workout session with the Nordic athletes. From there, it was back to the office for meetings with numerous staff members as he lays the foundation for his tenure as director, which begins just two years shy of the club’s 90^th anniversary.

“I walked in the door, and the Nordic team, at 8 o’clock this morning, had a strength session,” Teague said. “And my first stop was not the desk — it was straight into the gym and checking on the kids. At the end of the day, what motivates me is still the kids and seeing the kids working out. That’s where I migrated, not to the computer screen or the desk, but I quickly found my way back over there.”

He has plenty to do before the athletes get back on snow. The club is still finalizing athlete rosters — notably for its recreational programming, Aspen Supports Kids — and there are still a handful of staff positions that need filled before winter.

But he’s ready to accept the challenge.

“Plenty to keep myself busy. It’s never too early to start planning for the Ajax Cup, so that planning is already underway,” he said, referring to the club’s annual ski racing fundraiser held just before the New Year. “Between fundraising, programming, and staffing, I’m going to have some long days.”

acolbert@aspentimes.com