Ski & Snowboard Instructor
Training
Centre

Winter 2024

One step ahead of the rest, Instructor Training Centre puts you at the very centre of New Zealand’s busiest and most successful ski and snowboard school, guaranteeing you the sweetest start to your snow sports career.

Come & train with our world-class instructor training specialists, hand-picked from New Zealand and around the globe, focused on your success and a whole lot of fun!

Internationally recognised ski & snowboard instructor courses

World-class coaches & trainers focused on your training goals

A bunch of benefits with your Cardrona Treble Cone Card

Real opportunities to work in NZ and overseas for Northern Hemisphere winters

Programmes

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6 Saturdays of training

6 Saturdays of training

Coaches - Aaron Bluck and Rakai Tait

Coaches - Aaron Bluck and Rakai Tait

Goal setting

Goal setting

On-snow training

On-snow training

Ability assessment and group allocation

Ability assessment and group allocation

End Of Camp (EOC) Report

End Of Camp (EOC) Report

17 weeks of training

17 weeks of training

Video Analysis

Video Analysis

Adaptive rental equipment

Adaptive rental equipment

high chairs

high chairs

Washer

Washer

kitchen

kitchen

shower

shower

Lounge area included TV/video

Lounge area included TV/video

Bedroom 3-4

Bedroom 3-4

Bedroom 1-2

Bedroom 1-2

high chairs

high chairs

Washer

Washer

kitchen

kitchen

shower

shower

Lounge area included TV/video

Lounge area included TV/video

Bedroom 2 & 3

Bedroom 2 & 3

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 1

high chairs

high chairs

Washer

Washer

kitchen

kitchen

shower

shower

Lounge area included TV/video

Lounge area included TV/video

Bedroom 2 & 3

Bedroom 2 & 3

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 1

high chairs

high chairs

Washer

Washer

kitchen

kitchen

shower

shower

Lounge area included TV/video

Lounge area included TV/video

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 1

high chairs

high chairs

Washer

Washer

kitchen

kitchen

shower

shower

Lounge area included TV/video

Lounge area included TV/video

Bedroom 1-2

Bedroom 1-2

Add on Days

Add on Days

Adaptive programme

Adaptive programme

Wheelchair available

Wheelchair available

Food & Beverage

Food & Beverage

Sightseeing available

Sightseeing available

toilets

toilets

Priority parking

Priority parking

Overnight Storage

Overnight Storage

Maintained

Maintained

Flexibility

Flexibility

3 rental locations

3 rental locations

Boot Dryers

Boot Dryers

Lockers

Lockers

Storage Timeframes

Storage Timeframes

Wanaka Physiotherapy

Wanaka Physiotherapy

Doctor, Nurse & Ski Patrol

Doctor, Nurse & Ski Patrol

Time

Time

Location

Location

Emergency Contact

Emergency Contact

Season Pass

Season Pass

top trainers

top trainers

1 or 2 weeks training

1 or 2 weeks training

10 weeks / 2 or 3 days per week

10 weeks / 2 or 3 days per week

On-snow training FIS

On-snow training FIS

Adaptive On-Snow Training

Adaptive On-Snow Training

Weekly fitness training

Weekly fitness training

Homestay is available at $400/week

Homestay is available at $400/week

On-snow training

On-snow training

Season long goal setting

Season long goal setting

Technical development and gate training

Technical development and gate training

Small group training available

Small group training available

Coaches: TBC

Coaches: TBC

4 weeks of training

4 weeks of training

3 weeks of training

3 weeks of training

Contact Us

Contact Us

ITC season pass

ITC season pass

Lift line priority

Lift line priority

top ski trainers

top ski trainers

7 weeks of training

7 weeks of training

6 weeks of training

6 weeks of training

10 weeks of training

10 weeks of training

Home-made sandwich

Home-made sandwich

Great views

Great views

Champagne

Champagne

Yummy sake

Yummy sake

Noodle dishes cooked right in front of you

Noodle dishes cooked right in front of you

Freshly-made sushi

Freshly-made sushi

Ski in from Skyline Ridge

Ski in from Skyline Ridge

Locally-sourced ingredients

Locally-sourced ingredients

À la carte dining

À la carte dining

Gourmet hot dog

Gourmet hot dog

Selection of local beers

Selection of local beers

Sweet treats

Sweet treats

Deli-style bites

Deli-style bites

Ski in

Ski in

Outside seating area

Outside seating area

Local beer & cider on tap

Local beer & cider on tap

Trainers

Come & train with our world-class instructor training specialists

Dave grew up skiing the edge deep powder of Scotland. He came to New Zealand & Cardrona in 1998 & went through the NZSIA system, becoming an Examiner in 2002. He was on the NZ- SIA national Demo Team for many years & recently was a selector for the current Demo Team. He is now the head ski trainer at Cardrona Treble Cone. An inspirational skier, DT appears in many of Cardrona’s promotional skiing shots.

