Profile snowkite rider ABoards Kiteboarding 2010: Thomas Ligonnet

Nationality: 1/2 french 1/2 spanish
Date of birth: 28/06/1973
Lives: Cadiz (Spain) Chamonix (France)
Sponsors:  ABoards Kiteboarding, Ozone kites, Kitefrenzy
Gear: Aboards snowkiteboard 158cm, Ozone kites
Personal website: www.kite-eyes.com

Started riding: Snowboard in 1985, Kitboarding 1999, Snowkiting 2000
Industry experience: R&D for Rossignol snowboards, R&D for ABoards Kiteboarding snowkiteboard, snow & ski instructor, photoshoots for KiteWorld, Kiteboarder, Sideoff.
Competitions: French snowboard half´pipe champion 1998, Andalucian kiteboard champion 2009, 9th kpwt 2009 Portugal… Did to many competition on my snowboard don’t like it any more…

LIKES: Spending quality time with my family wife and daughter, surfing nice glassy waves with just a few more surfers, snowboarding in the powder with my friends, and any peace full place like the  hight mountains of Chamonix… People that show respect to other and to nature

Favorite riding style: All type, free-riding, waves, powder, wake style, big airs
Best spots: Chamonix 4 snow, caños de meca (spain) & the cost of marroco
Favorite tricks: flat backside 3 indy…

What motivates you:  good condiciones and places, like nice flat water with soft wind’s, wave with stronger wind’s, Powder snow…
Lesson of life: Show respect to people and places and take your time
DISLIKES: egoists,  bad attitide, mainly people that think or act like they are the center of the univers, shoppy water and snow, my new surfboard getting ding..

Worst kiteboarding moment: Snowkiting up a long and steep (+35º)couloir, been over powered and getting to the top ( maybe 200m from start) the wind was got stronger and stronger and  i got lifted in the air and started flying back into the valley (would have been a verry big  and hight and long flight…) but my kite droped me back down in the midel of a rock fiel, luckily  i failed in the snow) then the kite sarted falling and got powered up again and drag me arround for a few metres then it finaly crashed behind a rock and got un-powered… I went down snowboarding the same shoot straight to the car and drove 600km back home (it was on a trip to Bernina Pass in Switzerland)

Source: www.aboards.eu

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