Poet Snow Co-Founder Lee White began experimenting with the concept of shaping poems to mirror the flowing lines of ski tracks in early 2000. His poetry wasn’t just written, it was crafted into physical forms, where movement of words on the page echoed the motion of a skier carving through snow. These uniquely shaped poems soon became a form of visual art, inspiring the idea of putting these ski track-shaped poems to life on skis as limited edition art pieces. White calls the style of poetry Zen Koan Archery where stream of consciousness word play intersects with precisely aimed paradox to invite reflective insights. For White, ski tracks are calligraphy where the body is a brush and gravity a hand.
In 2017 Lee met Co-Founder Chad Weir at a scientific health conference where Chad was the producer and Lee was a speaker. In his talk, Lee shared a story of healing from a crippling injury and still skiing like a teenager which Chad resonated with as he had to take years off of skiing to recover from a crippling head injury, only to find a renewed sense of joy and freedom when coming back to the snow capped mountains. Throughout the week, they crossed paths several times, and quickly discovered they shared many similar values and interests. During the final wrap up dinner, they connected deeply around their shared love of skiing, a passion for the mountains and a shared perspective on how the ski industry had evolved. Another colleague shared that Lee was also an accomplished poet and philosopher. At this, Lee - despite his imposing 6'3" Viking-like stature - became shy and reserved. With great hesitation, he shared his poem "Come Run Savage" with the group, and everyone, especially those who shared a love for the mountains, was deeply moved.
Soon after, Lee and Chad found a kindred partner in Evan Fair, a custom ski and snowboard maker with over 15 years of experience crafting bespoke skis and snowboards in his shop near Comox, where Lee resides. Evan helped them produce a limited run of skis featuring Lee’s poem, "Come Run Savage," and the original ski track poem from 2000 “We”, printed in the shape of a ski tracks. The simple design—white font on a black base, curving and swooping down the length of the ski—was striking. It quickly garnered attention from ski guides and industry professionals, and the entire original set was snapped up in no time.
Later that year we expanded by producing a few snowboards alongside additional sets of skis This was followed by our first collection of hats and T-shirts, which were especially a favourite of the younger crowd. PoetSkis remained a passion project until the COVID-19 Pandemic struck in 2020. With increased interest in the brand and a little more time on their hands, Lee and Chad saw an opportunity to use their work as a vehicle for social change. Over the next few years, with the help of passionate and talented friends, the brand evolved into what it is today. Looking ahead, PoetSkis is committed to creating the highest quality products that embody our love for the mountains, disrupting the ski industry with more sustainable practices and connecting and collaborating with talented designers, poets and creatives to help give them a vehicle to share their work. Our mission is to create social change initiatives that help our world become a better place, and to enable, empower and inspire more people to live authentically, to find their own voice and to find that ephemeral pursuit of flow.
CO-FOUNDER
About Chad
Originally having aspirations of becoming a mountain guide, Chad's professional journey in the ski industry spans over two decades taking on a myriad of roles ranging from ski instructor for Ski Big 3 and Non Stop Ski in Banff, Events Director at Lake Louise, sales rep for Head Skis, Boot Fitter, Technical FIS Coach, and Program Director of the largest ski clubs in Alberta. Eventually Chad took on a leadership role with Canada Ski Cross and the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. In 2011 he took on the task of bringing Ski Cross to the country as Director of National Programs and Events with Alpine Canada helping to shape the sport on a national level.
Outside of skiing Chad is a 13x Entrepreneur, Corporate Project Manager, Business & Leadership Consultant, Global Events Director, Marketing Strategist, Human Development/Change Management Researcher.
Chad was drawn to this project because of his love for the mountains and a desire to spend more time with a community of like minded people. As he explored further, the synchronicity between personal development, the mountains, and the pursuit of flow and poetry became clear. The opportunity to combine these concepts was highly appealing to him. Chad also has a passion for quality craftsmanship, contrasting with the trend in many industries toward cheaper, fast-fashion consumer goods.
CO-FOUNDER
About Lee
Lee started skiing out of his backyard in the Yukon with his parents and brothers at 5 years old. This early connection to the wilderness shaped his lifelong love for the mountains, adventure, and creativity. Over the past three decades, Lee has worked as a writer, artist, and wilderness guide, designing transformative experiences for others. He worked extensively with Outward Bound in the mountains north of Whistler, while also spending two transformative years in post-Apartheid South Africa. Lee continues to deliver an Adventure Therapy program for the youth prison in BC. His diverse experiences are reflected in his philosophy book rapt in awe, which explores rites of passage and living in flow through nature, poetry, and adventure. Lee’s approach to life is distilled in his philosophy: “When you’re skiing the trees, look at the spaces in between.”
In addition to his creative work, Lee is a social impact entrepreneur. He leads ChinookX Technologies, where he develops innovative solutions for clean energy transition and data sovereignty, grounded in respect for Indigenous knowledge. His contributions to climate action and data sovereignty have earned him recognition as an Ashoka Fellow. Through Poet, Lee combines his passion for nature, creativity, and craftsmanship, with a focus on helping others tap into their unique gifts by optimizing flow states.
