The Experts
Below is more information about the experts that I have handpicked to work with during my workshops.
The Snowboarding - Neil McNair, Rhys Jones, Jono Stevens, Stevo McDonald
Neil McNair, British Snowboard Coach and a fully qualified BASI trainer with a passion for backcountry adventuring is someone I’ve worked alongside and learnt invaluable skills from. Neil works with me to provide custom coaching programs focused on progressing ability and confidence in both freestyle and backcountry techniques.
Rhys Jones is a fully qualified BASI Level 4 snowboard coach and spent several winters in NZ as a NZ snowboard trainer. He’s been snowboarding all over the world: Europe, New Zealand, Japan, USA, Canada, South America after starting snowboarding back in 1996 and has been coaching since 2005. Although he coaches in all areas his passion and specialism is in coaching freestyle.
Jono Stevens set up the first ever snowboard school in Meribel and has been teaching, guiding and running freeride courses in Les 3 Vallées since 2006. He works with Wemountain to deliver off-piste safety certifications and for the last 4 years he has been competing in some of the freeride world tour qualifiers.
Stevo McDonald has lived in Sainte Foy, exploring the Tarentaise mountains for over 15 years he has in-depth knowledge of the local terrain. He has been teaching snowboarding since 2006 and leading groups in the backcountry for the past 5 years. A freerider and splitboarder since before it was cool he is also a qualified International Mountain Leader as well as a BASI 4 snowboard instructor.
The Psychology - Louise Jones
Louise Jones is my personal sports psychologist. She guided me to Olympic success and has been supporting athletes, coaches and performance directors within British sport for over 15 years.
Louise will hold a series of sessions through the week to help exercise and strengthen your mind to advance your performance. She will look at fear, dealing with setbacks, visualisation, pushing your boundaries, understanding how you learn, and achieving a mindfulness which can be applied to improve not only your snowboarding but all aspects of work and home life.
The Yoga - Sian Leigh & Emily Williams
Sian Leigh, one of my favourite yogis, will be holding daily relaxation and recovery yoga sessions to stretch out tired limbs, soothe your body and rest your mind. Having spent 20 years snowboarding Sian knows exactly how you need to move in your yoga practice to really work on releasing tight muscles after a day on the hill. From New Zealand but currently residing in Verbier, Sian teaches yoga and is a health coach for other mountain lovers in between raising two children.
Emily's combined love of snowboarding, mountains and Yoga has led her to teach all around the World. Currently living in Fernie in Canada, Emily leads classes with an emphasis on finding unity between breath, body and mind. Utilising Yoga as a tool to enable more epic adventures in the mountains, she'll encourage you to release tension in the body, ready for another day on the hill!
The Fitness, yoga & breath work - Andrew Blake - aka Blakey
I am really excited that Blakey has joined the team of experts for my Snowboard & Training Workshop. Blakey is a personal trainer, yoga teacher and physical therapist. He has extensive experience working with a variety of people from professional surfers and Olympic athletes to complete beginners. After a day’s riding Blakey will run strength and conditioning sessions which will give an insight into the snowboard specific training which we have worked on together for my own fitness when competing. Elements which include proprioception, plyometrics, upper body and core.