Owner

Marie is from Quebec and started kiteboarding in 2002. She has pushed kiteboarding limits and established Elevation Kiteboarding as a premier school on the west coast of Canada and Mexico. She has been teaching since 2005 and has taught hundreds of students with her attention to detail, safe and positive approach. Her teaching techniques and uplifting attitude have inspired and educated many of the people you will meet at Nitinat Lake and in La Ventana. Elevation Kiteboarding School has an excellent and experienced team thanks to Marie’s vision and skills.

Gear Specialist / Duotone Kiteboarding Retailer

Mark comes from a background of sailboat racing on the coast of New Brunswick. As kites became available in 2000, Mark saw the potential for another form of sailing and became a kiteboarding pioneer. Mark is a Duotone Kiteboarding retailer for both of our teaching locations and is the go-to for gear questions.

Instructor – Advanced Kiteboarding Specialist

Robin comes from the UK and has been kiteboarding since 2002 and an IKO instructor since 2004. Robin has a skillful background in skateboarding and snowboarding. He has devoted thousands of hours to freestyle riding and has logged as many hours teaching.

Robin loves to use film and video to show his students their riding style as a method to improve technique.

Instructor

Peter joined the Elevation team in 2010 in La Ventana and follows the Canadian team back to Canada each summer season to teach at Nitinat Lake. Peter has been kiting for 10 years and has a passion for kiting that has endured. He can often be found on the water after lessons catching big air. Peter’s patience is boundless and is great with timid beginners or our younger students.

School Manager & Instructor

Another Quebec export, Luce joined the Elevation team in 2010. Working closely alongside Marie, she has a passion for empowering our female students and is one of our Women’s Camps aficionado’s. Her positive outlook, her love of teaching and her go-get-em’ attitude has enabled hundreds of students to become confident successful kiteboarders. She teaches in English and in French.

Instructor

During the summer season, Karen works in Quebec as a raft guide and whitewater photographer. Her extensive years of varied outdoor experience has made her an excellent instructor. We were thrilled when Karen joined our team in 2015 in La Ventana. Her upbeat personality and humour give her the title of Head Cheerleader! She makes everyone of her students feel special and confident while keeping a joyful session on and off the water. Karen provides instruction in both French and English.

Instructor

From the northern region of Spain we are very lucky to have this dynamic woman on our team. Iza’s career history as a physical therapist and a well seasoned traveller has made her a perfect fit for Elevation. Her kindness and huge heart have helped many travelling kiteboarders sort out their daily dealings here in Baja, and wherever she has gone. Iza’s love for community, kiteboarding, travelling and the lifestyle can be felt through her positive energy, good deeds, beautiful smile and incredible stoke on and off the water. She is fluent in both Spanish and English.

Instructor – Advanced Kiteboarding Specialist

Brought to Mexico by popular demand, we have our Aussie, Charlie. He brings over 10 years of teaching and knows every trick in the book. As a young kid he would sit on the beach for hours waiting for a chance to go kiting, and over 15 years later that passion has not left. Great with all ages, especially kids, Charlie will have you feeling comfortable and confident and get you up and riding with a smile on your face.

Instructor

Another Canadian in the bunch, Danielle left the plains of Saskatchewan to follow her passion for dog rescues and came to Mexico which lead her to her other passion, kiting. She now runs a dog rescue, Baja Pet Rescue, and teaches kiting and winging.

Kiteschool Assistant

David is one of the best faces to see around the school! Always lending a helping hand or being there to keep your schedule lined up, David has become a key part to our school. Working in both Mexico and Canada, you're sure to see his smiling face on the beach or in the water!

Instructor

Alex teaches both wing foiling and kiteboarding. After work, he spends hours on the water playing and trying out the new gear. Canadian, joined Elevation in the summer of 2023. His one big hobby is helping the school and rental shop maintaining the gear in excellent working condition!
He has mastered every step and teaches both at Nitinat Lake during the summers and in La Ventana during the winter seasons.
Alex has a calm approach and will 100% sit down with his students before teaching them on the water. He loves the teaching aspect, but he also appreciates the connection with the people who come to learn with us at Elevation.

Instructor

Isnel is from Cuba and teaches kiteboarding in both Spanish and English. This fabulous kiteboarding instructor has several years of experience kiting and teaching. He joined the team in the fall of 2023.
Isnel teaches in La Ventana and lives here all year round.
You will find him hanging out at the kite shop, helping with sales and repairs. He loves meeting new people and is very knowledgeable. He always carries the biggest smile everywhere he goes!

Wing Foil Instructor

During the summer, Guillaume, who is Franco-Canadian, works as a raft guide in Quebec. He teaches in both French & English & his extensive experience and varied outdoor background make him an excellent instructor. He is also a great kiteboarder but mostly focuses on teaching wing foiling.
He teaches in La Ventana from November to March, doing so with great style and humor. Guillaume has a positive approach and is always the first one at school in the morning to chat with the team about new things he learns while wing foiling and trying on new foils and setups. Always staying on top of the latest technology, he keeps the team updated and educated on this amazing technical sport.

Driver

Sergio, a local from a small town near La Ventana, Baja California, Mexico, has been part of our team for several seasons now.
His first season working with us was in 2023. He loves to kite and fish & every year he speaks a little more English. Sergio knows everyone at Elevation. He is always ready to go, punctual, and can see our jet skis out on the water from anywhere in town.
He is the one who makes the days at work go by smoothly & we hope to have him for many more years at Baja Joe's & Elevation!

Front Desk & Rental Assistant

Tom is from Australia but has lived & traveled in Central America for several years.
He serves both our customers & our team in Spanish and English.
Punctual, he is always ready to switch gears from working the desk to driving to the boat ramp and back, fixing a trailer or assisting a student preparing for a lesson.
He joined the Elevation team a few years ago. Tom has fabulous customer service and we are lucky to have him as part of our team.

School Manager

Jean Claude originally from Bern, Switzerland, took his first kiting lesson in Maui back in 2022. The instructor JC said was a strange one who did not like to instruct.JC has traveled all over kiting, mainly to Hood River, Maui, Flores Lake in Oregon and Baja, but his favourite place to kite is Nitinat Lake. He always sneaks out for a sunset session late in the day after work.Regarding JC, his hobbies include aviation, biking, and skiing. He has many great stories to tell you about that! His new chapter involves managing the school at Elevation Kiteboarding. He loves this summer job because the team is awesome and the leaders are incredible and inspiring. So are you JC!

Instructor

Bruno originally from France, teaches both kiteboarding and Wing foiling.He has lived in BC for over 30 years and is now retired from the Sunshine Coast. He started teaching kiting with us 5 summers ago but has been kiting at Nitinat Lake for several summers. He may not have worked with Elevation then, but he was part of the team for some time and was always ready to help us with any missions or rescues needed on the lake. One day Elevation reached out to Bruno about our interest in having him join our team during the summers at Nitinat Lake and we are so happy he did!Bruno loves the early starts, has great humour and many years of experience kiting and winging on the lake which makes him an incredible instructor.

Elevation’s Mascot

Our little Mexican puppy rescued in one of our favourite Kitesurfing location on the west coast of Baja. Modelo was skinny, full of fleas and very small from mal nutrition. His life changed on May 10th 2015 when we found him at a Modelorama. He is now a beach bum that lives between Nitinaht Lake, B.C. and La Ventana, Mexico or wherever the wind takes us. Modelo specializes in swimming and lounging on the beach.