Director of Operations
About Zaman
Zaman is a skier, educator, and builder at heart. Driven by a deep belief in the power of meaningful experiences and purposeful design.
By day, he leads global AI initiatives in industry, helping organizations harness technology to solve complex challenges. He also teaches data-driven decision making at the graduate level, and is a certified ski instructor who found the sport later in life but quickly became hooked on the sense of flow, freedom, and connection that comes from time spent in the mountains.
When he met Chad and first encountered Poet Snow Sports, it immediately resonated. The craftsmanship, the storytelling, the mission, it was a brand that matched his values and vision for what snow sports could be.
Today, Zaman brings strategic leadership, operational insight, and community-building experience to Poet as Director of Operations. He helps steer the brand’s growth while staying grounded in its roots: connection to nature, creativity, and a more inclusive outdoor industry.
Content and Community Manager
About Tessa
Tessa Munro was born and raised in Aspen, Colorado, and grew up ski racing with the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club through her post-graduate year, an experience that sparked her lifelong love of skiing and connection to the mountains. At The Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Tess embraced outdoor education and developed a passion for climbing, biking trail running, and backpacking.
Tessa holds a B.S. in Psychology with minors in Outdoor Studies, Sports & Exercise Science, and Studio Art from St. Lawrence University, where she guided for the outdoor program, earned her Wilderness First Responder and Avalanche 1 certifications, and summited Mt. Kenya during a research expedition on altitude physiology.
As a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen with experience skiing in the Selkirk wilderness, Tessa is rooted in both American and Canadian mountain culture. She’s passionate about backcountry skiing, mountain biking, road cycling, and surfing. Pursuits that keep her grounded and connected to nature and community.
Tessa has taken on the role of Poet’s Content and Community Manager, where she brings together her background in psychology, social media, and outdoor experience to tell meaningful stories, build brand presence, and foster community. With firsthand knowledge of the ski and outdoor industries, and as a woman in the field, she’s committed to creating inclusive spaces and inspiring the next generation of mountain athletes.
Director of Marketing
About Sean
Sean Kerrigan is a lifelong skier, digital marketer, and creative culture-builder, driven by a mission to blend high-performance outdoor experience with authentic artistic expression.
Born on skis, Sean possesses deep, hands-on knowledge of mountain culture, having lived in Colorado and Whistler, and skiing resorts and backcountry across Western and Eastern Canada. This passion evolved into a professional career that included roles as an avalanche course instructor, professional ski patroller, and guide, alongside developing leadership programs in Switzerland. He also brings insider knowledge as a member of the Ski Canada Magazine ski testing team.
Sean transitioned this precision, risk management, and program design into a digital career, spending over 15 years in website development, SEO, content strategy, and business growth. He founded a successful agency supporting adventure and Indigenous tourism and honed his corporate expertise at top Canadian firms. He is also an educator on digital marketing and entrepreneurship.
His background is further defined by his passion for the arts: managing productions for large music festivals and serving on the Comox Valley Arts Council board. This expertise complements his life as a House DJ and music producer.
As Director of Marketing for Poet Skis, Sean is uniquely positioned to steer the brand’s growth by connecting its poetic vision to the real-world performance only a lifelong skier can deliver.
SOCIAL + COMMUNICATIONS
About Nicole
Nicole has spent over two decades leading digital communications, steering high-profile online marketing campaigns, and shaping strategies across a range of industries. Throughout her career, she’s been recognized for her knack for bridging technology with corporate and political environments, helping organizations adapt to the digital age with clarity and impact. Whether she’s crafting engaging messages, managing stakeholder relations, or leading complex projects, Nicole’s expertise has consistently driven digital transformation and elevated brand presence.
After a 20-year break from skiing, Nicole recently rediscovered her love for the sport. This unexpected reconnection brought a fresh perspective, blending resilience and the joy of continuous learning into both her personal and professional life. Now, with her renewed passion, she’s excited to bring her unique skill set—and a fresh take on adaptability and growth—to PoetSkis, tackling challenges with the same enthusiasm she finds on the slopes.
Brand Athletes & Ambassadors
Alpine Guide | Splitboard Mountaineer | Freeride Competitor
About Hannah
Hannah Matranga doesn’t just ride the mountain, she communes with it. A freeride competitor, alpine guide, and snow-soul explorer, Hannah’s lines are poetry in motion. From making first-known female descents on Oregon's Steens Mountain to podium finishes across North America’s Freeride World Qualifier circuit, she’s shaping her own alpine mythology. She’s currently ranked among the top 15 female freeride snowboarders in North America.
Based in Bend, Oregon, Hannah's pursuits extend beyond the backcountry. She’s a certified avalanche professional, wilderness first responder, snowsports photographer, and an advocate for mental health and diversity in the mountains. Whether guiding multi-day tours or planning an expedition to the Himalaya, she brings a radical authenticity and community-first ethos to everything she does.
