Luca Gottardo is one of the many polyhedric athletes in the Dainese Team who epitomises the company's universal philosophy of bringing the concepts of safety and perfection originally developed for motorcycle racing to other dynamic sports like skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking and water-sports.
After riding the waves with his kite-surf, Luca keeps in shape in the winter by developing his skill in the brand-new and spectacular sport of snow-kiting.
The photos at the side were snapped by Roberta Pala of "Stance" last January at the first leg of the Italian Snow-kiting Tour in Campo Imperatore (Aquila), in truly stupendous conditions of wind and snow.
The participants began 3 heats of racing over a special, marked-off track around a frozen lake. The first heat was the toughest: the roaring wind was just right for a medium-sized wing (14 sq m) but take-off wasn't easy. Although Luca didn't get going until a minute or so after his adversaries, he came in 5th after some crafty duelling and jockeying aboard his kite.
The second and third heats were less kind, and our Dainese flag-bearer missed the start (along with more than a few other competitors). By the time the third heat was run (or flown), the wind had died down to a light breeze, and most of the athletes fell back to earth immediately after take-off…and had to walk back home with their tails between their legs, as it were.
Despite the misadventures above, Luca Gottardo claimed 12th place - not a bad result, all in all. The experience was extremely useful in testing the response of the materials supplied by Dainese (in this case, the Whistler Flight Suit in the Snow Collection).
Now we're eager to see the splendid shots of Luca in "summer" attire. Stay tuned for more.