Gian Simmen

GIAN SIMMEN

Gian Simmen is the guy who snuck in through the back door only to become one of snowboarding’s most respected and successful riders. Originally from Chur, Switzerland, Gian first tried his hand at snowboarding at the tender age of 12. Some 9 years later, Gian decided to turn pro before soaring into the record books at the age of 21 with his first major win – at the world's first ever Snowboarding Olympic Halfpipe event at Nagano in 1998. The young star of Swiss snowboarding went from Olympic Champion to two-time World Halfpipe Champion and scooped every major accolade in between. Forging his own brand of progressive riding, Gian's constant quest for the best riding conditions has seen him pin-balling between the US, Europe, and Canada each year. In 2006, Gian competed in his third successive Olympic Games.

Born: 19 February 1977

From: Krattigen, Switzerland

Style: Freestyle, powderstyle… but most of all, style is important.

Best trick: BS Air in the Pipe, BS 720 chicken salad on kickers

Tell us something about you: “I love snowboarding”

If I could ride anywhere in the world… I would go to Alaska and ride powder. It’s such a big playground for snowboarding. I would take it easy at first, but hopefully after a while I would be riding more challenging lines.

Competing with the young kids at Evolution… is really good. For me it’s fun to see how the level was back then and how it is right now. I’m 31 – those guys are at least 13 years younger than me. It’s good to ese they still have the right spirit towards snowboarding. They want to ride from sun up to sun down and ride everything, which is great.

The riders I looked up to before turning pro were… Terje Haakonsen, Peter Line, Jeff Brushie, Craig Kelly. Still to this day they are kind of my idols.

Five years from now… I will have a nice house a family and still be doing tones of snowboarding!

Snowboarding is… one of the best jobs you can have… but it’s not as easy as it seems. A lot of people just think you go out and ride but there’s a lot more to it.