About the Company

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Cross-country skiing on teh Gala course in 2006

Nordic Challenge provides high quality coaching in the challenging and increasingly popular sport of (Nordic) cross-country skiing. Uniquely, we also use this sport as a medium for delivering our own refreshingly original brand of team building and leadership training for companies and other organisations .

We are located in North Yorkshire but run all our courses in Norway from January to April. Our skills holidays and telemark courses are based in Gålå, which is located about 80 kms north of Lillehammer, high in the mountains of the Gudbrandsdal east of the Jotunheim National Park, whilst our mountain ski touring courses are based at Venabu, which is located about 30 kms east of Gålå at the southern end of the Rondane National Park. Our schools' courses are delivered at Sjusjøen in the scenic mountains immediately above Lillehammer, which was the venue for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games.

Our Management Team

The Co-Directors of Nordic Challenge are Nick Gaskell and Tony Turnbull. They personally deliver the training on all our courses, assisted by consultants and instructors.

Nick Gaskell

Nick Gaskell

Nick served in the Army for 34 years as an Infantry officer, in national and international appointments in Europe, the Far East and Middle East. His main expertise was in operations, training and development. He taught leadership to potential officers, and to leaders in all three services to a senior level. He has been involved in sport management and coaching both in and outside the Services. He has been a Director of the British Association of Snowsport Instructors, BASI, the national governing body, and is a BASI National Nordic Ski Teacher. He has led expeditions in Norway and Canada and has coached cross-country skiing, including biathlon for 16 years. He is a Member of the Chartered Management Institute (MCMI) and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).

Tony Turnbull

Tony Turnbull
Tony served for 31 years as an officer in The Royal Marines in national and international appointments, which included many winter deployments to Norway, Antarctica and the South Atlantic. He taught leadership to officers and leaders in the Royal Navy and served as the Royal Marine's representative at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. On leaving the Service he graduated from Oxford University with a BA (Hons). He spends the summer teaching English to foreign students. He is a BASI Nordic Ski Teacher and has delivered ski and leadership training in Norway for 18 consecutive years. He is a Member of the Chartered Management Institute (MCMI).

For further information on BASI
www.basi.org.uk (opens in new browser window)