THE TEAM
New Zealand Snowboarder is created by a small group of dedicated snowboarders who have been a part of the evolution of snowboarding in New Zealand and around the world. New Zealand's original snowboarding magazine, issue #1 went onsale in May 1993. From that first issue of 48 pages, New Zealand Snowboarder has grown dramatically over the past 15 years, whereby our May 2008 issue is now 176 pages!

PHIL ERICKSON
Director
Phil started snowboarding in 1989 on a Sims Blade and spends lots of time surfing, when not riding in the mountains, or hanging out with his young daughter. Born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, Phil had got into photography from a young age and in 1985 he spent 10 months in Southern California, chasing surf. Phil returned to New Zealand via the North Shore of Oahu, where the power and beauty of Hawaii was to have a big impression. It was the year of the Californian's at Pipe, Joey Buran was charging, having won the masters the year before. On return to New Zealand, Phil pursued surf photography, and became recognised for his water shots. The idea for the magazine came to Phil in 1992, and after approaching Ste'en Webster to act as editor, New Zealand Snowboarder was born.

STE'EN WEBSTER
Editor
Ste'en grew up in Auckland, and was heavily motivated through his teens by skateboarding, predominantly ramp and vert during the early 1980’s. Surfing and skiing were next on the list, followed by snowboarding, which first grabbed his attention in 1986. Ste’en committed to his first full season on a board in 1988, moving to Queenstown to establish himself firmly as a first generation rider. He traveled that same year to Breckenridge, Colorado, and so began the back-to-back cycle of winters for the better part of the next decade. Ste’en was the NZ National Champ in 1990 and 1991, and competed through the early ‘90’s in the States, including some of the earliest World Cup events at Breck. It wasn’t long before Ste’en was on the ‘other side’ of the fence, helping run and judge halfpipe events as they moved to the next level. From this followed opportunities to judge at FIS World Cup events around the world. Ste’en was Assistant Head Judge for the halfpipe at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and has been assigned the same role for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada. In recent years surfing has come back into the picture, resulting in Ste’en building his house and residing in Raglan for most of the year. When he’s not chasing waves, you might spot Ste’en helping out with one of the events around Wanaka, or at FIS World Cups... ducking ropes during the training sessions to grab a few tree lines! Competing has since taken a back seat, but he still loves to enter snowboarding contests of every nature, especially boardercross. Recently Ste'en has become more involved in the "backstage" area of some snowboard competitions - like helping with organisation and judging at the last two National events at Cardrona. Ste'en also judges many FIS halfpipe events all around the world. "The creation of New Zealand Snowboarder magazine with Phil Erickson and Kevin Schluter in 1992 was a major turning point for me. Since then NZS has grown, and today provides me with a excuse to call my lifestyle a career." Currently Ste'en is spending the winter based at Cardrona Resort in Wanaka.

DYLAN BUTT
Associate Editor
 Dylan Butt is recognised as one New Zealand's best riders of all time and has been National Halfpipe Champion 4 times. Dylan has also had some top finishes in international events including 3rd place in the quarter pipe at the US Open. Dylan has been contributing editorial to the magazine since 1998 and in 2001 was guest editor for the September issue. Dylan's writing skills and have proved invaluable to NZ Snowboarder and sine 2002 he has been associate editor. Now based in Wanaka full time, Dylan is currently building his first home near Mt Iron, and will be riding hard again this season, now that a frustrating shoulder injury that has dogged him for the past 3 years has come right.

JOEL WESTCOT
Senior Contributing Writer
This guy wrote the book on freeriding and backcountry booters, and is riding stronger than ever! Joel has recently returned to New Zealand from a 2-year stint in Japan, where he taught English, and pursued his passion for deep powder. One of the first generation of ‘grommet’s to come through in the mid 90’s, Joel’s knowledge of the New Zealand scene runs deep, and can be seen in his informative writing style.

GREG ROEBUCK
Senior Photographer
Greg has been shooting snowboarding for over 10 years now, and has established himself as one of New Zealand’s best. Now residing in Seattle with his wife, Greg splits his time between his nursing career, and snow photography during days off. No slouch himself on a board, he can go where most pros venture, and is not afraid to drop the odd cliff with 10kgs of camera gear on his back! A past New Zealand bodyboard champ, he’s also just as home in the water as he is on snow.

CLAIRE HAMMON
Graphic Designer
Incurable DESIGNAHOLIC with indepth knowledge of the industry.