ABOUT MCNAB SNOWBOARDING
THE COMPANY
‘McNab Snowboarding’ is now into its 30th year of operation!
The Backcountry Freeride Snowboard Guiding specialists.
McNab Snowboarding is an independent company made up of family and friends, specialising in High Mountain Backcountry Freeride Snowboard and Splitboard ‘Coaching and Guiding’ for the Snowboard addicted individual traveler.
Established in 1995 by Neil McNab, one of the Worlds leading Backcountry Snowboard Guides (UIAGM/IFMGA qualified), ‘McNab Snowboarding’ was one of the first companies to run ‘Specialist Backcountry Snowboard Courses’.
“The McNab Snowboarding Backcountry & Splitboarding courses have developed through 30 years of me following my passion for Climbing, Riding, Instructing, Coaching and Guiding.
When I started McNab Snowboarding, way back in 1995, there was no manual to follow, there were no other programs to copy and so I followed my instincts, my passion, built on my experiences and simply learned along the way. My Freeride, Slackcountry and Backcountry Programs haven’t come about overnight. they have come about through my passion for riding, my love for the High Mountains and my 30 years of experience living, climbing and riding with in them.
My passion for riding still increases year by year, even day by day and I am constantly learning, developing and updating my program to bring you the very best that I can offer.
It has been a long, fantastic, voyage of discovery, yet after nearly years it still feels like I am standing at the start of the journey.
Come and join the journey…”
Neil McNab.
Today ‘McNab Snowboarding’ runs a dedicated program of Freeride technical clinics, Backcountry Freeride and Backcountry Splitboard courses both in Chamonix and around the World.
McNab Snowboarding
‘The ‘Fine Art’ of riding mountains since 1995′
RUTH MCNAB
An avid Snowboarder herself, Ruth is the backbone of the operation, and your first port of call for bookings and further information.
Ruth has been involved in the business since its conception way back in 1995. She understands every aspect of every course and has probably ridden on most of them.
Ruth has an uncanny ability to be able to place you on the correct course for your experience, skill level and interests, so don’t hesitate to direct your queries and questions to her.
When not working as the operational backbone of McNab Snowboarding, Ruth can be found pursuing her passion for Art @ruthmcnabartist and bouldering at the local wall.
NEIL MCNAB
“Neil McNab is the Worlds leading Backcountry snowboard & Splitboard guide” Jeremy Jones 2014
With over 30 years of experience working in the High Mountains, Neil McNab is one of the only Professional snowboarders to hold both the (ISIA/ISTD) Ski and Snowboard Teachers and (UIAGM) High Mountain Guides diplomas that qualify him to teach and guide in the high mountains anywhere in the World.
Neil McNab has been professionally involved in the Snowsports industry for over 30 years, firstly achieving his (ISIA) International Ski & Snowboard teachers qualification in 1987, (passing the Euro Speed test in Alpes D Huez in early 88), before going on to win 11 individual British Snowboard Championship titles (plus 4 Overall British Championship titles), as well as a host of finalist placings as a World Cup competitor.
After retiring from international competition to pursue a career as Professional Freeride Snowboarder in 1996 (a career which he continues to pursue today), Neil was elected as UK Snowboard Ambassador, Team captain and Olympic team Coach for Snowboardings first Olympic appearance at the Nagano Winter Olympics in 98.
In the mid to late 90’s Neil was also instrumental in the development of the BASI (British Association of Snowsports Instructors) Snowboard instructors teaching qualification and developed his, now renown, ‘McNab Pressure Control teaching System’. (In 2006 Neil released an instructional book and DVD, ‘Go Snowboard’ published by DK books publishing his revolutionary Snowboard technical progression, that has become the benchmark for all other teaching systems to follow).
In 1995, whilst following his passion for riding the Backcountry of the high mountains and traveling the world as a Professional Freeride Snowboarder, Neil set the foundations for what today has become ‘McNab Snowboarding’ and began running his first specialist Snowboard courses.
In 1997 Neil settled in his spiritual home of Chamonix to pursue his passions for Freeriding, Climbing and Mountaineering. A dedicated and high performance climber, since a very young age (with climbs of F8b on his palmares), Neil quickly earned himself a much coveted place on the ‘French’ High Mountain Guides’ training scheme, becoming one of only a few foreign Nationals to achieve the UIAGM International ‘High Mountain Guide’ qualification through the highly esteemed French system and becoming one of the only ‘Professional Snowboarders’ World Wide to hold this qualification.
As a UIAGM High Mountain Guide specializing in Snowboarding, Neil has since been at the forefront of the development of Backcountry Snowboard guiding and more recently has been at the cutting edge of developing Splitboarding as an efficient and valuable means of accessing the Backcountry of the High Mountains, rapidly becoming, in the words of Freeride Snowboarding legend ‘Jeremy Jones’, ‘The Worlds Leading Splitboard Guide’.
