The Coaches

Raul joined Cypress Ski Club as Program Director in 2012 bringing decades of international experience to our club.   Raul began skiing when he was 4 years old, in a ski area called Antillanca in Chile’s Lake District Region. At 8 years of age he began his racing career in Antillanca, moved at 10 years to Santiago and culminated in Raul being the Chilean GS Champion and SL Vice-Champion in 1971. After retiring from competitive racing, Raul was not ready to leave the sport and began his second career as a ski coach. He is  a certified Level 1 Coach with the Chilean Ski Federation, the Spanish National Ski School and is a Canadian CSCF Development Level Coach. He has coached in Chile, Spain, Andorra, USA and Canada. He is passionate about equipping children with life long skills through skiing. Raul and his wife Michele have three children, Daniela, Martín and Micaela who have all ski raced. Raul’s time is split between Canada and La Parva, Chile, where he works as Mountain Operations Manager during the southern Hemisphere season and runs a business with his wife organizing the logistics for teams that go to train at different areas in Chile.   Raul is looking forward to the upcoming season and would like all parents and athletes to always feel free to contact him.  

I’m a French guy who was born in Grenoble, a renowned mountain town located in the heart of the French Alps. Since I was young I have always had a passion for sports and participated in many including judo, tennis, rugby, volleyball, ice hockey, water polo and mountain bike. 

My parents taught me to ski when I was 2 years old and I have been skiing ever since, having raced and pursued free ride.

I received my master’s degree in Sport Science and Physical Conditioning from the University of Grenoble in 2013. I also have my Level I and Level II French coach’s diploma.

I have been coaching for 10 years, working with different structures and levels from U10 to FIS. In my opinion sport is the best way to develop life skills and the only way to perform well is to put in the hard work.

A quote from the famous writer Samuel Beckett sums up my vision of sport.

 

“ Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. ” 

Mark has spent over 15 seasons coaching kids age 10-12 in ski-racing as well as several seasons coaching Dave Murray Ski Camps (adult ski improvement) in Whistler. In addition to being a top level coach, Mark is a an accomplished racer, having competed in all levels of racing from Nancy Greene, to BC and Canada Teams, World Cup DH, as well as NCAA. He won the 2006 Whistler Technical Ski Championships as well as the infamous Sudan Couloir Extreme Race. Now going into his 5th season with us, he brings a philosophy focused on skill improvement as well as ski enjoyment and a contagious deep passion for the sport of ski-racing and skiing.

Ken is a professional coach with over 20 years experience in the ski industry both as a coach and instructor. He is an Alpine Canada Development Level certified, Performance Level trained coach, and Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance Level 4 Instructor.

Ken started skiing at the age of 5 and raced in the Nancy Greene Ski League in southern Ontario.  He joined the Canadian Forces in 1983 and served 11 years in the infantry with The Royal Canadian Regiment, and reassigned to the Air Force for 9 years as a Meteorologist. After 12 part-time seasons in both Ontario and on Vancouver Island, he retired in 2003 and started a second full-time career as a Professional Alpine Coach and Instructor in Whistler. During those years he has coached athletes in all age groups including FIS, and Masters. Some of his former athletes have gone on to represent Canada at the Olympics and on the World Cup.

 In 2018 Ken came to Cypress to coach on the U14 team, and has been with them since then.

 He is excited for this opportunity to bring his knowledge and experience to this next chapter at the Cypress Ski Club, and is looking forward to developing athletes at the entry level.

 “I have always had great passion for helping athletes succeed, and it’s that passion that brings me to the hill everyday. It’s a very satisfying feeling to see an athlete achieve their goals, and it’s even more satisfying to know you helped, in some way, to make that happen.”