Staff
We love Ski Racing and we share our passion and knowledge
We are an independent alpine ski racing organization that supports the ambition of athletes who want to take it to the next level
We are very proud of the achievements of all our athletes, and delighted that we played a part in their journey towards success and personal growth
The Team
We are a highly motivated, detailed and passionate coaching team made up of full time coaching professionals with years of experience at all stages of the athletic pathway and deep industry knowledge… we love what we do!
Justin Hewitt
Justin’s role as Team Director/CEO is to expand the operational capacity and abilities of the ski team and define future directions for the growth of the team. The Team Director is responsible for the logistics, financials, staffing and management of the team and logistical management of elite athletes.
Justin comes to International Racer with many years of involvement in skiing and racing. Justin’s role involves traditional chief executive duties and logistical planning of the camps in our IR’s main theatres. (Austria, Canada, Sweden and New Zealand)
Justin is passionate about progressing junior talent to the elite level. By his own assessment, Justin is just as excited by an athlete making a single FIS point improvement as another who jumps 50 points in a calendar list. “Each racer is a unique challenge and requires individual support to achieve their personal goals. That is the real fun of ski racing”.
When not managing the international logistics issues that IR presents, Justin enjoys following the WC/Europa Cup races.
360 Athlete Development
Luc Pelletier
Luc co-founded International Racer after 14 years of coaching experience in Canada, Europe, and Australia.
Luc spent four winters in Europe working with athletes from club to national team level. Luc also spent nine summers working in the southern hemisphere as a Program Director.
Luc is widely recognized for his leadership skills and ability to inspire and motivate athletes.
Luc is also currently working with several elite (sub 30 pt) European athletes in a consultant role.
Duties
* May 2004 to Present – IR Operational Director
* Design, coordination and implementation of FIS training programs in Europe, Australia, Chile ,Canada, Austria, Sweden and New Zealand
* Lead technical Coach (Tech and Speed)
* Private Athlete consulting
Qualifications
* Canadian Ski Coaches Federation Level 3
* Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance Level 4
* British Columbia Alpine Official Program Level 3
* British Columbia Drivers License Class 4
Jeff Books
Jeff Books became a Director of IR team after nine years of coaching experience in Canada, Europe, and Australia.
Jeff is the Athletic Director for all IR’s programs; This involves defining the on snow/ dry land schedules and outcomes, managing the coaching staff and liaising with parents with detailed progress reports on progress and development.
History
* October 2008 – present – IR Athletic Director
* September/October 2008 – Program Coach – Tignes France
* March 2005 to 2014 – Athletics Director – Mount Hotham Race Squad
* September 2004 to May 2007 – Director of Athletics – Paskapoo Alpine Racing Team
* June 2003 to September 2004 – Kinder Coach – Mount Hotham Race Squad
* October 2003 to May 2004 – Director of Skiing – Searchmont Operations Co
Qualifications
* Canadian Ski Coaches Federation Level 3
* Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance Level 3
* British Columbia Alpine Official Program Level 3
* British Columbia Driver’s License Class 4
* Canadian Ski Instructor’s Alliance – Park and Pipe Certification
* Canadian Ski Instructor’s Alliance – Course Conductor
* Kinesiology & Sports Science
Martin Kitzineger
Martin comes to IR, with years of heliski guiding experience, ski instructing and alpine race coaching.
Martin is one of the best technical free skiers you will ever see and holds a full Austrian certification.
Qualifications
* Canadian Ski Coaches Federation Level 2
* staatl. gepr. Diplom Skilehrer/ Austrian full cert.
* staatl. gepr. Skifuehrer/ Austrian ski guide
* British Columbia Drivers License Class 4
* Occupational First Aid Level 3
Michael Cater
Michael has been with us for 5 years, and comes to IR with a tremendous amount of experience coaching all children levels. Qualifications * Canadian Ski Coaches Federation entry Level * Staatl. gepr. Diplom Skilehrer * Staatl. gepr. Skifuehrer * Full certified IFMGA mountain guide
Oliver Lyon
Oli is from the UK and lives on the south coast of Australia. He has been coaching for over 35 seasons, all over the world. He has led domestic ski programs in Australia and New Zealand. He also has extensive experience and proven success at all levels across Alpine and Ski Cross, with 2 years on the World Cup circuit , World Champs and Olympics with the Men’s New Zealand ski team. He also has extensive experience at Europe cup, Noram and Far East cup, along with FIS races around the world. Oli’s coaching philosophy is to keep everything extremely simple and every comes back to how we can make you faster.
Steph Marcil
Steph is our Crossfit certified strength and conditioning coach; As an ex-Canadian ski team member, she has raced extensively throughout Europe and North America. Steph has a passion for supporting young athletes to reach their goals, by developing physical training programs and nutrition strategies to improve athletes’ performance on snow and prevent injury. As an elite athlete, Steph is an excellent mentor for young U16 and FIS aged athletes; her warm and friendly nature and her understanding of the pressures of racing are valuable in building confidence in younger racers.
Qualifications
*Ex-Canadian ski team and current FIS Racer
*Crossfit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1)
*BSc Food, Nutrition and Health, UBC
Daniel Sanz
Dani is a data-driven coach, always at the forefront of the latest technologies and seeking maximum performance through data. Dani has been working in countries such as Japan, Spain, New Zealand or Italy. As a coach, he likes to adapt to the different ways of learning of each athlete in order to give better feedback.
- Spanish Ski qualification Level 3 (TD3)
- Sports science Bachelor’s degree
- MBA in sports management
- x1 Winter Olympic Games
Contact our Coaching Team