CAMPBELL MASON

Campbell is a Wanaka local who grew up skiing at Cardrona. In 2009 he joined the Polytech crew to train to become an instructor. Campbell's career has taken him to the United States and Japan where he has worked as both an instructor and trainer.

Campbell is a current NZSIA trainer/examiner, a member of the NZSIA Techincal Team and a PSIA Examiner and currently splits his time between home here at Cardrona Treble Cone and Yellowstone Club in Big Sky USA.

Campbell is our resident freeskier and runs lots of Freeski exams for NZSIA. In his off snow life, he can often be found tramping or hunting with his dog Trev in tow.

Yolinde Magill

Yoyo (AKA Yolinde Magill) is a born & bred kiwi chick -a rare breed in the ski industry! She grew up skiing at Cardrona and loved it so much that she became an instructor during her school years. After missing out on a job at Cardrona, she taught in Queenstown where she worked her way to becoming a trainer & examiner within the NZSIA. She's done back to back winters between Switzerland, Canada & the USA before being heading back to Cardrona in ’07, where she now runs ITC.

Yoyo was a selector for the NZSIA technical team and the NZSIA demo team for 2018/19, plus she sits on the NZSIA ski committee, and is the NZSIA Northern Hemisphere Ski Manager, travelling between China, Switzerland, Japan and NZ…not busy at all! 😉

Matt has been at Cardrona since 1989 & is a passionate skier. He has worked at Crystal Mountain & Winter Park in the US, both mountains offering him the steep, off-piste gnarly terrain that he loves to ski. Matt is a level 3 examiner for NZSIA & has been on the NZ Interski team three times. We have some great photos of Matt in our ski school uniform from the mid-90s, & he still rips around the mountain at the same speed!

martin bennett

Martin has worked 24 winters in New Zealand (Cardrona, Treble Cone & Porters), USA (Squaw Valley), Poland (Zakopane), Japan (Niseko & Rusutsu) & the UK.

He has worked at Cardrona / Treble Cone for 10 seasons as an Instructor, Supervisor & Trainer. He is a current  NZSIA examiner & Tech Team member. 

Martin now lives year round in beautiful Lake Hawea enjoying summers almost as much as winters!

Jon started skiing at the age of 4 & knew when he left school there was no other career for him. He has been teaching since 2001 & has spent seasons in Canada, Switzerland, & France. He became part of the team at Cardrona in 2009 and split his time between Cardrona & Courchevel in the 3 Valleys until recently. He now spends all year in Wanaka, enjoying summers with his 2 young children. He is an NZSIA & BASI examiner. Jon was with us in China in 2016 when we ran our first ITC course in Wanlong. He was selected on the 2019 Interski team to Bulgaria and is a current member of the NZSIA Ski Committee and Demo Team.

Naoko, a native of Osaka, Japan, started skiing as soon as she could walk, and grew up ski racing through to her teenage years in the Nagano Region. Naoko continued skiing while she was studying in the USA, Australia, and Japan. Her first visit to New Zealand was in 2003 which led her to make the switch from SAJ (Ski Instructing Association in Japan) to NZSIA in 2004. After she completed her University degree, she convinced her parents to let her work “only 1 season” before getting a “real job”. She loved instructing so much that “1 season” has become her permanent job! She has been working at Cardrona Alpine Resort since 2005.


Naoko has also taught skiing in the USA and Japan, and previously worked as a translator for Japanese ski magazines. In addition to all of this, she owns and operates her own Ski School in the home of Japow - Hokkaido, Japan.

Francesca Pavillard-Cain

Francesca grew up skiing in Colorado in some of the USA's best slopes, she was always drawn to steep gnarly terrain, and this led to 3 years of competition on the Freeride World Tour. After her competitive career Francesca was drawn to giving people the tools to enjoy mountains like she does. Francesca is an examiner/ trainer in the PSIA and NZSIA systems, splitting her time between Wanaka NZ and Big Sky Country in Montana.

