The Pocono Alpine Ski Educational Foundation, Inc. (PASEF) is a parent-run 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that operates and manages the alpine and snowboard snow sports programs at Camelback Resort in Tannersville, PA. It was founded at Camelback in 1995 as a legacy to Rob Corchnoy, one of the original and most enthusiastic members of the Camelback Alpine Team, who tragically passed away in 1994 as a result of injuries sustained in a skiing accident. PASEF’s mission is to support and grow snow sports competition in the Pocono Mountains, with an emphasis on safety, sportsmanship, citizenship, and the preservation of Rob’s legacy. PASEF is a certified member club of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSS), and a proud partner of Camelback Mountain Resort, which graciously provides our race and snowboard programs with one of the finest training venues in the region.
HISTORY
The Camelback Alpine Team got its start in 1991, thanks to the efforts of Bill Yoder and head coach Gus Picariello. The team started on a shoestring budget, with a handful of racers and a small but talented coaching staff. It has since grown to include scores of athletes and a core coaching staff of 30. In 1995, the team became the Pocono Alpine Ski Educational Foundation, Inc. (PASEF), a tax-deductible, non-profit foundation. It is an all volunteer organization, whose main objective is the support and development of student-athletes through the sports of alpine racing and snowboarding.
As a member club of the Pennsylvania Alpine Racing Association (PARA) and the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), PASEF’s primary purpose is to offer its junior athletes a developmental opportunity to reach their desired goals, whether that be membership on the United States Ski Team, to earn a collegiate scholarship, or to simply enjoy their passion for the sport. PASEF is based at Camelback Mountain Resort in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, which provides us one of the finest training facilities in the region. PASEF is a purely volunteer organization, operated by parents of Camelback’s Alpine and Snowboard Team athletes. We welcome your participation as a volunteer.
ROB CORCHNOY MEMORIAL RACE
The Rob Corchnoy Memorial Race has been held annually at Camelback since 1997. The race is sanctioned by USSA and is one of PARA’s premier annual events for U10, U12 and U14 athletes. The Corchnoy Memorial Race is also one of the largest annual fundraisers for the PASEF organization, and we ask all PASEF families to volunteer their time and expertise to prepare for and stage this important event. Whether you volunteer as a gate judge, timer, course maintainer, race registration assistant, or a race ambassador, your participation is tremendously important to our success.
Rob Corchnoy (1978-1994) grew up skiing at Camelback Mountain and joined the Camelback Alpine Team as one of its original members in 1991. Rob was a High Honors student at Friends Select School in Philadelphia, where he was active in music, drama and athletics, as well as in mentoring younger students. In addition to skiing, Rob loved sailing and sailboat racing, which he pursued with his father in national and international competition. At the time of his fatal skiing accident in 1994, Rob was engaged in an Olympic campaign in sailing. His dream was to be a naval engineer and to design racing sailboats. Rob was active in youth activities at his synagogue and was a member of the Hebrew Honor Society. While he was a gifted scholar with a very broad competitive streak, Rob’s friends and family most cherished his laughter, his irrepressible sense of humor, and his love of atrocious puns.
At his funeral, Rabbi Jerome David said of Rob: “It can be honestly said that Rob accomplished more in fifteen very full years than many accomplish in a long and uneventful lifetime. Rob was a student, but he was also a teacher. He taught us how to truly celebrate life and living; and how to exalt in its challenges. He taught us how to laugh, how to imagine, and how to dream and reach for the light of the stars.”
