Candide Thovex

My hero is one of the best skiing freestylers of all time. He has kind of stirred up the world of snow riding. He also has given a new impetus to skiing, this sport which was losing the limelight because of the snowboard. He also brought a new blood into the ski picture.

His name? Candide Thovex. He was born on the 22th of May 1982, in Annecy, Haute-savoie. He has always lived in La Clusaz, the ski station where he learnt how to ski when he was only two. He does every sport on the snow, like snowboarding, skiing, freeriding, freestyling (in nature or in urban areas). Candide is known all around the world as the best skier of the new generation. Even in the USA, which is a state where fresstyling is very popular and where a lot of freestylers come from, his supremacy is recognized. His career actually began in 2000 when he won a gold medal at the X-Games, a contest which is known as the most impressive winter sports event. But my hero was skiing a long time before. In 1996, he was French champion of mogul skiing. Then, since 1999 he wins more than an international professional contest a year.

But my hero is not only a skier, he's also an artist. He has founded his own production company, with one of his friends, Lionel Gehin. His filmography is quite important: he has produced six films called "Rastafaride", and every year he produces "La nuit de la glisse", a film showing some impressive riding videos. By filming a lot of his achievements, and a lot of countries he visits, he's given a really beautiful picture of the mountains all around the world. In some of his videos, he tries to teach to his fans how to ski as well as he does and to teach the respect for the mountains. He also designs his skis and his clothes. Candide has actually invented a new style of freestyling.

But you might wonder how I've heard of him. My best friend was one of his biggest fans and he was always speaking to me about him. Two years ago, I was practising a lot of my sport and I didn't have the time to go skiing. so I decided to cure this lack of mountains by videos. That's when I saw Candide for the first time. It was the first "Rastafaride" and when I watched it, there wasn't any other solution: Candide was, to my mind, the greatest skier.

But what really made him my hero?? To be honest, after seeing the film, I searched some photos or videos of him on the internet. Whenever I watch one of Candide's videos, I see some beautiful pictures of mountains, beautiful sports pictures and it makes me dream. It also reminds me of my home and the time when I could go skiing.

Moreover, every time I know that Candide is skiing, I know that realizing someone's dream, like he does, is possible. Whenever I think something is falling down, or whenever I'm not sure of my choice, I try to think about Candide. A freestyler is someone who doesn't look back. When he's arriving in front of the jump, he just has to go on because his speed is too high to stop. I'm sure that I will never be like Candide, but I try to adopt his state of mind: thinking before doing and not both together.