Select Page

Snowboard Staff

The SBINZ team of Examiners, is vast and varied. Many of our staff work around the world as instructors, trainers and coaches, with some also examining for other associations internationally. Read about the individuals themselves below.

Ben Clarbrough – Snowboard Course Manager

Ben Clarbrough – Snowboard Course Manager

Ben found gold (a snowboard) at the end of the “Rainbow” in 1994. He qualified in 1996, and made the move to Mt Hutt in 1998. Mt Hutt helped propel Ben into the Northern Hemisphere and further into the grasp of the SBINZ. He gained his Level Three in 1999 and then...

read more
Rich Waldie – Snowboard Rep

Rich Waldie – Snowboard Rep

Works at Mt Hutt Rich started teaching snowboarding in Canada in 2010 on a gap year, that year quickly became a decade spending winters in NZ, Japan and the United States. After a stint at Turoa, in 2014 it was time for a move to the Mighty Methven where he now lives...

read more
Keith Stubbs – Snowboard Committee Member

Keith Stubbs – Snowboard Committee Member

Works for CAMP3 Snowboarding Keith (a.k.a Stubbsy) has spent the majority of his adult life immersed in the world of winter, following the snow around the globe. Stubbsy has been in the snowboard industry since 1999, clocking up countless seasons across four different...

read more
Luke Gillett – Snowboard Committee Member

Luke Gillett – Snowboard Committee Member

Originally from England, Luke now spends most of his time snowboarding in Japan and New Zealand. Having previously worked around the Southern Lakes district since 2008 at Coronet Peak and The Remarkables, he's now happy to call Cardrona home where he works as an ITC...

read more
Richie Johnston – Snowboard Trainer and Coaching Rep

Richie Johnston – Snowboard Trainer and Coaching Rep

Works for CAMP3 Snowboarding Richie loves to shred with friends, family and people who believe in the sport / lifestyle. His first Snowboarding experience was at 12 years old in the wind, sideways snow-fall and icy conditions, and he loved it! In between his studies...

read more
Jamie Middleton – Snowboard Trainer

Jamie Middleton – Snowboard Trainer

Growing up in Wellington, Jamie learned to ski at Mt Ruapehu from the age of 3. With a strong desire to learn to snowboard but a whole family of skiers, finally Jamie convinced her parents to let her put a board on at the age of 12 and never looked back. Joining the...

read more
Kain Mcwaters – Snowboard Trainer

Kain Mcwaters – Snowboard Trainer

Works for NZSki Kain grew up in country Victoria, immersing himself in garage punk rock bands and enthusiastically skateboarding throughout his youth. However, it wasn't until his mid-twenties that he discovered snowboarding through close friends and a hand me down...

read more
Guy McCully – Snowboard Trainer

Guy McCully – Snowboard Trainer

Works for NZski Guy started snowboarding in the early 90's when he was nine. After growing up and attending High School in Timaru, NZ, Guy moved to Queenstown and trained to become a snowboard instructor at Coronet Peak in 2002. After Gaining his Stage One cert and...

read more
Caity Schneider – Snowboard Trainer

Caity Schneider – Snowboard Trainer

Works at: Mt Hutt - NZSki Coming to you from the sunny state of California Caity is here to tell you that yes, there is snow in California! Because of her dad's love for skiing, her first taste of the snow was on two planks around the age of 10. She has a background...

read more
Kristy Bishop – Snowboard Trainer

Kristy Bishop – Snowboard Trainer

Works at: The Remarkables Kristy grew up in Brisbane Australia, dedicating most of her childhood and teenage years to the world of Gymnastics. Training 20+ hours a week since the age of 10 lead to amazing life opportunities like representing Australia, travelling...

read more
Siobhan Challis – Snowboard Trainer

Siobhan Challis – Snowboard Trainer

Works for: Camp3 Snowboarding at cardrona & Treble Cone Hi team, I'm Siobhan, a full-blown Austrian (half-English). I first got on snow as a wee toddler of 2 years, skiing before I could walk and ski racing for many years before venturing into the snowboarding...

read more
Carlo Taurino – Snowboard Trainer

Carlo Taurino – Snowboard Trainer

Carlo hails from Italy, in his younger days you could find climbing a tree, building a fort or kicking a ball. Always in motion, never still. After graduating from High-school, he knew he wasn't looking for a "real" job or a "normal" life. In 2013, Carlo made the bold...

