Damian Stones mountain bike instructor and guide
Damian Stones mountain bike instructor and guide
Paparoa Track, Westcoast, Photo: Henry Jane
Damian Stones, Bicycle Adventurer
Bike Skills Instructor and MTB Guide
About
Damian Stones originally from Liverpool, but very much a kiwi has been mad about bikes from an early age.
As a teenager he explored the hills behind Wakefield on his steel Avanti Montari. He was the reason why no one in class could be late as he commuted to Nelson each day from Spring Grove. As a young person he loved the freedom and independence gained from mountain biking which became a vehicle to explore the local environment.
“Bicycle Adventurer, Mountain bike guide and Instructor”
He founded the Lincoln University Mountain Bike club and opting for the Port Hills versus ‘Bobs’ (the student pub) spent many hours exploring the Banks Peninsula. He attempted racing but really wasn’t cut out for it and had a lot more fun riding with his mates.
Riding and work became merged when he designed and built the first public pump track in New Zealand. He later designed and built adjacent dirt jumps with Kelly McGarry and a number of community helpers.
This became known as the ‘Fire Pit Dirt Park’ in Ngatimoti, Tasman. This park became a centre point for many fun hours encouraging young riders to develop their skills including Damian’s own children Zack and Rosa.
As a landscape architect he later joined Australian based Dirt Art, a leading trail building company and he also freelances as a graphic designer.
Guiding, Instructing and planning adventures remains a key feature of his life whether that be family trips such as the Heaphy Track, or adventuring in the New Zealand backcountry with friends.
Sponsors
The support he receives from his sponsors makes this possible and he is proud to have developed a strong connection with the Santa Cruz bicycles (Hyperformance Hardware) community in New Zealand and to be supported by the iconic mountain bike clothing company, Ground Effect Clothing. Other sponsors such as Shimano NZ, Lazer Helmets, Sea to Summit Yakima bike racks, Clif Bar, My Ride Richmond, Sea to Summit, Osprey Packs, and Jetboil NZ help bring these adventures to fruition and provides inspiration to others to get out and shred their local trails.
The Return to Dillon trailer currently on Tour with the Big Bike Film Night