Rider profile

Name: Aurelién Ducroz

Hometown: Chamonix, France

Birthdate: 20 October 1982

Sponsors: Nissan, Dynastar, Helly Hansen, POC, Alpina Watches, Chamonix

Favourite tunes? Renaud

Favourite resort? Chamonix

The French freeskier with a passion for the environment is currently competing on the Nissan Freeride World Tour. We talk skiing, sailing and being an eco-warrior

When did you first learn to ski and where?

When I was two-years-old in Chamonix

How did you get into freeskiing?

I was born in Chamonix to a Mountain guide family and I’ve been living in the mountains all my life so freeriding came pretty naturally to me.

We hear you can snowboard too, do you still board?

I still snowboard sometimes, but not a lot. I prefer skiing because it’s a lot more practical when you are in the mountains for things like hiking and traversing.

You clearly like a challenge, what would be your ultimate challenge?

I don’t know yet but I’ll find one.

What has been your biggest skiing achievement?

Winning the Freeride World Tour in 2009.

What is the best place and run you have ever ridden?

I think it was in Chamonix in 2009 in the Nord Est des Courtes an incredible run in incredible conditions.

If you could ride anywhere in the world where would it be?

South Georgia

Is there a skier that inspires you?

There are a few including Hugo Harrison, Seth Morrisson and Jeremy Nobis.

What is on your essential kit list for freeriding?

Arva tranceiver, probe, shovel, a helmet and back protection.

We hear you live in an eco-friendly house in Chamonix, can you tells us about it?

It’s a full wood house with a lot of windows to let the sun in. There’s also a water tank to collect rainwater. I built it myself over two years and it was very important for me to make it as eco-friendly as possible. I spend my life among nature so I like to think I am aware about what’s good for her and what’s not.

You’re swapping your skis for sails in September 2011 when you attempt a solo crossing of the Atlantic in the Transat 6.50 competition, how do the two sports compare?

The two sports are totally different but the approach is the same – the security, the feeling, the responsibility, the decision-making. Nature makes those two sports really similar to each other. The biggest challenge on the Atlantic will be being alone for a whole month without any communication and I still don’t know how I’ll be able to do it.

You’re clearly an adrenalin junkie – what other sports or events do you get involved in?