Former professional snowboarder, he has traveled the world always looking for snow and mountains to conquer, now he travels the world to help the guys of the Italian national snowboard team to realize their secret dream, becoming true snowboard pros. In his free time, on the other hand, he lives 100% immersed in nature with his passions, away from chaos and rush.
How much lucky do you feel to live and work in a world that you are passionate about?
I feel really lucky! Being able to turn my passion into a job is a crazy goal and a wonderful feeling: I always love to go to work.
You are very passionate about many outdoor activities such as mountain biking, snowboarding, hiking but also about nature photography. Where did these passions come from and how did they develop?
Sport has always been a fundamental aspect for me, as well as the many activities I practice outdoors. Over time, together with snowboarding, I began to cultivate other outdoor passions, such as fly fishing: a passion that I developed while fishing in the sea as a child with my grandfather and my parents.
Among other outdoor sports, I like downhill mountain biking. In fact, I have always been passionate about bikes, whether they are on regular or motorized ones. In recent years I have fallen in love with photography, especially nature/wildlife photography. This passion led me to spend my days in the mountains and in the woods looking for animals to shoot, sometimes even spending several hours with no results at all. Although I’ve never been interested in looking for a job as a photographer, I had some requests for prints of my shots and project proposals. One of the biggest jobs I’ve done involved the advertising campaign for a line of latest generation phones: I must say it was a super positive experience! I also recently won a photo contest related to snowboarding, so I feel very satisfied.
You live the mountains to the fullest, what do you personally do to fight climate change?
I have a lot of respect for animals and nature, in fact I use the bike as much as possible, but we all should do much more, starting from me.
How important is for someone who works and lives constantly outdoors to be well equipped with clothing? What advice would you give in order to fight cold?
Certainly clothing is an essential aspect to better enjoy the outdoors, whether on the snow or on a bike. Even for disciplines such as fly fishing, hiking and photography it is mandatory to have the right equipment, because there are often many hours of waiting and there is not always a mild climate. Dressing in layers with quality materials is very useful to enjoy the day but also to stay safe: the weather can change suddenly in high mountains and not being prepared in terms of clothing can be quite dangerous.
Where are you traveling next?
I’ve just got back from a month of training in Saas Fee in Switzerland, so now I would like to spend some time with my family. Soon I’ll be traveling together with the national team to Stubai, Austria, a great cold awaits us, but also very beautiful mountains.
One last thing, why people call you Aie The Tiger?
(Laughs) This nickname has persisted for over 20 years and I assume both for the ability I had on the snowboard… but also for my personality!
