New board members for SSNZ

7/07/10

WANAKA, New Zealand – 6 July 2010 – Snow Sports New Zealand Board Chair Rick Pettit announced today that the National Sporting Organisation has appointed two new directors to its board.

Auckland investment banker and ski industry veteran Anthony (Tony) Hannon, and Christchurch-based business owner and snowboard industry heavyweight Guy Alty were selected from a list of more than 20 applicants for the two new seats.

Alty is best known in the snow sports industry for his role in developing Higher Ground Distribution, a market leader in board sports and the New Zealand representative for Burton Corp., the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of snowboard hard goods.

Alty is recognised as a key figure in the development of snowboarding in New Zealand, having managed the Burton brand for the past 17 years. He also managed the New Zealand Open Snowboard Championships and introduced Learn-to-Ride programmes at a number of major mountain resorts on the North and South Islands.

“I’m very passionate about winter sports and have a desire to assist in the national development of snow sports in New Zealand,” said Alty. “My experience, knowledge and understanding of the industry, nationally and internationally, are traits that will help me contribute to the strategic development of all snow sports.”

Hannon has significant experience as a director, including as a Founding Director of Treble Cone Ski Area. Hannon was part of an investment group that purchased Treble Cone in 2002, and subsequently oversaw numerous capital improvements on the mountain.

His experience as a director and a venture capitalist across a wide spectrum of New Zealand industries, combined with his commercial awareness and business network, make him ideally suited to a role on the Snow Sports New Zealand Board.

Hannon also assisted in the development of a successful school-based snow sports programme for the Kristin School that operates at Treble Cone, on Mt. Ruapehu and at Snow Planet in Auckland.

“It’s my firm belief that by leveraging existing Snow Sports New Zealand relationships and establishing new partnerships in the commercial sector that we can steadily grow and diversify SSNZ’s network of partners,” said Hannon. ‘With a newly united organisation, the timing is right to take these next steps in the development of SSNZ and its sports.”

Snow Sports New Zealand recently announced that its sports voted to adopt a new constitution that integrates all five former member snow sports – alpine, snowboarding, freeskiing, cross country and adaptive -- into Snow Sports New Zealand.

Late in 2007, Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) invested in the revitalisation of Snow Sports New Zealand, the goal being to establish one National Sporting Organisation (NSO) to represent each of its five member sports.

“The goal of integration and of these two new additions to our Board is to build an organisation that is most capable of accessing and delivering resources across all of the snow sports,” said Snow Sports New Zealand Board Chair Rick Pettit. “There is no doubt in my mind that both Tony and Guy will help us deliver on this promise.  They each bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table. I know I speak for the entire Board when I say that we are looking forward to their involvement and their contributions.”