A believer in snowboarding as an act of expression and healing, Hannah lives for the intersection of artistry, risk, and belonging. One of her current projects, Cascade Slaydies, seeks to provide underrepresented gender minorities with the mentorship they need to access the backcountry safely. She is, at heart, both a builder of turns and of community.
Hannah rides Poet Snow because she sees snowboarding as more than adrenaline, it's a way to write your story in snow.
Certifications and Courses:
AMGA Alpine Snow&Glacier Module and SPI Course, AIARE 1, 2, Rescue and PRO1, WFR, Outdoor Emergency Care, and AASI Level 1 Snowboard Instructor
PHOTOGRAPHER
About Craig
Craig is a photographer, carpenter and all around athlete having represented Canada internationally in rugby at various age grades. Craig is the owner of CWH Construction in Victoria building custom homes, renovations and commercial projects, a family business built on quality, integrity and craftsmanship.
After studying at the esteemed Western Academy of Photography in 1990, Craig established himself as a freelance adventure and landscape photographer. Craig has visually chronicled many White-brother adventures over the years and brings his eye to Poet Skis aesthetic. A genuine family man, Craig frequently skis with wife and three adult children. Craig continues to compete in rowing regattas inspiring others with his quiet unstated work rate.
HELISKI GUIDE
About Graeme
Graeme is an ACMG Ski and Rock Guide and the eldest of the White brothers - twin Craig and Poet co-founder Lee. Graeme has been breaking trail on brotherly adventures for decades. In recent seasons Graeme has been heliski guiding in Northern BC with Last Frontier Heliskiing as well as guiding throughout the seasons with Island Alpine Adventures.
Graeme’s love of wild spaces began at an early age camping with his family and exploring Western Canada and the Yukon. His own explorations continued across Western North America, South America, the UK and Africa. For sixteen years, Graeme worked with Outward Bound Canada, starting as an instructor and later as manager of their Western Canada operations and has also worked globally developing and supporting Outward Bound schools. Graeme also works with St. Michaels University School outdoor programs, and fills the time between teaching and guiding working as a carpenter.
PHOTOGRAPHER
About Craig
Craig is a photographer, carpenter and all around athlete having represented Canada internationally in rugby at various age grades. Craig is the owner of CWH Construction in Victoria building custom homes, renovations and commercial projects, a family business built on quality, integrity and craftsmanship.
After studying at the esteemed Western Academy of Photography in 1990, Craig established himself as a freelance adventure and landscape photographer. Craig has visually chronicled many White-brother adventures over the years and brings his eye to Poet Skis aesthetic. A genuine family man, Craig frequently skis with wife and three adult children. Craig continues to compete in rowing regattas inspiring others with his quiet unstated work rate.
About Pieter
After graduating from the University of the Orange Free State with both a distinction in Communications and the Andre Du Plessis-prize for best Dramatic Arts student, Pieter obtained a diploma in Creative Writing from the AAA School of Advertising in Cape Town, South Africa before spending 3 years cutting his teeth as a professional copywriter for Saatchi & Saatchi. At this time Pieter's primary passion in life was surfing daily and regularly hitting breaks considered extreme where few chose to paddle into.
Since arriving in the Comox Valley in late 2008, Pieter has been working on his business Pod Creative helping small business and non-profit organisations establish and maintain professional up-to-date communications systems. Skiing has replaced surfing as Pieter’s driving passion to anchor stoke and feed his hunger for adventure. Pieter and Caila share their love of skiing with their daughters Juniper and Wren - both little rippers in the park and all over the mountain - the next generation of soul skiers.
Pieter is both an adaptive ski and snowboard instructor as well as a board member for the Vancouver Island Society for Adaptive Snowsports, a group of people passionate about both skiing and helping people. A place to anchor compassion in action. Amidst it all, Pieter is a poet.
Friends & Collaborators
PHOTOGRAPHY
About Jenn
Jennifer is an accomplished photographer and graduate of the Western Academy of Photography (Victoria, BC). She views life as a series of memorable moments and creatively and professionally captures those moments for her valued clients. Jenn finds sanctuary adventuring in the great outdoors. The Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains are her favourite playgrounds. With her passport stamped on every page, she loves to travel and appreciates culture and diversity.
DESIGNER + ILLUSTRATOR
About Ian
Ian was trained in traditional fine art and illustration techniques, including colour theory and composition, which has given him a unique approach to graphic design. By combining these skills with modern mediums, and with an equal understanding of print and digital production, Ian is able to understand the bigger-picture needs of a project.
This knowledge and practical experience make it easy for Ian to successfully handle any design challenge, from concept to completion.
In Fall 2021, Ian became an instructor of branding and packaging for North Island College’s Digital Design & Development program.
Ian also owns Done Creative, a small-batch art and apparel company that donates a portion of all sales to local environmental and community initiatives.
