Mark Cowley

In 1991, Mark moved to Whistler with the dream of racing men’s downhill skiing, but those plans came to a quick holt when he moved into a house full of Australia’s top shredders.

Good bye skis, heelllooooooo snowboard!

The legendary Matt Gilder took Mark under his wing, and his shredding was perfected everyday on Blackcomb.  After riding Halfpipe and finishing 2nd in the Australian championships in 1995, Mark’s desire to go fast was overwhelming and so his love affair with snowboardcross SBX began.

Thanks to hard work and determination Mark soon became Australian champ, and in 1996 was Australia’s first SBX world cup athlete competing on the Swatch world tour, quickly rising to number 7 in the world.

He lived at Hotham for 10 years (started Mt Hotham’s core snowboard shop The Freeze).These days Mark shreds Thredbo during Australia’s winters, working with his daughter Tamara and other developing SBX athletes, and in the northern winter, Mark coaches with Reign snowboarding, helping athletes competing on the north American cup,[Nor Am cup ].

Lu Prem

Head coach of the Australian Paralympic Team

Lu Prem lives and breathes mountains. He has spent endless winter for the last decade working through the southern and northern hemisphere winters.As a former member of the Austrian national team, he knows how to put a board on edge in any condition but his main domain is the backcountry.

He’s a mountain guide, guiding in Kicking Horse with his wife Steph at Premium Snow Tours and in Austria at diebergstation.at.

His coaching credentials are not too bad either with top 10 results at the last two Olympic Games and a bronze medal at X-Games.Since 2014 he’s the head coach of the Australian Paralympic Team and is enjoying this challenge, pushing the limits of his athletes every day to be successful at the next Paralympic Games in Peyongchang 2018.

Steph Prem

5 time Australian Champion & Pilates ‘It’ Girl.

Former winter Olympian Steph Prem is fast becoming one of Australia’s leading experts and advocates for women’s health and fitness. Known as the Pilates ‘It Girl’, celebrity trainer and for her witty and raw motivational speeches – In an era where #fitspo reins, Steph is a refreshing, genuine and educated voice.

Steph is currently the resident ‘Fitness expert’ for Priceline Pharmacy, Expert ‘Pilates panellist and contributor’ for Women’s Fitness magazine, ‘Wellness ambassador’ and face of the Peninsula Hot springs, Women’s health week ambassador for Jean Hails and regular contributor to numerous online health platforms.

Steph’s credibility secured her role as an 'expert commentator and panellist' for Channel 10’s coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Her depth of knowledge, athletic history, passion and love of snowsports made her a unique addition to Channel 10’s and One HD’s commentary team.

A five-time Australian Champion, Steph was the only female to represent Australia in snowboardcross at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Following the games Steph suffered a horrific career ending accident that took her away from professional sports and saw her jump wholeheartedly into an enduring health and wellness journey.

Steph is the founder of popular health and lifestyle digital publication premium-performance.com And Melbourne’s most luxurious health and fitness destination ‘Studio PP’. (studiopp.com.au)

She runs the snow tour business Premium Snow Tours with her husband Lu in Kicking Horse Canada.

Travis Harrison

Travis was put on snow by his parents at the age of 2 and has not missed a winter since. By the age of 18

Trav became a sponsored rider, competing in all major Australian events.

Results Between 2000-2004

• 1st Mountain Dew Boardercross
• 2nd Australia Nationals Boardercross
• 2nd Falls Creek Boadercross
• 3rd Falls Creek Big Air
• 1st University Games Boardercross
• 4th Australian Xgames slopestyle
• 2nd Mt Hotham Boardercross Voted
• 3rd best Freerider in Australia by a pier poll in 2003

Although Trav loved competing, his major passion was coaching snowboarding. He coached many elite junior riders through the Team Buller program in Australia (1999-2005), taking groups of young riders to Canada in the Australian summer.

