The sight of a skier walking up steps along the Great Wall of China with official Chinese personnel flanking them is not a scene in a typical ski movie.
But Candide Thovex is not your typical skier.
The French freeskiing legend Thovex announced via a video posted to his social media channels on Monday that he is set to publish a new web series. The only detail Thovex, 36, shared was that the series will document the behind-the-scenes process of his “Ski The World” video that was released by the car company Audi a year ago.
The original five-minute video showcases Thovex skiing seemingly impossible lines — all of them void of any snow — in such majestic and historic locations as the Great Wall of China, the colorful mountains of Tabriz in Iran and amid the terra-cotta army in China.
Thovex’s new four-plus minute intro video published Monday appears to be the first in Thovex’s web series. The video also shows Thovex’s behind-the-scenes experiences of meeting locals at the chosen remote locations all across the globe.
Thovex says in the video that the work that went into last year’s “Ski The World” short film included nine months of research and three months of filming. The ensuing scenes show Thovex in full ski gear riding his Faction skis down such terrain as sand, scree, stone and grass.
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The locals in such locations as Jamaica, Iran and China enthusiastically regard Thovex as “Skiaman.” In one scene, Thovex plays soccer in ski boots with Iranian children at the foot of the Tabriz Mountains. Other scenes showcase the amazed reactions of the Chinese officials and Jamaican men when Thovex shows them the Faction skis he was using to ski the snow-less locations.
In total, the video features footage from Jamaica, Iceland, Turkey, Peru, Spain, China, Italy, Iran and even waves off the coast of Wales. In one clip, Thovex goes as far as to ride a motorized-parachute high above sand dunes in preparation to drop in to ski a long and winding sand line.
To view the video and learn move above Thovex’s series, visit Facebook.com/CandideThovex.