the tdc val d'isere team

Lena Haurits - Val d'Isere

Lena is the newest member fo the tdc caoching team.

We are delighted to welcome Lena as the newest tdc coach in Val d'Isere.
This makes Lena the first female coach to join the tdc team (at last!).  Lena's a seriously talented skier, coach, teacher and all-round sportsperson.
Lena has trained with tdc before she was successful in all her final BASI exams, so we know she'll be a great addition to the tdc coaching team in Val d'Isere.

Kieran Buchanan - Val d'Isere

Kieran first put skis on as a kid on a snow covered golf course in Scotland! After crashing through a few trees, he quickly realised he had the bug and spent his younger years racing on the dry slopes and resorts in the UK.

Going on to spend several seasons teaching and guiding in the Alps, he then decided to concentrate on passing his BASI exams, Kieran holds the BASI - ISTD with equivalence.

For the last 4 seasons, Kieran has been based in Morzine, before this, he spent 5 seasons coaching in Italy, Austria, and of course Scotland. Of all the resorts that he has been to, you will not see him happier than bashing through slushy bumps on the White Lady on a sunny Easter day on Cairngorm.In the summer, Kieran is a freelance Event Manager and looks after marketing campaigns for major promotional brands in the UK. When he is not getting overworked doing this, he can be found cursing himself attempting to lower his handicap on the golf course!

Kieran thrives on the challenge of adapting to individual skiers needs, and developing their skiing skills in the process, he is very much looking forward to the coming seasons with the tdc team and everything Val d’Isere has to offer.

Ben Langridge - Val d'Isere

Ben first put on a pair of skis at five years old and immediately caught the bug, but six consecutive days were never enough. His first season aged nineteen confirmed that nor were five consecutive months. Since then Ben has done everything possible to stay on his skis and to be in France, even managing to take a degree module in Alpine Skiing at Grenoble University.

Ben started his ski coaching career in the French teaching system completing both the Slalom and Giant Slalom speed tests while working with the ESF in Alpe d’Huez, where he developed a healthy penchant for saucisson and demi-peche. A change of direction took him to Val d’Isere where he completed his qualifications gaining the BASI - ISTD with equivalence. Ben has been teaching Alpine and Telemark skiing since 2003.

His last summer job has been deemed the principle cause of his hair loss, being responsible for the evening and weekend activities of over 300 international teenagers who didn’t speak English. He now has a less hectic summer occupation, teaching English as a foreign language.

Ben is a French and Business graduate from Oxford Brookes University.

Nicko Braxton - Val d'Isere

Nicko started his career in Val d’Isere washing dishes in 1989/90 – That’s 20 years ago! He has since then gone on to become one of Val d'Isere’s well know skiers.

Nicko studied Economics and Politics at Newcastle University, after which he needed 3 seasons in the mountains to recover from the mental strain. At 26 got the fear that his life in the mountains would come to nothing and returned to the UK, training and qualifying as an accountant with Ernst & Young.

He subsequently had Finance Jobs in London until 2003 when he realised that he was missing the mountains, and that he was spending all his money on weekends in the Alps. On Nicko’s return to Val d’Isere he started working as a ski instructor for a French ski school and came to work as a top-level ski coach with tdc 3 years ago.

In the summer he lives in Cornwall with his wife Rachel, ex-tdc secretary, and son Felix. Nicko tries to stay out of trouble by putting long hours in on his road bike and being continually frustrated in trying to improve his surfing. Almost as fanatical about cycling as Dougie, he is also often seen climbing a col around Val d’Isere during the summer.

Scott Messer - Val d'Isere

Scott was born in Glasgow and learnt to ski in Scotland where he had no choice but to appreciate good weather! He has worked for 11 seasons teaching skiing, starting in Glenshee but was quickly lured to Italy by the sunnier conditions. During his 5 years there he quickly learnt to appreciate all things Italian including skiing, pizza and coffee. After a few season there Scott decided to explore the southern hemisphere working in New Zealand for a couple of "summers". Verbier then called with plentiful off-piste, bumps and Jeagermeister where he has worked for the last three years and decided to stay for this summer to work in an international kids camp.

Scott enjoys spending as much time in the mountains as possible and when not there you will find him dreaming about the white stuff or glued to his x box.

He is very much looking forward to joining the tdc and sampling the atmosphere that Val has to offer.

Phil Harrison - Val d'Isere

Phil (AKA:Rodders) started his professional skiing career in Val d’Isère, where he juggled working as a YSE dishwasher whilst training to pass the Test de Capacité and his BASI exams. He remains the fastest person to complete the BASI system, taking only 21 months. Phil now holds the top level BASI qualification with French equivalence, the top level New Zealand qualification, is an APC Level 2 Race coach, and was a coach with the Great Britain Children's Team in 2003/04.

