Cardiff Snowcraft hired Tanner Bell, founder and former CEO of Ragnar Relay Series, as the company’s new CEO. Bell will join Sam Bawden, Bjorn Leines and the Green Collective as an owner of Cardiff Snowcraft.
Bell’s appointment to the role of CEO comes after a long, prosperous run at Ragnar Relay Series. As a leader with extraordinary vision, Bell grew Ragnar from a single overnight relay race with 262 participants in 2004 to one of the premier endurance sports brands in the world, with over 40 road and trail races annually. Bell played a major role in raising growth capital from Dolphin Capital Group in 2006 and 2011, as well as White Road Investments and Partnership Capital Growth in 2013. In 2021, under Bell’s leadership, Ragnar was acquired by FitLab, Inc.
Among his many accolades, Utah Business Magazine named Bell to their “Forty under 40” list in 2010 at the age of 29. Bell currently serves as a board member for Utah’s Entrepreneur Association where he volunteers as a mentor for student entrepreneurs. Bell is also a Board Member and serves as Vice President of Running USA.
Additionally, Mike Schnieder, who has over 20 years of experience in the snow industry, will be the company’s new category director.
With 20+ years of snow industry experience with a focus on brand strategy, Schnieder has worked with brands such as Black Diamond Equipment, Mountain Hardwear, Sundance Resort, Fjallraven, COROS Wearables, Stance Socks, and more. His own freeride ski brand company—Surface Skis—was launched in 2004 to worldwide praise. Marketing of his novel designs, such as the 3-Stage Rocker, 3D Convex Base, polyurethane sidewall material, have led to distribution in 21 countries worldwide.
Of note, Schnieder was first to market with the Green Life, featuring his ski-design built completely from discarded factory materials. The “zero waste” approach was picked up by the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Community) and received global recognition, including from the NY Times. He brings a collaboration mindset to the snow industry, and has formed essential relationships/capsule collections with brands such as Skullcandy, National Ski Patrol, and more.
