A word with Chasta

World snowkite champion Guillaume “Chasta” Chastagnol is one of the world’s most talented boardriders. Chasta grew up on a diet of snowboarding and skiing in the French Alps.

In the 1990s, he became one of the top pro snowboarders in the world, representing France in the Nagano Winter Olympics where he placed 4th in the half-pipe event. Chasta is as committed as ever to riding the earth’s most killer terrain and snowkiting is now his main passion. He’s a key member of Ozone’s R+D team. “I’ve been addicted to snowboarding for 15 years and I started snowkiting 6 years ago,” says Chasta.”It’s a sport that gives me the feeling I want and allows me to go wherever I want- it really gives me true freedom in the mountains.”I began with a really small kite, 3m2, then I discovered really quickly that I needed a bigger one to go faster up the mountain so I could freeride down. The kite’s really easy to pack up on the top, it only takes 2 minutes, and if the wind stays good you can just go back up again- so now I see the mountain in 3 dimensions… it’s a truly fantastic feeling.

“I entered lots of freestyle snowboarding, so it was logical to do the same stuff with my kite. You can land really softly on the flat snow and do some crazy big jumps, and you can mix the styles of wakeboarding, skate, surfing, paragliding… and it’s still only the beginning of the sport!”Ozone has worked like crazy to develop the sport of snowkiting and to develop the best tools available. We push ourselves really hard, to develop products and the ability to ride with total freedom. “If you want to check it out, try to find a school first so you can learn and progress as fast and as safely as possible. “The wind is everywhere, so never forget your kites - in the mountains, on the beach, over the grass or in the water, anything is possible. See you out there!”

Ride safe, Chasta