[2] Candide Thovex was born in Annecy, in the Haute-Savoie area of France, and grew up in the village of La Clusaz.

[citation needed] In 1997 Thovex signed his first professional sponsorship contract with leading Australian action sports brand Quiksilver.

[citation needed] In 2000 Thovex returned to the United States to compete in the Gravity Games in Mammoth, California, where he won the Big Air contest.

He continued competing and his contest results remained solid, dominating the Big Air events, winning two in New Zealand, one in Lebanon and another in Switzerland.

[citation needed] In 2003, according to the Association of Freeskiing Professionals, "Candide Thovex and CR Johnson change the face of halfpipe skiing at Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado by going bigger than any of the snowboarders.

[citation needed] In 2006, Thovex helped to design and build one of the largest quarter-pipes, and set a world record with a jump of 33 feet (about 10 meters) above the coping.

[24] Thovex's role in the project was to help build a jump on top of the Mont Blanc and then perform tricks off of it.

[25] In an interview posted on the website of French lifestyle magazine Paris Match, Thovex said it was "the hardest jump of my life".

He won 2 of the 5 categories on offer, taking the prize for the Beatcan Best Line, and was named the E-Adrenaline Public Choice Winner.

[36][37] Powder, a reference in the sport of skiing summed it up simply on the website of the magazine: "Candide doesn't need snow".

[40] In the edit, Candide skies on the Great Wall of China and Monoglian statues, the jungle and a beach in Jamaica.

Thovex continues to be very popular in the American ski community, finishing in one of the top 3 places in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 editions of the Powder Magazine Readers Poll.

[44] Thovex is the organizer of the Candide Invitational in his hometown of La Clusaz, a competition which gathers freestyle skiing and snowboarding's best talents.