Meet the Team
Together we are stronger. Driven by a shared commitment to accessible recreation, our team of board members, staff, and over 300 trained volunteers is passionate to share their love for the outdoors with you.
The guiding minds
Our Board
President
Ian Hipkins
Ian Hipkins
Ian is a founding member of the Rocky Mountain Adaptive Board and has been its President since its inception. As a life-long avid outdoor sports enthusiast and the father of a child with Cerebral Palsy, Ian immediately saw the potential and joined Jamie and his vision in establishing a world-class adaptive sports program to benefit children and adults with special abilities, achieve their dreams and goals of participating in sport. He shares Jamie’s mantra of “No Limits”.
Director
Megan Cotterell
Megan Cotterell
Megan moved to Canmore from Perth, Australia with her partner in 2016 to be in a place where she could live, work and play in the mountains, knowing the mental and physical benefits of an outdoor-focused lifestyle – something that drew her to being involved with RMA.
Director
Clive Morgan
Clive Morgan
Clive Morgan is a Board member and active member of the Finance & HR and the ForeAbility Committees. He has been on the board since 2014 but has been an avid supporter and occasional volunteer with Rocky Mountain Adaptive since 2011. Clive has a daughter who lives with Cerebral Palsy, who has been a staunch participant in many of the programs since the start of RMA.
Director
Matthew Corkum
Matthew Corkum
Matthew first got introduced for Rocky Mountain Adaptive in March 2021 after taking part in an RMA “Try It” ski day. He was hooked on skiing ever since. Born with cerebral palsy, Matthew struggled as a child to find inclusive activities he could take part in and spent most of his childhood on the family farm. After just 2 lessons with RMA, he knew he had to be involved to help make sure more everyone is included.
Born in Nova Scotia, Matt moved to Calgary in 2013 to work in energy as a head meteorologist. From the first time he saw the mountains; he fell in love with them and spends as many weekends as possible in the mountains; either biking or his new hobby, skiing. He regularly puts 3000-5000 km on his bikes a year and knows all the best trails.
Holding a PhD in atmospheric science, it is no surprise Matt loves snow and tracks all the ski hills to see which has the most POW!!! When he’s not playing weekend warrior in the mountains or forecasting weather; he speaks to various audiences on how to see the Ability in disAbility. Matt loves to travel and bike in different countries; the new dream is to ski as he travels!”
Director
Tatiana Wagner
Tatiana Wagner
Tatiana joined the board in 2020 as a Director. A lifelong skier and past instructor for CADS, along with a desire to give back to the community brought Tatiana to RMA.
Tatiana is a mother to three children and lives in Calgary. She brings not for profit executive leadership experience and has held seats on a number of not for profit organizations, focused on serving those with special needs and their families.
Director
Nick Boyle
Nick Boyle
Nick is a Director on the board of Rocky Mountain Adaptive. After seeing the team at work in the mountains, this inspired him to become a volunteer, he then progressed into becoming a ski instructor for RMA and ultimately lead to Nick joining the board in 2017. He considers himself an expert in falling down whilst skiing – but always gets back up!
The engine that powers
Our Staff
Executive Director
Jamie McCulloch
Jamie McCulloch
Born in the UK and now a proud Canadian Citizen, Jamie resides in Canmore, Alberta. His first experience of adaptive sport and recreation was when teaching his sister, Claire, to ski. Following this, he worked as a ski instructor in Andorra and spent summers working as a care worker for adults with neurodivergencies. From that moment on, he knew the path his future was to take.
The Winter of 2001/02 saw Jamie come to Canada, where he has spent his time working for Sunshine Village as a ski instructor. At the same time, he saw a gap in the ski industry lesson opportunities offered and started to develop and then coordinator the Sunshine Village Adaptive Ski and Ride Program. For 6 years he lived a continuous Winter spending the Canadian Summer months in New Zealand, furthering his adaptive experience by working for Disabled Snowsports. Here, while working as an adaptive trainer, instructor, and coach, he met an incredible community of individuals.
His enthusiasm, passion and experience for adaptive sport and recreation lead him to co-found Rocky Mountain Adaptive, where he works in the position of Executive Director, developing the organization, advocating for adaptive sport and recreation, and still making time for his main passion – working hands on with individuals of amazing abilities.
Communications & Fundraising Coordinator
Vick McCulloch
Vick McCulloch
Vick has been involved in Rocky Mountain Adaptive since the organization was founded, and takes on many roles. She currently in fundraising and communication. Other roles for RMA include Program Facilitator, Volunteer Coordinator, Booking Coordinator, Snowsports Instructor, Graphic Designer, HR Manager, Executive Administrator and Board Member.
