A lynch pin in the Nonstop operation, Dave has been instrumental in shaping the character and structure of our programmes from the very beginning. He started skiing almost three decades ago and has made a career out of the ski industry, skiing and working in various resorts throughout Europe and North America. He finally settled in Fernie because of the great community, the breathtaking scenery, and in his opinion some of the best skiing in the world!

As an ex-ski instructor and ex-heli ski guide Dave's knowledge of our resorts, particularly Fernie, is second to none. He's also taught countless wilderness first-aid courses, avalanche safety courses and guided numerous backcountry ski trips. During the summer Dave is runs our mountain bike courses and plans for the next winter season. All in all he's a pretty busy guy but he always has a ready smile (he's not called smiley Dave for nothing) and happily shares his vast knowledge of the mountains.

Mark is one of the most experienced ski instructors in Canada and we are proud to be working with him to offer the Red Mountain course. Mark is a Level 4 examiner (as high as they come!) and is a member of the CSIA national demonstration team representing Canadian ski instructors at an international level. He is also the former CSIA Western Programme Director overseeing all CSIA instructor training and examinations. Having instructed at numerous resorts in Canada and spent the last 10 years instructing in Australia Mark and his wife Dawn have made Rossland and Red Mountain their home.

Marc is the technical director for the Banff Nonstop Snowboard programmes. Originally from Montreal, Quebec, he's been riding for 15 years and been involved in CASI since the early days. Marc is one of just a handful of qualified Level 4 examiners so brings to the team a wealth of knowledge that few other programmes can hope to match. He also has his race and freestyle coaching qualifications. Always up for a good time Marc plays hard and rides hard and will push your riding throughout your time in Banff.

Rupert is responsible for coordinating with our course directors in Canada and New Zealand and overseeing the running of the company. His focus is on ensuring that we offer the best ski and snowboard coaching and travel experience available and for those that are interested, the strongest entry into the world of snowsports instructing. He heads up our Canadian office in Fernie, so looks forward to meeting you and hopefully sharing a few powder days!

Rupert has been snowboarding since he was 16 and during his gap year spent a season in Quebec attending a similar instructors programme, before going onto study at University where he rode fortnightly at Tamworth Snowdome with the Snowsports Club. After graduating Rupert returned to Canada, this time to Fernie to work as an instructor before deciding to establish Nonstop. Since 2002, with the help of colleagues, family and our participants, Nonstop has grown into one of the world's best established ski coaching companies and provides exceptional tuition, fantastic accommodation, and a great enviroment to meet likeminded people. We hope you can join us.

Max has been snowboarding since he was twelve and made a break for the mountains as soon as he left school. After spending a season in Banff he fell for the Canadian mountains and returned to Whistler to work as an instructor after university. The Canadians laid back approach to life and the consistent champagne powder made it hard to leave but Max is stoked to still be working in the industry, albeit from our Bath HQ!

His passion for travel and snowboarding also led him throughout Europe and New Zealand where he spent a season living in Queenstown. In a recent trip to Australia he developed a new passion for surfing although Max is happiest when he is in the mountains.

Give Max a call or drop him an email for any advice or assistance or just to chat about life in the mountains.

Harriet has skied from the age of 11 and has since been sneaking off to the mountains at every opportunity! During her gap year in 2009, Harriet took Nonstop’s 3 week instructor course in Banff and stayed on for the season to work as an instructor at Mount Norquay. She loves the steeps and deeps of the Rockies and often spent days off visiting other resorts in British Columbia. With a great party atmosphere and everything else Banff had to offer, she left having “hands down the best time of my life!”; and has now joined us for her university placement year. As a previous Nonstopper what better work experience could you have?!

Feel free to give Harriet a call or fire her an email with any of your questions, particularly anything Banff, skiing or instructor related!

Pete lives, breaths and thinks about snow 24 hours a day. After taking a “snowboard in a day” course at Milton Keynes at the age of 25, he put every penny he could into the sport and dedicated all holiday allowance to time in the mountains. In little over a year he scored an amazing opportunity and became the Marketing Manager of Whitelines snowboard magazine, where he helped to raise the magazine to the undisputed leader in the UK market. He also wrote several articles for Whitelines, including “Zero to Hero” where he reported on his three weeks at Nonstop's snowboard instructor course in Fernie.

The three weeks with Nonstop fed Pete’s desire to spend more time in the mountains, and at the age of 32 he made the difficult decision to break away from his career and spend a year and a half in Chamonix, France. There his love affair with the mountains reached new heights, as he got more fresh powder turns in than he ever thought possible in the winter, and spent the summer hiking and biking the Mont Blanc Massif.

Pete is putting his marketing skills to use once again at Nonstop, but the love of mountains is still pumping through his veins. If you want to talk to anyone about career breaks or the decision to spend time in the mountains, Pete will be happy to give you some firsthand information. Drop him an email here.

Christy has recently joined the Nonstop team in Fernie from Australia – it was a bit of a shock to the system departing a 40 degree Melbourne day for the Canadian winter! After first experiencing snow at only 6 weeks old she has been lucky enough to ski around the world in places such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, USA and of course Canada. Christy has a general love for being in the outdoors, and so has also hiked, biked and driven her way through all sorts of places around Australia, Asia, New Zealand, the US and the UK. She spent her university summer breaks in the Colorado winters, however it was the awesome experience that she had on the six week MTM course in Fernie during the winter of 2011 that finally convinced Christy to ditch the sun and the city more permanently for the better life in Fernie. Christy is super excited to have joined the Nonstop team in Fernie and is looking forward to helping everyone else out there find their dreams in the Canadian mountains.

Christy loves talking about travel and life in the mountains, so please call or email her for a chat!