The governing body announced his resignation with "sadness but positive reflection".

Light has led New Zealand snow sports athletes at three Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and believes now is the time to leave with just under three years before Beijing 2022.

During his tenure the country won its first Winter Olympic medals for 26 years as freestyle skier Nico Porteous and snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won bronze in the halfpipe and big air respectively at Pyeongchang 2018.

Alpine skier Adam Hall also won Paralympic gold medals in 2010 and 2018 in the slalom standing.

Light served as Chef de Mission for the 2014 and 2018 Winter Paralympic teams.

"Ashley says that he has been inspired by the commitment and drive to achieve excellence of the athletes and their support staff and will continue to be so throughout his life," Snow Sports NZ said.

"Ashley took a hands-on approach to his role and he was delighted to be able to attend many major international events and witness first-hand New Zealand athletes winning on the world-stage."

Light will now take on a new role which will allow him to spend more time with his family in Queenstown.

Snow Sports NZ's recruitment process to find a replacement has started with the news coming at a time of change for the organisation.

Jan Shearer was appointed as the new chief executive earlier this month after previously holding the role on an acting basis for 15 months.

She has now stepped down from the Board.

"Jan has worked with the Snow Sports NZ senior management team to continue to enhance the business as we move through the next four year cycle," the governing body said.

"She has also worked closely with the Alpine community to bring together a new strategy for that sport and has been involved in a number of work streams being undertaken by Sport NZ and High Performance Sport NZ to build on the success Snow Sports NZ achieved with its high performance athletes in the last winter Olympic and Paralympic Games."