read more
Gareth Smith – Snowboard Trainer

Gareth Smith – Snowboard Trainer

Works at Remarkables/Coronet Peak I’m Gaz from North-West England but now living full time in Queenstown. What originally sparked my interest in snowboarding was a copy of SSX on ps2 when it first came out. Now, there’s not many places to ride where I grew up so that...

read more
Nick Collyer – Snowboard Trainer

Nick Collyer – Snowboard Trainer

Works at: Remarkables & Niseko Nick grew up on the sunny Gold Coast, Australia, but it was in his early 20s, while traveling across America, that he discovered snowboarding. A few months spent in the snow-draped paradise of Lake Tahoe, California, sparked his love...

read more
Ellie Tresidder – Snowboard Trainer

Ellie Tresidder – Snowboard Trainer

Works at: The Remarkables for NZSKi and Freeride World Tour Academy Ellie first stepped onto a snowboard during a high school trip to Whakapapa, through the Otago uni years there were a few trips to TC and Cardies but it wasn’t until 10 years after that first high...

read more
Billy Roberts – Snowboard Trainer

Billy Roberts – Snowboard Trainer

Works at: Mt Hutt Hailing from Manchester in the UK, Billy first got a taste for sliding on a dry slope aged 13. Following trips to Austria and France with school, at 17 he landed himself a job at an Indoor Slope, working lifts and rentals. He gained his Ski level 1...

read more
Greg Samson – Snowboard Trainer

Greg Samson – Snowboard Trainer

Greg hails from Dunedin, where he lived until 2011 when he left his office job as a Draftsman and made the move up to Wanaka to become an instructor through the Cardrona Polytech Instructor Training Course. He's since been chasing winter to various corners of the...

read more
Tony Macri – Snowboard Trainer

Tony Macri – Snowboard Trainer

Works for: Camp 3 - Cardrona I have been a Level 3/Trainers and a Freestyle Examiner for over 20 years with both SBINZ and AASI. I have also been on both National Technical Teams and am currently the Development Coach for the AASI Team. Sponsors: Burton, Anon, Swany,...

read more
Josh Taylor – Snowboard Trainer

Josh Taylor – Snowboard Trainer

Works at: The Remarkables Josh first skied at 3 and snowboarded at 12, but his Journey to enlightenment began in 2007 when he undertook Snow Trainers’ 11 week programme and achieved his Level One and Two. After that, he spent one season instructing at Copper Mt,...

read more
Richie Webb – Snowboard Trainer

Richie Webb – Snowboard Trainer

Works at: Nomadice, HME Japan & NZSki My journey began in the 90's when snowboarding was exploding in popularity. Leaving school, there was only one place I wanted to be: the Alps. Originally from Oxford, UK, I've spent 41 seasons developing my skills across...

read more
Mark Perana – Snowboard Trainer

Mark Perana – Snowboard Trainer

Mark is originally from Christchurch and in his younger days would spend any opportunity that was on offer to ski the surrounding fields. He was introduced to snowboarding in the early 1990's and shortly after he attended and passed the first ever NZSIA Snowboard...

read more
Ricky Otaki – Snowboard Trainer

Ricky Otaki – Snowboard Trainer

The first Japanese Examiner to join the SBINZ ranks, Ricky began teaching skiing when he was 18 years old in his home country Japan. He moved to New Zealand and started to teach skiing full-time in 1996. Ricky began as a Snowboard Instructor around the same time and...

read more
Andrew Willink – Snowboard Trainer

Andrew Willink – Snowboard Trainer

Works at: ITC and Cardrona ski school Andrew was born in Britain but grew up in Spain. He fell in love with skiing and the mountains at the age of 6, first on the family farm in Scotland and then on school trips to the ski hills around Madrid. When he was twenty he...

read more
Weiyan Li – Snowboard Trainer

Weiyan Li – Snowboard Trainer

Works for: S.S.S./CAMP3 Weiyan is the first ever snowboarder from Mainland China to achieve the highest level of certificate in SBINZ system - SBINZ Trainer Certification. Being a native Mandarin speaker and a fluent English-speaker, Weiyan has been able to teach in...

read more