Kyle Kostohris
Luke Gillett

Kyle started his instructing career in 1995. This gave him the opportunity to travel to NZ & start teaching at Cardrona in 1997. He began working as a SBINZ Examiner/Trainer in 2001. He now spends the off season teaching in Utah & is Snowboard School Supervisor at Cardrona Treble Cone.

Damo has been teaching for over 20 seasons. He spends his time between Cardrona & Utah. He has been working at Cardrona for 8 seasons & the ITC for the last 3 seasons. He also holds the SBINZ Trainer’s Cert.

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, he's now happy to call Cardrona Treble Cone home where he works as an ITC Trainer and SBINZ Examiner.

In Japan he was based in Niseko where he was Director of Hokkaido Instructor Training, Head Snowboard Trainer at Niseko Base Snowsports and also runs exams for SBINZ.

When not on snow, Luke keeps himself busy playing all kids of sports, having adventures outdoors, and travelling to new places with awesome people.

Greg hails from Dunedin, where he lived until 2011 when he left his office job as a Draftsman and made the move to Wanaka to become an instructor with the Polytech programme at Instructor Training Centre, Cardrona. He's since been chasing winters to various corners of the world, including North America, Japan and Scandinavia, gaining epic experiences both on and off now.

Greg worked his way up to become an SBINZ Trainer/Examiner in 2016 and was selected to the current SBINZ Technical Team as well! He brings huge stoke to the ITC crew and loves helping guide new instructors in to this rewarding industry.

Other hobbies include, attempting to play musical instruments, surfing, mountain biking, sailing and having a nudge at paragliding.

Claire Dooney

Claire has been in the snowsports industry since 2002 when she trained with the Otago Polytech at Cardrona. Since then Claire has instructed, coached freestyle/race, represented NZ, trained ITC students at Cardrona and examined SBINZ Children’s Cert, Level One and Two. During her 11 years of back-to-back Winters Claire also achieved a Diploma in Sports Management and Coaching and a Bachelor of Physical Education.

In the past Claire has worked for Snowsports NZ in a Sport Support role and was the High Performance Centre Coordinator for Cardrona. Claire is now the owner/operator of her start up business LEAFCUTTER offering business support and specialising in funding and grants. With having a couple of years off Claire and Adam have added Finn and Mia to their tribe. In their spare time they enjoy taking the kids up the mountain, biking and time on the lake.

Testimonials

what our Students have to say about us

Still making your decision about where to train to be a ski or snowboard instructor this winter? Don’t take it from us– read testimonials from our former students to find out why Instructor Training Centre is the ultimate way to become an instructor!

FREDDIE WILKINSON, UK

"Training at Cardrona Instructor Training Centre was better than I could ever have imagined. Working with some of the best trainers in the world had dramatic effects on my skiing. With their guidance I passed both my NZSIA Level 1 & 2 ski instructor's qualifications.

Coming up the hill every day, I knew I was in for a fun, challenging & exciting day on the slopes.The trainers at Cardrona have a passion for skiing & a passion for you to become the best skier you can be.

Now back in the UK, I have a new found confidence in everything I do & aim to start ski instructing as soon as I complete my university degree."

ADAM GORRILL, UK

“Having arrived on the course with slight apprehension of what to expect out of the 10 week course (was I fit enough, was my riding strong enough, was I still able to learn at my age?) I was greeted by warm & welcoming trainers with big smiles to boot.

Once up on the hill my riding was deconstructed & rebuilt from the ground up, with the technical understanding of how & why the board performed as it did, how the conditions affected the board & its movements & what your body should be doing to maximise the strengths of riding.

Being up at Cardrona, teaching with the crew there & being surrounded by such a friendly, inviting & skilled set of individuals is up there as one of my all-time favourite times of my life.”

GRIOGAIR REID STEWART, CAN

"A BIG thank you to all of the trainers at Cardrona ITC. The instruction was first class, with excellent help & advice both on & off the slopes. I am delighted to have gained my qualifications &, most of all, I am delighted with the improvement of my own skiing.

Years-old flaws in my technique were cured early in the programme meaning my eventual progress was far greater than I ever hoped. Small groups, hugely experienced instructors, & the hill's facilities & great atmosphere made this the best place to learn to instruct.

Since leaving Cardrona I have moved from the UK to Alberta, Canada where I am instructing with the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers. Every day in this position the training I gained from Cardrona proves its worth. Techniques for skiing & instructing coupled with the patience Cardrona taught me help me in each & every lesson I teach."

Contact Us

Get in touch with any questions or programme requests – we’re here to help!

For any programme requests or general programme info, contact Yolinde (Yoyo) Magill.

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