Born near Paris, Thierry left city life for the outdoors and mountains to work as a ski instructor, a guide for rafting, water sledging and canyoning, as well as to do hiking. He first came to Wanaka in 1986 as a ski instructor and fell in love with the place, so decided to move back here permanently to run a river sledging business. Thierry sold that business in 2003 and since then has become a professional photographer and continues to guide for Eco Wanaka.