Born and raised on the east coast, Chris and his wife Amy moved west in the 90’s and have been seeking adventure since. All forms of skiing, cycling, and hiking occupy the family, and both King kids have been on the Sugar Bowl Ski Team since they were each in kindergarten – now his daughter is a junior at SBA. After 20 years in the Bay Area, the King family moved to Donner Summit full time, seizing the opportunity to be part of this wonderful community year-round. Professionally, Chris is a recovering marketing executive and currently advises start-ups – he still enjoys the process of helping tech companies and products grow from nothing to something. Chris also serves on the board of the Sierra Avalanche Center – another outlet for his dual passions of mountain winters and education.

Vince is a partner with Acme Development, focusing on multifamily opportunities in both military and urban infill markets.  He is a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Engineering.  He currently serves as Board Member and Secretary for Far West Skiing, the local division of USSA.  Vince was previously Board Chair of Creekside Charter and founder of Squaw Education Foundation which raised funds and built the existing charter school campus in Squaw Valley.  He is father to one recent SBA Alum, a current engineering student at CU Boulder, and a Sophomore at SBA.  When not working, Vince can be found skiing (telemark), climbing, mountain biking or somewhere in the back country.  

Smita Bakshi is Senior Vice President of Technology and Engineering Careers (TEC) at Wiley, a global leader in research and education, and Co-Founder of zyBooks, an interactive digital courseware platform for computer science and STEM courses. Smita joined Wiley when the company acquired zyBooks in 2019. In her role at Wiley, Smita oversees Technology & Engineering Careers education, bringing together the very best computer science, data science, information technology and engineering content, products, platforms, and services in pursuit of lifelong learning.

Smita co-founded zyBooks in 2012 to empower college students and learners to acquire knowledge and skills in STEM disciplines with highly interactive learning material. zyBooks have been used by over 600,000 students at 1000+ institutions and are proven, through numerous research studies, to improve learning outcomes.

Prior to zyBooks, Smita was an assistant professor at UC Davis in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She has also spent 10 years of her career in the Silicon Valley high-tech companies across engineering, product management, business development and strategy in the software industry.  

In June 2020, UC Davis announced the Smita Bakshi Digital Learning & Teaching Award to recognize the innovative use of digital technologies in teaching. She currently serves on the Board of Advisors for Computer Science and Engineering at University of California Riverside. Smita holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the Delhi Institution of Technology, an MBA from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UC Irvine.

Ellen Cooper was born in Portland Oregon. After spending nearly 10 years on the east coast for education, she moved to Seattle in 2005 where she met her husband Josh, an enthusiastic winter athlete.  His love of snow brought Ellen to Truckee in 2012, a place the feels more like home than she could ever have imagined. She is a general surgeon and Trauma Medical Director at Tahoe Forest Hospital and is deeply passionate about improving all aspects of care for injured people in our region. Ellen’s two boys have loved Sugar Bowl ski team for many years. Her oldest is transitioning into ski mountaineering and her youngest is a dedicated free ride athlete. When she is not supporting her family on the mountain, Ellen loves to hike and explore new places. As a board member, Ellen feels honored to carry on the values and legacy of SBSTA.

Nadia Costa is a shareholder at Miller Starr Regalia, a professional law corporation, in the Walnut Creek and Newport Beach offices. She is Co-Chair of Miller Starr Regalia’s Land Use Practice Group. Her practice centers on land use and local government law, specializing in the processing and implementation of land use entitlements. Nadia has extensive entitlement experience in a wide range of projects, with a particular emphasis on complex, mixed-use, urban infill, and master-planned developments. She regularly counsels landowners, developers, and public agencies in all aspects of land use processing.

Nadia serves as a member of the Council for the State and Local Government Section of the American Bar Association; Building Industry Association; Professional Women in Building Council; International Council of Shopping Centers, and is on the Board of Directors for the California Association of GHADs; the Diablo Regional Arts Association; and for STAND! for Families Free of Violence. 

Nadia received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, her M.S.W. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Scott is a proud father of a 2021 SBSTA graduate. His daughter Shona now attends the University of Oregon and is a member and Vice President of the Alpine Ski Club.  Longtime skiers in Olympic Valley, the Flake-Luckhardt family moved to Serene Lakes full-time while his daughter was at SBSTA.  Scott was an active member of the Parent Association. 

Professionally, after retiring (early) as Senior Director with a local municipal power company, Scott started an independent consulting company to support an active mountain lifestyle with a focus on power generation and energy storage projects.

Stephanie Hall was born in Geneva, Switzerland then raised between Geneva and Chamonix, France where she grew up ski racing. After graduating high school she went on to study at the University of Geneva where she graduated with a degree in law and political science. She met her husband David during a work assignment in Northern California and chose to permanently move to Truckee in 2005. Their son Christopher joined Sugar Bowl Ski Team in 2014 in the mid-week program and raced through U14. SBSTA gave him the passion of ski racing but also coaching, he is hoping to be starting his coaching career as a CIT starting the 2021-2022 season. Stephanie currently runs the JP Morgan Chase branch in Truckee and has been an active part of the Truckee/Tahoe community for the past 16 years

Bryn, his wife, Catherine, and their two boys are avid winter sports enthusiasts. Bryn and Catherine met while working in Paris and subsequently lived in Abu Dhabi and San Francisco prior to moving to Truckee. The boys are full-time students at the Academy and love their respective sports (one alpine, one freeride).