Phil has now worked eight winter seasons in Val d’Isère (and two in Courchevel) and quite simply loves skiing here. He's great at improving people's skiing, whether adults or kids, and his passion is definitely off piste, taking people safely off the beaten track to places they wouldn't normally go. The big slopes and trees of Le Fornet or the Tignes couloirs are personal favourites.

Phil has a Geography degree from Birmingham University, which has helped him indulge his passion for travel, usually involving trekking, cycling or surfing.

Anything embarrassing you should know about Phil? Well, there is a picture circulating Val d'Isere of him on a monoski (many years ago he claims), and he is a big fan of country music!

His best ever experience? A 45 minute aerobatic flight in a Red Bull biplane over Queenstown, New Zealand.

Giles Lewis - Val d'Isere

Giles (AKA:Pies) thanks to his family’s annual skiing holiday Gi has been skiing Val d’Isère for over 20 years. Having finished school he spent time at Oxford University where he studied Geography and gained a blue in Rugby Union. In 1998 he made his return to the alps to start skiing seriously. Giles has been qualified to the top level for 7 years and has a wealth of coaching experience with recreational skiers and instructors. He holds the BASI ISTD qualification with French equivalence, and is a level 3 race coach (CSIA trained status and APC2). He was a member of the British Interski Team in 2003 and is also a trainer and examiner for the British Association of Snowsports Instructors.

The Espace Killy area has been Gi’s favourite area since he first skied here over twenty years ago. He considers it too good to leave and is permanently based here with his lovely wife Alex and a little boy called Oscar. When skiing himself he still enjoys all the types of skiing that the Espace Killy has to offer, from hard-packed, high speed run down the OK, to the untouched back bowls of powder or spring snow. Slushy bumps down the “S” remain the basis of his fitness regime. He retains his nickname through his ability to destroy equipment, poles and skis mostly.

Giles spends summer and running outdoor pursuits and activities for children in the New Forest www.newforestactivities.org. He has just set up a company that organises events in the Alps from corporate conferences to supported road bike trips and Stag weekends. Contact Giles for more information.

Colin Tanner - Val d'Isere

Colin came to the alps to enjoy his own skiing. After two seasons (Austria and Val d’Isère) he decided to make it a career. He is now fully qualified through the British (BASI) and the New Zealand systems (NZSIA), and before starting the development centre, taught for Evolution 2 in Val d’isère for four years.

Colin is a BASI trainer and an examiner for the NZSIA.

Colin has an insatiable appetite for ski coaching and spends his summers in New Zealand, where he has worked for the Coronet Peak Ski school for the past 12 years. Colin also runs a successful gap-year business based in Queenstown called The Ski and Snowboard Instructor Training Co. www.sitco.co.nz

Colin’s lifestyle means that he is a cosmopolitan chap and home is wherever he lays his hat.

But out of all the places Colin visits, he is never happier than on a stool, drinking a beer in the Pacific Bar, Val d’Isère.

Colin is a Law Graduate from Edinburgh university where he represented Scottish students for Volleyball and gained a half-blue.

Paul Garner - Val d'Isere

Paul (AKA:Boycey) started his ski coaching career in Westendorf, Austria, before being lured to Val d’Isère by friends. He has since worked in Val d’Isère and Courchevel, coaching skiing with boundless enthusiasm and technical know-how.

Paul is qualified to the highest level an ISTD and BASI Trainer with full French equivalence. He has been selected to represent Great Britain at the next Interski congress in St Anton 2011.

In the summer, Paul splits his time between France and the UK. He co-owns and runs a successful summer activities centre for school children in the New Forest with his wife and among others Giles and his wife. He probably enjoys the activities more than the children do and is an expert on the bouncy castle! When not in front of the computer working on tdc projects he can often be found on his bike, both on and off the road.

Paul is a French and Sport Science graduate from Bangor University. He speaks fluent French and has played representative rugby for Worcestershire. He spent two years working for a large pharmaceutical company before opting for a career in the mountains. After eight seasons in the Alps he has coached skiing in Austria, Italy and France. Paul has travelled widely in South Africa and is a qualified English Teacher.

Paul is married to his beautiful wife, Kate. Together they have a son called George who was born on 1st March 2007 and a daughter called Romy born on 14th August 2009.

Josh Ayres - Val d'Isere

Josh worked as a ski coach in Courchevel for three seasons before, coming to Val d'Isere in 2003. Before that he was based for several winters in Austria.
Josh also spent the 2003 "summer" teaching skiing in New Zealand.

Josh has been away from the Alps for a few years as he has been selling real estate in the Caribbean. But his love of the mountains and skiing could not keep him away from Val d'Isere, and he has returned in 2009.

Josh is a fully qualified BASI Level 4 instructor, and was once a BASI Trainer, he is a master of mogul skiing, ‘’The Maestro’’ loves his short turns almost as much as his London fashion. With a dress sense as sharp as his humour, he is a favourite in the bars and can be found regaling people with an array of accents and impressions, he is never short of a story to tell.