Ayla Thidling has the sort of life that most of us can only dream of. Born in London in 1999 and now living half the year in France and the other half on a boat in the Pacific she is competition winning snowboarder who rides for Animal, GNU and ZeroG Chamonix and amongst wakeboarding , mountain biking and trampolining, she is now an accomplished kite surfer.
Did we mention she also speaks English, French, Swedish and is learning Spanish, ..and all at only 13 !!
Like you we don’t really know what to say next, ..so I think it is time to meet her.
KSm: Ayla, tell us how this all started?
Ayla: Having parents that love an active life and believe that kids should spend as much time as possible outdoors! I spent my first year camping in a tent in the Australian outback which might tell you something.
KSm: Our research tells us that spend your time between the mountains in France and a boat in the Pacific. How did this come about?
Ayla: We moved to France when I was 1 year old because my parents wanted us to grow up with an outdoor lifestyle, but had had enough of camping. They had been ski bums (a very long time ago) and wanted to go back to the mountains.
As for the boat, they had sailed together in the Mediterranean (an even longer time ago), used to windsurf and had gotten into kitesurfing, so wanted to be at sea too. After 20 years of talking about it they finally got a boat and we went away for 5 months. The whole family loved it so we kept going back every summer for the past few years. In the winter my parents work at home and in the summer they can work on the computer so we are very lucky in that way.
KSm: How did a love of the snow turn into a pursuit of competition from such a young age?
Ayla: In Chamonix competitions start pretty much from when you first join your sports club. We would train a couple of days a week and go to competitions on the weekends. I enjoyed it a lot so I kept it up.
KSm: You ride for Team GB in Border-Cross, …does this mean you have olympic dreams, and does this also mean you get your fair share of bumps and bruises potentially more than you would in freestyle alone?
Ayla: The Olympics are a long way away but I definitely want to take part one day. Each discipline has to some extent it’s own bumps and bruises in different places so I guess the answer is yes.
KSm: Do you still find the time to just ride and enjoy your time on the mountain with your friends and family?
Ayla: I get time to ride with friends and family too, but I’m lucky in that most of my training is with girls I’ve known for years and have a really good time with. To me fun is the most important aspect of snowboarding so if training and competing wasn’t fun I wouldn’t be doing it. Of course it is hard sometimes, but I know that if I wasn’t challenged enough I’d get bored and that is worse than going through the tough times.
KSm: Tell us a bit about how you got into kitesurfing?
Ayla: My parents started to kitesurf on summer holidays when I was about 2 years old and we kids tagged along on the beach. When I was 3 we got a training kite to play with and that was the start of it. By the time I was 11 and had been on bigger kites for a while it clicked, I was hooked and it was something I wanted to do as soon as the wind picked up.
KSm: You seem to have kited in some pretty amazing locations, do you have a favourite?
Ayla: I learnt in New Caledonia at Ilot Maitre which is a very special place. Pink Sands in Rangiroa, French Polynesia is also an awesome spot, and Venus Point on Tahiti which nearly always has wind.
KSm: Do you ever miss the normal life of homework and house parties that people would expect a girl of your age to be doing?
Ayla: I have plenty of school work to do on my high school correspondence program so I don’t have time to miss any homework, that’s for sure. When I’m in France I get a lot of time to hang out with my friends even if I ride and study most days. They nearly all snowboard so on days off school we meet on the mountain. Some evenings we are all caught up in homework and chores, some evenings we get together and watch a movie, make something to eat together and have sleepovers, so it’s all fairly standard girl stuff.
When I was younger there were always lots of boat kids around, and we’d meet the same boats every year and hang out together. Now that I’m older most kids my age are in school or on land, but we always meet some boat kids. If there is no one around we do loads of school work to get ahead and then go kiting!
KSm: When your not in board-wear or a wetsuit, how would you describe your style?
Ayla: Pretty casual; in summer I wear shorts and a T-shirt, and in winter jeans, a shirt and a hoodie…
KSm: Do you have anything that you always take with you when you travel?
Ayla: My Total Pillow which is a doughnut shaped travel pillow.
KSm: Any secret beauty tips for the other young girls spending their days on the beach or in the mountains?
Ayla: Sun cream 50+ for the face and conditioner for the hair after the shower. No make up (obviously) and cover up as much as possible from the sun….
KSm: Do you have any words of advice for other young girls who might want to make their hobby into something more?
Ayla: Set yourself goals to achieve and when you’ve reached those set new ones. Don’t be mad at yourself if it’s not going well (easier said than done) and keep trying and eventually you’ll get there.
KSm: Where do you see yourself in 10 years? (and still younger than us is not a valid answer :P)
Ayla: I’d love to be a pro snowboarder or maybe a pro kite boarder if I get that good…I want my studies to be finished so I can just enjoy the snow and the water. :D
Ayla thank you so much for talking to us, it has honestly been a pleasure and we wish you all the best for the future and what it may bring. Please keep us and our readers updated and whether it is the snow, the water or both.
