That feeling you get when the pressure is on… deep in the belly and mind. My deep breathes attempt to calm the roller coaster of nerves. As I visualize the course below, flashes of red and blue flags fade away as the mist rolls in over Treble Cone. The NLP skills were coming in handy in both competition and in instructor training.

One of the many highlights this season was achieving 2 podium placings. The Treble Cone Banked Slalom competition brought some serious competition including Olympian athletes and International World Cup racers. On the podium next to one of New Zealand’s most promising Boarder Cross racers Cody Logan who is seriously fast. I’ve competed with Canadian, Robert Fagan before in Canadian Banked Slaloms and is a legend in the snowboard racing community. He came 5th in Boarder Cross at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and isn’t afraid to send it. With misty conditions, our times were split seconds apart!

The Treble Cone Triple Comp was equally as fun and the sunny slushy conditions made for a great day. An Expression Session, Boarder Cross and Slope-style made up this competition that tested versatility, style and speed. Tom Myles and Jake Bagley joined me on the podium, I was awarded the 2013 Treble Cone King of the Mountain Trophy, sponsored by BASE Wanaka.

A very proud season for both Jim Hart and myself as we prepared our groups of talented riders towards their exams. Everyone passed their riding and teaching components of the SBINZ Level 2! We clocked up over 220,000 vertical meters this season with some memorable days in the Motatapu Shutes too!

A huge thanks to Carl Gerrard from Winter Imports for the Never Summer boards and Candy Grind gloves, clothes. Without passionate and respected people like him in the industry, it would suffer. On behalf of the Rookies and the many instructors he has helped, getting them on quality gear, thank you very much. Please Like the Facebook page to show your support.

Moving forward into the changing season, I have decided to enjoy some long warm days here in Wanaka. After only one of these infamous summers in 10 years, my body and mind will enjoy a break from the endless winter. Broadening my skills in Adventure Tourism is the goal, I look forward to every challenge that comes my way.

When you put together China and Snowboarding, Wang Lei is one of the pioneers in his country. He has played a huge part in the development of snowboarding and with the help of his friends the sport has grown to an exciting level. The purpose of his trip to New Zealand, was to learn about the SBINZ system and train with us at Rookie Academy. He hopes to bring his new found knowledge back to China and develop snowboard instruction there to a whole new level.