Alexi Santorineos – Owner / Coach

As an avid snowboarder looking for something to do in the summer, Alexi was hooked on wakeboarding the first time he tried it. Unfortunately, when he started, it was a struggle to find people to ride with, gear to ride on, and boats to be pulled behind. These problems have fueled the obsession that has consumed the last 5 years of his life.

Determined to make wakeboarding much more accessible, Alexi set out to create a community of riders in the New England area that he could teach, learn from, and ride with. Thus became the Lake Champlain Board Riders. LCBR had a tremendous first year in the summer of 2004 and exposed many people to the incredible sport of Wakeboarding for the first time. The season culminated with the first ever wakeboard event to be held in Vermont. This event was extremely successful and drew riders from all over New England and nearly 5000 spectators to the shores of North Beach.

As a logical continuation of the effort to bring wakeboarding to the waters of Vermont, Alexi partnered with close friend Darin Pepin to form the first and only wakeboard School in Vermont. Together they hope to introduce as many people as possible to this fantastic sport, and to spend many hours out on the lake making new friends.

Darin Pepin – Owner / Head Coach

Darin Pepin has been wakeboarding for over 10 years. After first strapping into a Hyperlite Baff and getting pulled behind his mid-70’s 16 foot tri-hull he was hooked for good. Originally looking for a summertime crossover for snowboarding, the joys of wakeboarding quickly came into light.

After a few seasons of riding recreationally Darin began competing in the regional INT circuit in the late 90’s. Competing against the likes of Keith Lyman and Lance Richardson helped push his progression. In the fall of ’99, Darin gave up a season of snowboarding to a winter of wakeboarding in West Palm, Florida. While in Florida, he trained a bit with former X-Games Champion Jeremy Kovak, and this is also where he met former women’s three-event master’s champion April Coble. Darin then moved on to coach wakeboarding at Coble Ski School in North Carolina for the spring sessions of ’00 and ’01.

Now back in VT, Darin has been trying to share his passion for wakeboarding with as many people as possible, and help carve a spot for this recently unheard of sport here in the north east. In the spring of ’04 he met Alexi and helped to promote the Lake Champlain Board Riders and eventually host Vermont’s first ever wakeboarding event. This partnership has proved to be very successful, and the rest is writing itself.