Introducing | Ayla Thidling

Photo: One Snowboarding / Scene Images

Winter might be over but the adventure never seems to stop for Ayla Thidling. Having spent the snowy months gathering a plethora of podium places and living in Chamonix, France, 11year old Ayla is now off to sail the Pacific with her family. We here at Girlylegs love seeing the world, and really wanted to hear all about her adventures, so thought we would introduce Ayla properly to you all, and hopefully bring you her sailing stories throughout the summer.

This winter season was my most exciting so far, because I started to ride rails and halfpipe, and to do more tricks on the kickers. I also started going on camps on my own without my parents. It was a little scary at first but I got used to it quite quickly.

In January I went on Dan Wakeham’s One Snowboarding Camps in Laax, where I got to practice on the course after the Burton European Open event. Everything was shaped to perfection so it was awesome to ride. In the evenings we went to the Freestyle Academy and jumped on the trampolines…wicked!

In February I went to Whyaintyoujibbin?! Camps in Italy with Steve Addicott. I had so much fun on this camp and learnt a lot of stuff to practice on at home in our local DC Park. The park in Pila is really good and there are never any queues to get stuck in, just a lot of time to hit the kickers and rails. Steve also made an awesome video for me.

Photo: One Snowboarding / Scene Images

In March I went back to Laax, first to Dan’s One Snowboarding’s Pre Brits Camp, and then for the Brits Week. Both weeks were great and it was really fun to compete in the different events, and to meet up with friends I haven’t seen since last year’s Brits!

After the Brits, the Animal Team came to Chamonix, and we spent a week filming, doing photo shoots, and just having a good time together.

In April I went back to Steve in Italy for another Whyaintyoujibbin?! Camp. It was a great week, and as the snow was beginning to melt away, we travelled to Cervinia and La Thuile to ride. The park in Cervinia was top and had great snow cover, just like in the winter.

Now that winter is over I have a lot of school to do to finish my year on time. I do home school, so it is quite flexible, but the work still has to be done!!

We live some months of the year on a boat in the Pacific, and this year we are trying to get it all the way to Tahiti. Dad is getting the boat ready for the crossing at the moment and then we are meeting him in Tahiti in May. It can be quite a rough crossing with 3-4 weeks of open ocean in the Roaring Forties so this time we fly instead of sail as a family. When I’m on the boat I do lots of school so I can have time off in the winter, and of course fishing, swimming , paddle boarding and whatever else you can do in the water. Last year I tried diving and learnt to kitesurf. Kitesurfing is the most fun after snowboarding, I love it…Hopefully we’ll find some great spots where we can spend as much time as possible on the water. I’ll let you know when we are there!