Vick lives in Canmore, with husband Jamie McCulloch and RMA’s two youngest members, Alfie and Boe. As a ski and snowboard instructor, Vick spent many years teaching at Sunshine Village before and after RMA’s birth. It was a natural transition to start working for RMA.
Vick has also been a board member with Rundle Riders Therapeutic Riding & RMA. Despite enjoying Canadian Winters and what it has to offer, she loves the Summer months where she enjoys windsurfing, kayaking, and paddleboarding and spent 14 Summers at a Summer Camp in the United States.
Bookings Coordinator
Jocelyn Smuin
Jocelyn Smuin
Jocelyn Smuin has been a ski instructor since 2011, after moving to the mountains from Ontario. She worked at Marmot Basin and Lake Louise, teaching students of all ages full time for 7 years. In 2016 she completed her CADS Level 1, and loved every moment! After instructing Jocelyn had various administration roles working in the events industry in Banff.
In the fall of 2019 she joined Rocky Mountain Adaptive as their Volunteer and Bookings Coordinator, and a part time ski instructor. After the birth of her first son, she returned to RMA to the role of Bookings Coordinator.
Volunteer Coordinator
Jenni Bowles
Jenni Bowles
Jenni grew up in a skiing family, and has been around the world of adaptive sport and recreation her whole life. She became a ski instructor as soon as she could first get her teaching certifications, and now holds a CSIA and CADS level 2. She grew up in Vancouver, and worked at the local mountains both for their ski school and with Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports. She moved to Calgary for university, and started teaching with RMA in 2011 for 4 seasons. After a few years away, she found her way back to RMA in December 2021 – this time as the booking coordinator and part-time instructor.
Jenni is delighted to be able to help RMA facilitate some amazing experiences for amazing individuals, both through hands-on teaching and behind-the-scenes coordination of RMA’s programming. Jenni transitioned from Bookings Coordinator to her current role of Volunteer Coordinator within RMA.
She currently lives in Calgary with her husband and dog, and loves travelling, running with the pooch, attempting triathlons, and spending time with family and friends.
Outreach Coordinator
Janine Giles
Janine Giles
Janine has been a resident of Canmore since 2003 and joined Rocky Mountain Adaptive in December 2021. She has spent time away to study and work, living in Montreal and remote parts of Africa. With a PhD in Political Science, she appreciates statistics and the power of storytelling. At United Way of Calgary and Area, Janine worked on the Strategy Team as a program evaluator.
Janine is very passionate about sport and philanthropy. She brings to Rocky Mountain Adaptive experience from being on a large fundraising team and working with community partners. As a lifelong swimmer and skier, she is driven to get as many people into the mountain environment as possible to do the things they love with the people they care about the most. Janine has a young daughter and enjoys reading, writing, travelling, and being with friends and family.
Program Manager
Kim Cosman
Kim Cosman
Kim Cosman has been involved in adaptive alpine skiing since 2011 after completing her first adaptive ski certifications in New Zealand. After 15 back-to-back winter seasons between Canada and New Zealand, she completed her adaptive alpine trainer’s certifications in both countries as well as additional courses in empowering students with disabilities, adult education and instructor certifications in other sports/activities.
In the winter of 2014, she joined Rocky Mountain Adaptive as their Winter Program Coordinator. In this role, she was able to provide instruction to both adaptive athletes and up-and-coming adaptive instructors. Since the summer of 2018, Kim committed to RMA year-round as Program Manager, overseeing the team of staff and volunteers as well as delivering adaptive programming in the variety of activities RMA facilitates.
Program Coordinator
Lisa Maher
Lisa Maher
Lisa is an adventurous free- spirit who has a deep love and appreciation for the great outdoors, mountains and of course, fresh powder. Having facilitated at outdoor centres and lead leadership and teambuilding excursions for all ages, Lisa brings many years of outdoor educational experience to Rocky Mountain Adaptive.
Her love of snowboarding began in Ontario and sparked her interest in being an instructor. She first got involved with adaptive snow sports in 2007 through a CADS program based in Haliburton and joined our team as a snowboard instructor in 2017 and has been with us ever since. While a snowboarder at heart, Lisa happily put her skis back on to tackle the role of Program Coordinator. Lisa brings many years of experience and passion to deliver accessible outdoor education in the valley.
Lead Instructor
George Shelton
George Shelton
George has been teaching skiing in the Bow Valley since 2014. He started volunteering with Rocky Mountain Adaptive in 2015 and quickly slotted into the regular instructing team. Since then George has completed his CSIA and CADS level 3 and worked three winters as the Assistant Winter Program Co-ordinator. In 2020 George travelled around the world teaching both alpine and adaptive skiing in Zermatt and New Zealand.