Five of his top athletes including Steph Hickey and Ben Mates, ended up representing Australia at the Olympics, others he coached become some of Australia’s elite freestyle riders including Max Cookes, Robbie Walker and Mikey Williams.

After being classified as a veteran of Australian snowboarding at the tender age of 24, Trav turned to his second passion: golf (handicap between scratch and 2), and now (PGA Qualified coach) owns and runs Brighton Golf Academy at Brighton Golf Course where he is General Manager.

Trav rides in Australia each winter but also shreds OS each year. Over the past 5 years Trav has visited Alaska twice, USA, Canada and Japan.

Kane Hoosen

“The mountains are a blank canvas and how you ride them depicts who you are.”
~ Kane Hoosen

Snowboarding for Kane is not just a sport, it’s a way of life. He immerses himself in the mountain culture because for him, it feels amazing to be a part of something bigger than himself.

He rides freestyle and all mountain, park riding doesn't fulfil him as much as it did when he was younger, and he’s now searching for the next level of snowboarding.

Reaching out to the steeper and unridden lines in the backcounrty, the ultimate test of every rider’s skill.

As long as he can stand on top of a mountain peak and look out over the world, he will ride.

Richard Wallace

Richard has skied and boarded all over the world; Vail Colorado (including Aspen during the Winter X games); The Swiss Alps; Japan’s powdery backcountry and of courses Australia.

Richard worked in the Colorado Sports Medicine Centre where he discovered a passion for sports physiotherapy.

Since then he has worked in both private practices and elite sporting environments, including the Western Bulldogs AFL team. He has been the physiotherapist at World Surf League events including the Bells Beach Rip Curl Pro and the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast, and has worked with Billabong in Hawaii.

When he’s not on the slopes Richard will be surfing with friends, or getting outdoors enjoying running, hiking, travelling and squeezing in 2 Kieser gym sessions per week.

Richard is currently the Centre Manager and Principal Physiotherapist at Kieser Geelong.

Ally Lamb

As a former PR whiz kid, Aly up and left Sydney’s competitive corporate world to pursue her love of the snow and can happily say she has never looked back.

Aly is on the constant hunt for finding the best snow and terrain around the world. With a string of famous North American, NZ and Australian mountains under her belt, Aly has snowboarded the likes of Jackson Hole (Wyoming), Revelstoke (British Columbia) and the Remarkables (NZ) just to name a few.

She currently calls Mount Hotham home for the Aussie winter, and loves to ride in resort but enjoys nothing more than escaping the crowds and split-boarding her way into the backcountry for some fresh air and fun lines.

Tim Dettmann

Every team needs a rookie, and amongst this group of snowboarding high flyers, Tim is quite happy to take this title with honour.

Tim says his skills on a snowboard are far outweighed by his enthusiasm, but we know he’s just being modest.

Whilst he’s a ‘late starter’ to snowboarding (started at age 28), he’s spent enough time on boards of other varieties (surfing, kite-surfing, paddling) to appreciate the benefits of quality and customization.

As a Physiotherapist, Tim sees the damage done by improperly sized sporting equipment every day, and as a business owner, delivering quality and customizing the experience for each client is what he does to remain a leader in his industry.

Tim believes the best way to make the most of any sporting endeavour is through quality equipment built specifically for his body!

Nina Arnold

Formerly the Digital Brand Strategist for Whistler Blackcomb, Nina has found balance in the mountains of resort towns since 2007.

Her love runs deep for a sleeper powder day but she has no qualms setting out into the quiet corners of the backcountry.

Parallel to her career, she has worked as a ski coach in California, Colorado and Whistler, British Columbia.Nina has a self professed affinity for data and customization (it's a type-A thing).

She translates it through her summer sports of mountain biking, trail running and swimming but begrudgingly never before in winter.

Although not a snowboarder herself, Nina is charged up about disrupting snow sports norms and can't wait to see Savage Panda pave the way for a new industry standard.

"I'm fired up about the rise of bespoke and customization in the snow sports world. Progression and passion for the snow should really be the only unchanging technology behind gear development."