This season’s team
|
To give you a little bit of information about our instructors, as well as an even balance of history and slander, we’ve put together some biographies. Well, Nicol has. So take it all with a pinch of salt…
|
Nicol
Nicol has been skiing and training in Verbier for 12 years, teaching for the last six. He learnt to ski as a 5 year old on his local mountains back in Scotland.
Somehow this didn’t put him off and he qualified as a ski instructor whilst still an Army Officer. In his own time, Nicol likes to get on his telemark skis or go ski mountaineering.
|
|
Toby
Toby has been living in Verbier for eight years. Initially trained in New Zealand, he’s also done the British and Canadian ski instructor systems. Before starting Performance with Kent, Guy and Nicol, Toby managed a ski school in Verbier for five years.
You’ll also quite often find him taking the last lift up the mountain and skiing down with his dog, Laika. This season he’s going back to his racing roots and will be training whenever he can.|
|
|
Guy
Guy has been teaching for six seasons. Before running away to the mountains he used to work in advertising, but he saw the light and made it to Verbier, decided not to leave and now lives in the smallest flat in Western Europe.
Naturally it was tough call between the Swiss Alps and Solihull…
|
|
Kenta
Kenta has been involved in nearly all things to do with skiing in Verbier for 13 years. He started skiing as a kid back in Sweden and qualified in the Swedish instructor’s system before bringing his dazzling smile to Switzerland.
In his spare time he loves to get right into the backcountry, breaking trail with his mountain guide friends.
|
Olly
Olly started teaching skiing in the Canadian Rockies during a sabbatical from working in the financial sector in London. His love for the sport has meant that he hasn’t returned since and has continued to work his way up through the Canadian system.
He first came to Verbier “just for a season” in 2005 and has never contemplated changing resorts. Olly’s passion is for freeride skiing and whenever he’s not teaching you’ll find him out exploring Verbier awesome off-piste areas, or when the snow is not so great, hanging out in the snowpark (usually watching!).
|
Rich
Rich also learnt to ski at the grand old age of 5 in sunny Scotland. He has been doing ski seasons for 11 years and teaching for the last 6 throughout America and Verbier.
This season he is taking on the near impossible task of passing is International Ski Teacher Diploma – the best of the best. When he’s not on his skis, Rich can either be found with his golf clubs or a paint brush.
||
Gina
Now in her 9th winter season, Gina ran a chalet company in France before training to be a ski instructor. She has taught for the last 4 winters in America and Europe. Gina originally trained in fashion design but the lure of the mountains was too great.
|
|
|
Sanna
Brought up in the north of Sweden with long cold winters, Sanna’s been standing on skis since she was 4 and loved every minute of it. She qualified as a ski instructor after a 2-year college degree (yes, you can do this in Sweden).
She did seasons in the Swedish and Norwegian mountains before deciding to broaden her horizons and come to Verbier. Sanna loves cooking and football: she could be the perfect woman!
||
Andy
Westy has been teaching in Verbier for five seasons, and is our only snowboarder. After a career in the City he decided that there must be a better commute to work, ended up in Verbier and here he’s stayed…
Andy once went on a blind date with former pop-star Louise Rednapp. Sadly things didn’t work out and Louise had to make do with millionaire footballer Jamie Rednapp. Her loss.
He also works as a professional chef and loves skateboarding. But not at the same time.
|||
Karolina
Karolina is the most recent addition to the team having joined us after spending a while in Canada.
Suffice to say, our latest Swedish instructor has skied all over the world, and when she’s not teaching skiing she likes to jump off things and win freeride competitions. Oh and she’s got an eight handicap in golf as well as skippering yachts. Rather impressive stuff…
|||
|
|