​Bryn serves as Managing Partner of Island Lake Investments, a boutique investment firm focused on investments in real estate in San Francisco and early-stage growth companies.

​From 2014 to 2020, Bryn was Senior Advisor at Viceroy Hotel Group, a Los Angeles based global luxury hotel management company. In 2019, Bryn co-founded The Barber Truck, the world’s first upscale mobile barber shop. Truck #1 launched in Los Angeles in 2020, with further trucks on the way. ​

From 2008 to 2014, Bryn and his family lived in Abu Dhabi, where Bryn served as Senior Advisor at Mubadala Investment Company, an investment fund. While at Mubadala, Bryn led the real estate team at Mubadala Real Estate and Infrastructure. Bryn began his career as a mergers and acquisitions attorney at Shearman & Sterling, working in the firm’s New York, Paris, and San Francisco offices.

Susan’s daughters have been skiing with the Sugar Bowl Ski Team since 2014. Growing up in Hong Kong, she did not have much exposure to winter sports. With a family who cannot wait to get onto the snow, she spent her days on the mountain staying involved with the SBST Parent Association and getting to know the amazing families, coaches and staff that make up the ski team community. After graduating from Amherst College with a B.A. in Economics, she worked at Goldman Sachs in both their New York and Hong Kong offices. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and three girls, and diligently drives up to the mountains every weekend during the winter months, where her girls participate in alpine racing and biathlon training.

Matt Paul is a former U.S. Navy SEAL (served 8 years) who today captains Loose Cannon Pictures, an independent film production company. Valedictorian of SBA class of 2005, Matt received his B.A. from Bates College where he also skied on their division 1 team. His passions include bringing story to screen, community service, sailing and skiing.

Peter grew up ski racing mostly out of Minnesota (Team Gilboa), but also New Hampshire (Attitash) and Steamboat (SSWSC).  He attended Middlebury College where he raced and was Co-Captain of Middlebury’s Alpine Ski Team.  Outside of college, he raced NorAms and FIS races in the US and internationally.  After college, Peter worked in investment banking at Deutsche Bank in New York and then moved to San Francisco to join Medley Partners in 2009.  He continues to manage private equity investments at Medley Partners, as a Managing Director. 

Peter now lives in Mill Valley with his wife Lacee and three children who are each on the Sugar Bowl Ski Team.  They each started as mini-mites and are skiing and racing every weekend with SBST.   Peter is thrilled to have found the Sugar Bowl community and is committed to help making the ski team the best it can be for athletes at all ages.

Riley was a member of the Sugar Bowl Ski Team and Academy for 14 years - he started as a five-year-old mighty mite, enrolled at the Academy for high school, and spent a post-graduate year racing for SBSTA before college. From there, skiing took him to Vermont, where he earned a BS in Economics from Middlebury College while qualifying for three NCAA Championships and serving as Middlebury's two-time Alpine Ski Team Captain.

During his college summers, Riley worked, traveled, and found a new passion in surfing, all of which prompted his move to San Diego after graduating. He now works as an investment analyst at JMI Equity, a software-focused private equity firm. Most mornings, he can be found catching waves in La Jolla or taking laps on Disney Express. Riley is proud to call Sugar Bowl his home and delighted to remain involved in SBSTA long-term

Eileen and her family have been enjoying the Sugar Bowl Ski Team and Academy community for nearly 10 years. She and her family are drawn to the values and culture spread across the community and have loved the ways in which their boys have grown and matured as athletes. Her oldest son will be a full-time Academy student this fall.

Eileen has maintained an active role as a volunteer and board member at several organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. She currently serves as the vice-chair and development chair on the board of trustees at Marin Primary & Middle School. She also currently serves on several committees at ReSurge International and at the Bolinas Museum. She has held previous roles of support at the Marin Art & Garden Center, Mark Day School and Ross Recreation.

Her earlier career was spent as a high-yield research analyst in New York City. A move to London, England provided an opportunity to work in the arts where she spent time interning in the Director’s Office at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

When she is not speeding to keep up with her boys and husband on the mountain, Eileen enjoys long-distance trail running, mountain biking and taking in the beauty that surrounds Donner Summit.

Brad Weaver, Ed.D, is Head of School at Sonoma Country Day School in Santa Rosa, CA. Brad holds a doctorate of educational administration from Boston College, a master of arts in curriculum and instruction in the natural sciences from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a bachelor of arts in English and music performance from Wake Forest University. He studied classical guitar at the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music and holds a certificate of advanced study in educational leadership and cultural studies from the University of Houston. Brad has participated in numerous school accreditation and program evaluations, working with the California Association of Independent Schools and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the Association of Independent Schools in New England, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Houston Independent School District. Brad has published numerous children’s nonfiction books, along with coauthor and spouse Jeanne Wallace-Weaver, written professional guides and articles, and presented at educators’ conferences. Brad enjoys mountain biking, skiing, and hiking and spending time in the outdoors with his wife Jeanne and their two children, Benjamin and Isabella, who attend Sonoma Academy and SCDS, respectively. Brad and Jeanne have lived and traveled extensively overseas.