Snowboard Trainer, Coronet Peak.
Mark Lawes, an SBINZ Examiner since 2006, first put on a snowboard at Crested Butte, Colorado in 1992, embarking on his snowboarding journey. A chance chairlift conversation with the Course Director at the time convinced him to sit the Snowboard Stage One (now Level Two) the following year and Mark’s new career began, spanning many back-to-back seasons.
He first started teaching snowboarding in Scotland for Glenshee in 1995 and for Cairngorm Chairlift Company in 1996 and 1997. Anyone in the USA, or even New Zealand for that matter, complaining of icy conditions should spend a season in Scotland – it’s not ice until you can see through it!
Mark has been a career Snowboard Instructor and Trainer at Coronet Peak, Queenstown since 1995, witnessing the growth of the Snowboard School as well as the birth of the rebranded SBINZ organisation and its current structure of qualifications. He attended both the inaugural SBINZ Snowboard Stage Two (now known as Level Three) in 1997 and the Trainer’s Certification in 2005.
He is also AASI (American Association of Snowboard Instructors) Level Three and has been instructing and training at Keystone, Colorado, USA from 1998. During this time he is proud to have been able to work with the Snowboard Outreach Society, which gives at risk and disadvantaged youth the opportunity to learn to snowboard.
Participating in all forms of snowboarding and instructing, from backcountry to park and from coaching kids to freestyle, Mark hopes to be boarding and teaching for many more seasons to come.
Mark’s gallery
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