Name: Mattia Boato
Nationality: Italian
Nickname: Boa or MattBoom!
Resort: Val d’Isère
Teaches: Ski
Favourite skis: I love my Nordica Ace of Spades, great for free style, park and pipes…
Favourite piste in Val d’Isère: The Face, it’s a challenging black and has been mentioned in ‘The 10 Toughest Runs’ before. Its long, starts off easy and is quite deceiving because as you go further down you get tired and its gets harder. Fun times!
Favourite place to ski on days off: Snowpark off course with my Ace of Spades…
Dream ski destination: I have two places, Japan and Alaska! I would love to go heli-skiing in both places. Japan is meant to be the best for powder.
Favourite food: Spaghetti Carbonara, being Italian and all!
When did you learn to ski? When I was 3 and I loved it from the start. I learnt with my family and I would like to thank them very much for making me do it as this is the best job ever.
Why did you become a ski instructor? Simple, because I wanted to ski every day and there was no other job that allowed me to do this.
How long have you been in Val d’Isère? This is my 1st season in Val d’Isère.
Which is your favourite restaurant in Val d’Isère? Phat Frog Sushi Bar, above the cinema…reasonable price, different and appetizing…
What is the best about your job? We’ll as mentioned before being able to ski every day is obviously the best thing about my job, however being able to help people enjoy skiing as much as I do is also pretty cool.
…and the worst? Oh easy, when you get cold, and Val d’Isère can be very cold. Tip for anyone coming to Val on holiday, make sure you wrap up warm in layers. Sunshine can be deceiving at over 2000 meters!
Which are your favourite lessons to teach? Another easy one, good looking girls 😉 Being serious though, I like them all! Beginners are great as you see the biggest change, children are fun as they are generally not scared of anything, adults are often challenging, and I love variety.
What are your other hobbies besides skiing? I like music a lot and I play the drums in my spare time. I like to try myself as a basketball player sometimes too!
What do you do in summer? I am a ski instructor on the other side of the world in Thredbo, Australia.
Summer or winter? Winter, winter all the way.