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The Coaches Apprentice Certificate Program at Cardrona is built on a mission to provide education for Freeski and snowboard coaches. By instilling coaches with the necessary skills, knowledge, and resources, the program aims to create sustainable coaching.
Course Dates
July 22nd - October 10th 2024 (full time)
Requirements
18 + NZSIA L1 or equivalent extensive competitive experience
Pricing
$7150
Our programmes for Winter 2024 will be subject to Cardrona and Treble Cone's terms and conditions
The Cardrona Parks Squad offers Homestay placements for freeski & snowboard athletes.
Coming to New Zealand for a season of training with the Cardrona Parks Squad can be a significant commitment for an entire family. Let's connect you with a local Wanaka family, happy to house your young athlete for the winter season in our Homestay programme.
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Peter grew up in Poprad, Slovakia but has called Wanaka home for a long time now & considers himself a Kiwi. He is stoked whenever snow is falling & his dream skiing destination is Alaska. Pete is inspired by anyone who gives it 100% & his most memorable mountain moment is the Kaumatua opening the season at Cardrona last year.
Peter was a professional mogul skier back in the day, but made the move into freeski coaching as the sport exploded in popularity. Pete has coached a large number of New Zealand athletes to the top of the sport who have become known on the international freeski stage. He has coached a few of the current HPC Parks Squad coaches & continues to work with high performance athletes as well as younger developing athletes. He has his Masters in Physical Education from the University of Commenius Bratislava, Slovakia. His countless seasons coaching freeskiing & his own personal competitive history make him an invaluable member of the HPC team. Pete loves coaching because he’s stoked to see athletes progress & he thinks a holistic approach to athlete development is of utmost importance.
Thanks to: Cardrona for providing world-class training facilities year in & year out. Thanks to Atomic for making rad skis & Oyuki for keeping me snug.
Born and raised on the ski slopes of hearty New Hampshire, Greg has been coaching skiing for over 30 years. Greg is a former US ski team mogul skier and had a successful professional ski career on the US Pro Mogul Tour, the US Big Mountain Tour (formally Extreme Skiing) and as a stunt skier for multiple Warren Miller Movies and Powder Magazine. Greg spent 15 years as the Head Mogul coach for the Squaw Valley Freestyle Team where he was instrumental in turning young regional competitors into elite athletes for the US Ski Team. While coaching at Squaw Valley, Greg was recruited to coach the New Zealand Mogul Team at Mt. Hutt during his North America summers. Greg's experience in New Zealand ultimately led to the establishment of his own private ski camps for US and Japanese skiers at Treble Cone, which he ran for over 10 years.
Greg joined the Park and Pipe coaching staff at Cadrona 10 years ago when his two boys, Luca and Ben were old enough to join the program and he has not looked back since! Greg's love for skiing is legendary and the wealth of coaching experience he brings to Cardrona keeps him right in tune with all our athletes, young and old!
Watch out for Greg on the mountain. If you see a Parks Squad coach ripping down the mountain with a cohort of youngsters trying to keep up ---that is Greg. 😉
Dane grew up on a dairy farm in the Waikato. Pretty far away from any snow, he didn't get into skiing until about age 10, making weekend trips to Ruapehu with his family, following his older brother around the mountain. He now spends his Southern Hemisphere seasons in Wanaka, skiing at Cardrona, & his Northern Hemisphere seasons in Colorado, at Breckenridge & Keystone. He's travelled all over North America & a little in Europe while following the competition circuit.
The best days for Dane are spent riding the Cardrona rail line when no-one else is out, just lapping with a friend or two. He's inspired by skiers who are able to go out & enjoy themselves no matter the facilities or weather, just get creative & have fun, portraying a slightly more accessible image of skiing & the ski lifestyle. When he's not skiing he enjoys skating, surfing & being in the outdoors.
