This is the remarkable story of former Cootamundra resident Richard Nott.

A talented allround sportsperson, Richard was working at Woodlands Stud in 2003 when he was offered the position of yearling manager.

Agreeing to the role, Richard informed his employers he would be travelling to Canada at the end of the year to pursue a lifelong ambition.

And what a ride it has been.

Within the space of five years, Richard has become one of the youngest individuals to receive the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance’s (CSIA) highest honour, a Level 4 Instructor.

To reach this goal, Richard has enjoyed a remarkable journey which has seen him experience 10 winters within five years.

In November 2003 he headed to Whistler in Canada to train to be a ski instructor.

Such was his progress that during an intensive six-week course Richard not only passed his CSIA Level 1, but also his CSIA Level 2, allowing him to instruct throughout the 2003-04 Canadian winter.

Richard needed to show a lot of ability as an instructor as, once his 12 month visa expired, he could only return to work in Canada if he was sponsored. Getting sponsored to work as an instructor at the premier North American Resort, Whistler, in a country where almost everyone skis for a pastime is no small achievement.

After attaining the CSIA Level 2 all graduates must instruct for at least two seasons before being eligible to sit their CSIA Level 3.

Richard did two seasons in one year by returning to work at Falls Creek ski resort in Victoria and the following year he returned to Whistler as a sponsored instructor and trained to sit his Level 3 exams.

Richard passed and, along with his CSIA Level 3, Richard was also afforded the International Ski Instructors Alliance qualification meaning he can work anywhere in the world as a top level ski instructor.

In most countries in the world including, Australia, America and the majority of European countries, Level 3 qualification is the highest grade, however Canada is regarded as the world leaders in ski instruction and is the only skiing country to have a Level 4 certification.

Richard returned to Canada in the winter of 2005-06 and while instructing trained and received his level 2 race coach certification.

Then while commuting to Falls Creek and back to Canada Richard continued to train towards the top level of instructor qualifications.

Obtaining a CSIA Level 4 is not easy and it has an annual pass rate of around 4 per cent and very few instructors under the age of 30 are able to complete the challenge

However, backed by spending more than 1000 days on skis over the past five years, Richard has achieved the ultimate dream, opening up endless opportunities in the skiing world.

Richard has been working for a Canadian instructor training company based in Whistler and will also work in programs to be run in New Zealand and Japan.

He will return to Falls Creek this winter as the highest qualified Australian instructor.

Richard owes a lot of his success to his partner Marnie Grogan.

Marnie has supported Richard through his training and also has been travelling back and forth to Canada with him for the last three seasons.

While in Canada, Marnie has been working in finance and this year passed her CSIA Level 1 which for someone who hadn’t skied before moving to Canada is a big achievement.

This enabled Marnie to teach adults and children on her weekends off.

In the most recent Canadian ski season, several Cootamundra residents visited Whistler, skiing in the program Richard works for and had the opportunity to have Richard as their instructor.