The Snowboard Instructor Podcast

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Part 2 is here! with Jim Hemmingway, Head of Rentals at NZG Ski — and if you caught Part 1, you’ll know Jim brings a huge amount of knowledge and experience from the snow sports industry. ❄️

In this episode, we dive straight into why understanding equipment is so important. The right gear plays a massive role in how people learn, progress, and ultimately enjoy their time on the mountain. Jim breaks down what equipment works best for beginners, how ski systems have evolved over the years, and what really makes a difference when fitting out guests for success.

We also go behind the scenes of rental operations, what it actually takes to service thousands of skis and snowboards in a short window of time, and how that impacts the overall guest experience.

Thanks for your patience while we’ve been busy. We’re excited to be back recording and bringing you more episodes like this. Enjoy!

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do Support us @ 
https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpod

Watch and Ride
Watch and ride is a online snowboard school that allows you to take you snowboarding to new heights.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

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Support the show

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In this episode, Alec sits down with long-time mate Jim Hemmingway, Head of Rentals at NZSki, for a deep dive into the often-overlooked world of rental gear and why it's absolutely essential for snowsports instructors to understand what their students are riding.

Recorded at the start of the 2025 winter season in Queenstown, New Zealand, the episode kicks off with a warm catch-up before exploring Jim’s journey from his early days snowboarding in the UK and working at Snow and Rock back in 2002, to moving to NZ and carving his path through the industry.

Jim shares the challenges, triumphs, and behind-the-scenes realities of running one of the busiest rental operations in the Southern Hemisphere, and how his role has evolved into Inventory Manager at NZSki. We also start to unpack the impact of the COVID season and how the gear game has changed.

Whether you're a seasoned instructor or just passionate about the snow industry, this episode is full of insight, experience, and stoke for the mountains.

🎿 Don't miss Part 2 – dropping soon!

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do Support us @ 
https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpod

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this fourth episode, we’re joined by the legendary Richie Webb — a true snowboarding nomad with a story that starts on the dry slopes of the UK back in the '90s. From those humble beginnings, Richie carved his way to the rugged peaks of New Zealand, becoming a standout instructor at NZski. We dive into his journey through the SBINZ system, from student to trainer, and hear about his adventures teaching in the US, Italy, Austria, Japan, and beyond. With over 16 seasons under his belt, Richie now splits his time between the powdery backcountry of Niseko and the alpine vibes of Queenstown. Get ready for a deep dive into snowboarding life, culture, and wisdom from one of the sport’s most passionate mentors."

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do Support us @ 
https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpod

Watch and Ride
Watch and ride is a online snowboard school that allows you to take you snowboarding to new heights.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The third episode of season 3 is the second part with the amazing NZ shredder Richie Johnston where we continue to talk to Richie about his history through the SBINZ system to then becoming an SBINZ examiner, we go back to talking about strengths of the SBINZ system and it's take on areas of snowboarding such as carving and freestyle, to talking about his time in Interski and what he found interesting. We finish of having a great conversation about his time as a para snowboard manager to then touching on his Jones sponsorship and the future of Camp 3, himself and what makes a great snowboard instructor.  

This episode came about from the amazing Side Hit Podcast where Tony talks to Richie more on his life of Snowboarding and the overall culture of New Zealand snowboarding.

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do Support us @ 
https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpod

Watch and Ride
Watch and ride is a online snowboard school that allows you to take you snowboarding to new heights.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The third episode of season 3 is the first part with the amazing NZ shredder Richie Johnston where we talk to Richie about firstly a quick overview on his history of snowboarding to the legacy of Snow Park NZ. We then move on to his time instructing in places such Mammoth, Porte Du Soleil and China, to then chatting more indepth of China's snowsports culture as it headed to the Olympics. We finish off this first part about Wanaka and it's beauty.

This episode came about from the amazing Side Hit Podcast where Tony talks to Richie more on his life of Snowboarding and the overall culture of New Zealand snowboarding.

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do Support us @ 
https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpod

Watch and Ride
Watch and ride is a online snowboard school that allows you to take you snowboarding to new heights.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The second partar for episode Two is out! 

In the episode Martin Drayton and Alec continue talking about competing in slalom and boardercross events to then progressing into how martin broke a Guinness World record on the fastest time for skateboard slalom. 

We then moved to his time in the TV spotlight in such things as Boardstupid and other TV snowboarding projects to then to what/why he moved to Utah Park City and how the snow culture is compared to the Alps. Lastly we also go into the differences of instructing in America compared to the Alps and BASI and finish off with any updates and his life in UTAH.

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do Support us @ 
https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpod

Watch and Ride
Watch and ride is a online snowboard school that allows you to take you snowboarding to new heights.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The second episode in the brand new season 3 is the first part with the legendary Martin Drayton where Alec talks to Martin about his first time snowboarding after watching Apocalypse Snow to then continuing on to the UK Dryslope and then moving to instructing in the Alps and the stipulations that comes as a snowboard instructor in the 90s. 

We then chat about Martins move to managing The Snowboard Asylum in Covent gardens to then being involved in the British Snowboard Association with Becki Malthouse and Neil Mcnab. Lastly we start to go into his slalom days and move Utah park city, where he lives now.

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do Support us @ 
https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpod

Watch and Ride
Watch and ride is a online snowboard school that allows you to take you snowboarding to new heights.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The next part of First episode in a ALL NEW SERIES with Cameron Luke Wilson where Max, Alec and Cameron talk about the differences and similarities of IASI to other association by picking apart the riding and teaching elements of each association compared to the Irish system, from carving and dealing with forces to the steps on teaching beginners to turning.

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do Support us @ 
https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpod

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The First episode in a ALL NEW SERIES is the part 1 with Cameron Luke Wilson where Max and Alec talks his first time on a Snowboard from a South African perspective and how his love of Snowboarding lead him to travel to New Zealand to start his instructing pathway with SBINZ then traveling back to South Africa with being involved in Snowmaking. We also talk about his pathway from SBINZ to IASI and learning from other Snowsports systems such as the American, British and American Instructor Associations.

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do Support us @ 
https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpod

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

This episode is part 2 of Max talking to the Gnarly shredder Stu Innes about his first time on a Snowboard and how his passion of Snowboarding lead him to become more involved in the freestyle scene. In the episode Stu talks about why freestyle is important in Snowboarding and Instructing, his progression in teaching freestyle and his future plans.

This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.

https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2sy

We had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .

Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at [email protected] or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

Support the show