Name: Ian Thorley
Gender: Mens
Age: n/a
Country:
Board: Flow
Clothing: Sessions
BIO:

Full Name: Ian Dean Thorley
DOB: 10/16/1986
Home Town: Marquette MI
Home Mountain: Waterville valley NH
Years riding: 14 years
Winter Home: North Star CA
Favorite Place to Ride: Palma at Waterville Valley
Favorite Conditions: Sunny
Pipe/Park/Powder: Powder/Park/Pipe
Sponsors: Forum, Oakley, 525 East, Four Square.
Influences: Bill Enos, My Parents, Eric Dawe
Favorite riders: Eero Ettala, Travis Rice, Tim Humphries, Andreas Wiig.
Biggest Hobby: Turbochargers

 Q and A
What made you start snowboarding?
When I was young my parents put me on skis before I could walk. With the Ski hill only 5 miles from my house it’s fair to say that I spent a good amount of time out there. I use to always watch snowboarders at my local mountain and soon I convinced my dad to try it out with me. From that day on I was hooked.
What was your first snowboard?
I had a Kemper Sling Shot 130. I use to think that it was the best board in the world. Looking back on it I remember that I must have had close to 5 pounds of stickers plastered on that thing.
Who did you look up to when you were young?
When I was young I use to look up to the older kids at my mountain. That was one of the big advantages I had growing up. My local mountain had some of the best snowboarders. No one ever really knew them because we were in Marquette MI but they had more talent than a lot of the big names. Once I grew up I started to look up to the guys that were doing what I wanted to do so badly. Kevin Jones was one of those guys I think for a lot of us along with JP Walker.
If you weren’t snowboarding where would you be?
If I wasn’t snowboarding I would probably be finishing up school. I am currently working on my Entrepreneurship degree. Besides that I think I would look into getting my real estates license and possibly working something out with that. For fun I would definitely do a lot more Auto Crossing which could be the most entertaining thing I have ever done.


In August, I had a chance to go to Lake Placid, New York, with Bill Enos and the Waterville Valley Snowboard Team. Bill asked me to come along and coach the kids with long time friend Greg Maxwell and Atomic's heavy hitter Matt Beardmore. Bill has been my coach since 2003 when I joined the Waterville Valley Academy in New Hampshire. At WV, I went to class for one-on-one teaching in the morning, and rode with a coach in the afternoon.

Lake Placid's facilities have one of the few snowboard water ramps. The in-run is a plastic material that resembles a thin carpet. The take-off is set on hydraulics so you can adjust the pitch. Once air-born you can safely try new tricks before hitting the water, which is softened by a bubble system. This facility really is great for learning new things in a safe environment. After spending 3 days on the ramps I tried some tricks that might come in handy this winter.