Dane loves skiing & wants to share his stoke with as many people as he can. He thinks enjoyment is the biggest factor in creating progression & likes to promote a low stress, encouraging environment for kids to learn.
I was born and raised in Crested Butte Colorado. I am the daughter of world-renowned Swiss mountain guide Jean Pavillard and Professor Mary Cain. I made my competition debut while attending the Crested Butte Academy and went on to take several junior titles, including: 3 time winner of the Crested Butte Extremes, Open Class USASA Skier Cross Champion and the Junior World Telemark Champion.
Western State Colorado University, gave me the opportunity to spend my college years studying and competing. During my time at Western I was able to prove myself in the Freeride Scene. Although many of my accomplishments gave me recognition my most notable achievement while attending school was winning the overall Subaru Freeride Series. This qualified me in the top spot for the Swatch Freeride World Tour, leading to three amazing years traveling and competing around the world. More recently I have dedicated myself to instructing and coaching. I want to share my passion with others. This dedication lead to several alpine, freestyle and telemark certification. Perhaps the most humbling and amazing experience to come out of my hard work training toward my continued certification was filming for PSIA in Warren Miller’s latest film
Face of Winter.
Skiing has lead me to so many great challenges and experiences. It will always be apart of me and my true passion.
Hi, I’m Cody, I’m from the rolling hills of West Gippsland, Australia. I grew up sliding sideways on the gnarly slopes of the mighty Mt Baw Baw. Making the swap to two planks at the ripe old age of 18, I began instructing in Canada, and with the exception of a summer raft guiding, spent the next few years instructing back to back winters throughout Japan, Australia and New Zealand. 8 seasons across 4 countries, drawing knowledge from different terrain, conditions, cultures and styles leaves me frothing to share the stoke with the next gen of freestyle athletes.
I’m inspired by hard work and creativity. People who brave all conditions and ailments rock. “I love that you love skiing more than the apparently irrelevant yet excruciating pain in your shins, and the fact that you’re 3 meters away and I cant see you”. - Cody Plant, 2019
My ideal day consists of a few mates, sun, slush cup and inevitably, progression. This season you’ll find me either in the park working on that ever expanding bag of tricks, or on piste training for my next instructor certification. I believe that a solid foundation of basic skills, coupled with enjoyment is what best facilitates progression.
Nick grew up in Whangaparaoa, Auckland, but has been living in Wanaka since 2006. Nick is happiest when he gets to go snowboarding & loves watching other people get stoked on snowboarding too. His dream snowy destination is Japan & he is inspired by anyone who continues to shred for the love of the sport – especially golden oldies who are still ripping! Nick can’t single out a specific favourite snowboarding memory but all his best ones are either deep powder days in Japan or cutting hot laps in an epic park.
Nick has been coaching snowboarding at Cardrona for 8 years. He started in snowboard instructing but quickly moved into working with high performance athletes due to his extensive knowledge & personal talent in park, pipe & freeriding. He has worked all over the world, including Park City & Breckenridge in USA, Canada, Japan, Finland, Switzerland & New Zealand. Nick loves coaching because he gets to help & guide others to achieve their goals, watch them progress over the years & fall more in love with snowboarding. Nick thinks it’s important for an athlete’s development that their coach understands that every athlete/snowboarder learns & progresses differently.
Kia Ora, My name is Immanuel Feci, Manny for short. Aotearoa born, half American.
I've been following my passion of snowboarding for the last 15 winters, spending my time between Cardrona and Aspen Snowmass, Colorado. I have also spent time in Park City Utah, Lake Tahoe area in California and Summit county, Colorado.
It brings me joy to spread my love of snowboarding to others, planting seeds of growth and progression in the riders I coach. I've been certified through SBINZ for the last 8 plus years.Throughout this time I developed a clear understanding of building strong fundamentals and the importance of a solid foundation to build up from.
My ideal shred day would be a mix of laying out carves on some fresh groomer, then to the park tweaking & poking grabs while getting some sweet air and locking in some slick rails, pushing what I feel is possible with my good friends.