In the summers George has been running leaderships programs for teenagers and young adults for a summer camp in Ontario. They paddle for 12-27 days down some of Canada’s most beautiful white-water rivers, developing communication and leadership skills whilst refining the tools needed to paddle, camp and cook independently.
In the Winter of 2020 George returned back to Rocky Mountain Adaptive all year round as the Trainer and Outreach Programmer, coaching the Rec Development Team and continuing to improve skills of new and returning summer and winter instructors.
Neilsen Project Lead
Dave Sagal
Dave Sagal
I was introduced to sit skiing just shy of my accident’s two-year anniversary. I was nervous to return to the same mountain where my life had changed so drastically. Those concerns quickly diminished thanks to Rocky Mountain Adaptive. RMA creates a safe, secure and independent world for all levels of ability and needs, adapting to each human situation.
It’s this organization that helped to pull me from depression, that helped me realize I could still access the mountains, and enjoy them, too.
After spending the Winter training with Rocky Mountain Adaptive as an adaptive athlete, Dave took on the role of Bike Program Lead, developing an advanced and consistent Bowhead and adaptive bike program.
The faithful
Our Volunteers
Lead Volunteer
Carole Levasseur
Carole Levasseur
Carole Levasseur has a background in actuarial mathematics where she worked in the field of pension and benefits for 20 years. From 1989 to 1996, she was a part-time firefighter. Learning English was the goal when she went to work for the mountain resort of Whistler/Blackcomb as a bus driver in 1996/1997. She learned that she likes to ski, as well as play in the mountains and the outdoors in general. In 2001 she made the big move to Calgary from Montreal, then to Canmore in 2013.
Driving a bus across Canada with the 2010 Olympics Torch Relay was a lifetime experience, as the Olympic Flame never stopped for 106 days up to Vancouver. Since 2012 she drives the Trolley at the Calgary Stampede. In 2018 she had the honor to receive the Calgary White Hat Award as the Exceptional Customer Service: driver.
Carole first started volunteering with RMA in 2011 after searching for a charitable organization that combines her giving nature and love for skiing. Being useful while being active with keen and enthusiastic people is a perfect world. She was awarded RMA volunteer of the year 2013/2014. She takes all opportunities to spread the word about getting involved with RMA one way or another. Breathe, feel, smell, listen and/or see NATURE while on the MOVE is for everybody. If help is needed, she will be there!
Lead Volunteer
Marie Olney
Marie Olney
A planned ski vacation to Banff in March 2011 connected Marie with RMA. Meeting its wonderful, yet small at the time, team of staff and volunteers quickly convinced her for a return visit in May of the same year. Great friendships quickly formed and the “I Did It’ sense of accomplishment of swooshing down ski slopes successfully sparked a great desire to find much, much more of that feeling. Local employment secured; Marie moved out to Calgary in September 2011.
Almost immediately, Marie started finding ways to give back to RMA. Volunteering her time for over eleven years now, she is proud to share the sense of inclusion and ‘family’ that RMA has provided her. For the 2018/2019 season, she was honoured to receive the RMA Volunteer of the Year. You will find her at most of our fundraisers, sometimes coordinating the other volunteers, helping with volunteer training, doing some ‘behind the scenes’ admin work, in the pedal kayak serving as a ‘tugboat’ when needed, and, occasionally helping instructors with new skiers as a ‘demo girl’.
Originally from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Marie has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree as well as Certification in Volunteer Administration and the Certificate in Corporate Community Involvement. She is fluently bilingual and trying to learn Abenaki, the language of the Indigenous peoples upon whose unceded land she was born and raised. Her work life comprises of working in politics, in the federal government, with a professional sports team, and in the oil & gas sector.
Marie is also a Director on the Bishop’s University Foundation, the Western Regional Director of the Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada, and Member of the Banff Inclusive Housing Committee. Her passions other than skiing include : dogs, telling anyone who gives her five seconds about her beloved Eastern Townships and Bishop’s University (she bleeds purple), and exploring Canada.
Lead Volunteer
Maria Lau
Maria Lau
Maria Lau started volunteering for Rocky Mountain Adaptive in December 2019 where she has accumulated over 800+ volunteer hours. Trained as an accountant and I.T. professional, she left the corporate world in Toronto and moved to the Bow Valley in 2017 to pursue her love of skiing. She is an experienced CSIA and NZSIA certified ski instructor who works at Nakiska.
Through her volunteer work with Rocky Mountain Adaptive, she became a CADS certified ski instructor in January 2020. When she is not volunteering, she works part time as a ski instructor at Rocky Mountain Adaptive, filling in the gaps when needed. Maria also volunteers with the Rocky Mountain Adaptive hiking program in the summer. She is an Apprentice Interpreter and Interpretive Specialist with the Interpretive Guides Association.