Through ‘McNab Snowboarding’, Neil devotes his time to sharing his knowledge, passion and experience as a Professional Snowboarder, Skier and Climber with those that share his enthusiasm for the high peaks and endless descents, and as one of the Worlds leading Backcountry Snowboard Guides has ridden and guided all over the World, leading trips to Greenland, Krgyzstan, Norway, Russia, Chile, Argentina, Kashmir (India), NZ, Australia, USA and Japan.
Also a devoted Surfer, in 2017 Neil moved from Chamonix, with his family, to the Surf town of Anglet on the West Coast of France to pursue this passion on a more regular (daily) basis. Not only did this move enable Neil to bring this Surf inspired passion with him to the mountains, but it also brought the incredible wild landscapes of the local Pyrenees to the course calendar.
In 2004 Neil McNab was involved in the daring rescue of a stranded Korean climber left for dead high on Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska. For his part in this event Neil and climbing partner Andy Perkins, received the PMI ‘Denali Mountaineer of the Year’ award.
In 2008 they were further decorated for bravery with the US Citizens ‘Medal of Valor’.
Neil McNab is a Snowboarding Ambassador for mcnabsnowboards, Spark R&D, TheSnowboardasylum and Patagonia.
PHILL HAZELL
Meet the mcnabsnowboards master craftsman
Phill Hazell is one of those guys that can build, fix, design, create and do pretty much anything! He’s also very handy on a Snowboard and has over the past decade become my right hand man on many trips and adventures and my partner in crime with our Snowboard design project, ‘mcnabsnowboards’ and so here’s Phills story…
(Neil McNab)
I started snowboarding in the early nineties, a time when most people I knew were skiing, but riding sideways seemed the right way for me. I remember often arriving at the top of the drag lifts to cheers and applause from on looking skiers who saw snowboarding as a craze and something that would never catch on.
I moved to Geneva in 2000 working for CERN, here I met a great group of riders through the CERN ski club and we’d spend every weekend throughout the season up amongst the surrounding summits, searching out and riding the natural untamed terrain of the mountain, always looking beyond the pistes for the untracked and untouched terrain out there, constantly looking to the distant peaks and untracked faces and searching out ways to get there.
When the season finished and the lifts were closed we’d just carry on, hiking with snow shoes, always searching out one more line, one more turn. Back then it seemed to snow a lot in the spring and we were often treated to a great end of season conditions making us able to keep riding right through into May.
Having endured many seasons with snow shoes, the arrival of the first ‘workable’ Splitboards came on the scene and it was time for me to up the ante. I booked a place on a McNab BC splitboard intro course and never looked back.
I normally ride around a board 155 in length, being of Hobbit stature, so the 164 Splitboard that Neil loaned me felt massive, especially taxing with his love of a demanding Commando exit at the end of the day, but the gains were instantly apparent with us achieving bigger climbs and longer rides than we ever could with the snow shoes and I became immediately hooked.
Over the next few years Splitboarding became more established and with Neil on the “Jones’ team, we were all riding the Jones Splitboards. I spent many days hiking and chatting with Neil about board design and we were constantly looking at how to make the splitboards better so that they’d perform like a normal solid board, whilst at the same time discussing general board design and its relation to technique. On one of Neil’s early Pyrenees trips we got talking about Snowboard design and knowing of my design background and passion for making things, Neil asked if it was possible for us to make some prototypes.
I began to investigate sourcing the materials and what we’d need to press some boards. Initially I made a vacuum table to suck the laminate down to the forms we’d designed, this provided some great results and that season Neil rode our first prototypes and from that point forwards we just kept on going.
I scaled up production to create some different sizes and flex patterns for Neil to try and the next season we had a demo fleet ready for Baquiera. For the next 2 weeks, Neil tested the new boards, comparing and assessing each board in every turn on every run, pushing the boards to their limits and finding the flex pattern and shape that he most liked. 2 weeks of back to back runs on all the different boards, tracing line after line showed us what was achievable and the McNab Snowboards Lann (blade) was born. Towards the end of the winter I built our very first McNab design Splitboard in a 155 and took it out to Lofoten and it rode like a dream.
It became very apparent that we had quickly achieved something pretty unique and special with regards Snowboard design, you could see it re-igniting Neil’s fire for riding and we designed and re designed at the end of every day. At the end of that season I took all our new findings back to the workshop, designed and built a pneumatic Snowboard press and all the machines that we would need and we now have a full range of sizes and flexes to suit every rider in both solid and Splitboard versions and the word is spreading, these boards carve and surf the mountain like no other.