I love skating, surfing, family, nature & personal growth both metal & physical. We all have so much more potential than we know.
Ju grew up in Wellington but she now calls Wanaka home, where she lives year round. She gets stoked to snowboard when fresh powder, fresh groomers & freshly cut halfpipes are on the menu! Her biggest inspiration is David Attenborough because he teaches us all to appreciate our amazing earth. Her most memorable snowboarding moments are Les Arc to Villa Roger backcountry lines in France, her 1st place in the World Cup Snowboard Cross in Sapporo, Japan, & her 2nd place in the World Cup Halfpipe in Leysin, Switzerland. Ju’s dream snowboard destination is unique because it’s in our own back yard... the Matukituki!
Ju’s professional snowboarding career saw her attend the Winter Olympics twice (2006 & 2010), & numerous World Cups & National Open tours around the world. Her professional snowboarding career spanned more than 12 years & her global corporate sponsors included Burton & Cardrona. She worked with international snowboard companies that taught her about the business side of the sport. She was an athlete rep for snowboarding on the FIS Athlete Commission from 2008-2011. Ju also holds a certificate in Fitness Management from Otago University.
Her time spent on the NZ Snowboard Team (2003-2010) & the NZ Winter Olympic Team (2006 & 2010) has provided her with an in depth & hands on understanding of high performance sports. Ju is stoked to be able to bring all her first hand, invaluable experience & knowledge to Cardrona Parks Squad. She loves her role as a coach as it allows her to watch & assist in athletes’ improvement & progression while doing everything she can to make sure everyone stays safe. From all Ju’s experience she thinks clear, simple training programmes with concise goals, on-snow routines & a reference for achievement are the most important elements for an athlete’s development.
Nick, AKA Browner, grew up in Hastings in the Hawkes Bay but mainly lives in Queenstown now. Nick is stoked to snowboard when he gets to shred powder & fun park features, & he is stoked on life when he gets to surf, fish, hunt, go on mad missions, travel, tinker & hang with friends & family! He in inspired by Kelly Slater because he has been at the top of his game for so long, yet he seems so down to earth. Nick is also inspired by how Slater handles sponsorship & business opportunities with the future & our earth always considered–a true legend!
Snowboarding-wise Nick is inspired by anyone who he spots doing epic stuff that he can’t yet do, but aspires to. His most memorable mountain moments are any that involve powder, friends, jumps, helicopters or snowmobiles! Nick thinks the best way to learn is to do, so that’s mostly what he has been doing over the last 15 years. Currently he mostly films, shoots photos & rides big backcountry lines, but he has done his fair share of competitive snowboarding in the past & still does a few of his favourite competitions.
Nick loves coaching because he gets to help an athlete get a new trick or learn a new technique that they didn’t think they could do or that they’re stoked to learn. When the athlete gets stoked, Nick gets stoked. He believes a love of the sport & a will to progress are the most important things an athlete needs to possess in order to develop as a snowboarder.
Instagram:@throughabrownseye
Ollie is going into his fourth season at Cardrona & 14th season around the world. Last season he completed the highest level of SBINZ qualifications, the trainers cert, & is now an SBINZ Examiner. He has worked in NZ, Canada, USA, Austria & Japan. Ollie grew up surfing, so when he's not snowboarding he's in the water getting pitted. He also loves travelling – this year he spent two months in India & Sri Lanka.
Ollie loves coaching. Being able to help riders achieve their goals, especially in the freestyle arena, is extremely rewarding for him. He believes building a strong foundation of fundamental skills as contributing the greatest to an athletes long term development. He thinks it's also imperative to develop riders within all areas necessary to being a well-rounded & competitive snowboarder. He loves all aspects of snowboarding, from park laps with the crew, riding steeps & trees in pow to laying down some carves on early morning groomers.
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