Rider Profile - Freeride snowboarding
Name: Xavier DE LE RUE
Hometown: Bayonne, France
Birthdate: 1 July 1979
Sponsors:
Nissan, Rossignol, The North Face, Swatch, SNCF, Dakine, St Lary
Favourite tunes?
I like soul music
Favourite resort?
Chamonix
Who’s your favourite superhero?
I would say Hulk because he looks funny
Words: Antonio Fersini
How long have you been riding for?
I started skiing when I was two and snowboarding when I was 13 so that’s basically 17 years ago.
What made you switch?
Skiing at that time was pretty rigid and I was all about skateboarding. I was young, I wanted to go crazy, experience new things, go jumping, ride powder and that’s what I discovered with snowboarding.
Will you ever get back into skiing?
Well, I still ski but I prefer the feeling of being on a snowboard. It depends on the snow conditions though. If the snow is hard then skiing might be easier but in powder I think there’s nothing better than snowboarding
We hear you love filming gnarly freeride shots, what can we expect to see you doing?
Last season I was involved in some really interesting projects. We were camping in Alaska for two to three weeks, staying in a tent and hiking some lines – doing everything on foot. I also went to Greenland. We went to the mountains on a boat and choose our lines from the water – that was some core action…
Do you prefer to be behind or in front of the camera?
I don’t really go behind the camera. I always try to work with the same cameraman and photographer. I have a good relationship with them, we understand each other a lot and have the same goal of making something very cool. It is actually more fun than competing because you can share it with people, even with people that don’t know anything about it. Freeriding is cool enough to make my parents and grandparents go WOW. I just like that I can share the pleasure I have from snowboarding
You have represented France in boardercross and freeride competitions across the globe. How does that feel?
I grew up snowboarding and being patriotic is not really part of the culture. I don’t really feel like “VIVE LA FRANCE”, I’ve never been like that. I like to see French people doing well because I’m their usually my friends. Competing in the Olympics is something special because its great that people who have no clue about snowboarding take time to look at our sport and try understand what we do.
You’ve won multiple world championship titles and an X Games gold competing in boardercross, and more recently you've won Freeride titles too. When and why did you decide to get into freeriding?
I always been freeriding. Freeriding was basically the reason why I snowboard. I’ve become known more for boardercross because there’s been more media coverage of it, but since I started filming and doing the Nissan Freeride World Tour more people have seen that I can also freeride.
You are one of the fastest guys on one plank, do you ever get scared?
I discovered a few years ago that speed was my friend. Even if I go faster then the others I don’t feel that I go crazy fast – I usually feel that I could go faster. Going faster also makes jumps a lot easier and it’s easier to control the board. We all find our style at some point and this must be pretty much my style. I also ride fast for safety reasons; if you ride fast you put less pressure on the snow and in an avalanche it's easier to get out of its way.
You were caught in a huge avalanche freeriding between France and Switzerland. Has that changed the way you snowboard?
First of all I had the chance to check if I was really in love with boarding. If I wasn't I would have stopped for sure. I tumbled for two kilometres and was knocked unconscious it’s the worst situation you could ever get in the mountain. Now it’s been two years since that day and I have really changed. I choose my terrain carefully and I have a very good reason to say no. Before I could always say “No, I don’t feel it but I’m going to do it anyway” but last year I said “ no I don’t feel it” and I didn't do it. People that work with me know what happened and they are totally cool about it. So I guess I have become more grown-up in that sense. The risk of being involved in an avalanche is something that you cannot control, the mountain has control. There are a few rules to help you minimize the risk but at the end of the day, it’s something very difficult to judge.
What’s on your essential kit list for freeriding?
Nowadays, freeriders always have a transceiver, a shovel and a backpack, which is the basic kit, but more and more people are now using Air Backpack System – ABS. I think it’s really great because if you're just using a transceiver you need to know how to use it properly and you’re relying on other freeriders to be able to dig you out. With ABS, the system works in a way that keeps you floating on top of the avalanche and that reduces your chances of dying, big time. And now after what happened to me I am very thankful to the ABS system.
How do you pick the perfect line?
I don’t know…imagine if you try to describe the perfect piece of art – it’s impossible. There are so many different factors…it all depends on the mountain and its conditions.
The core things is that you can make the best looking face look ugly or the worst looking face look beautiful. It’s all about aesthetics, performance and speed.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a pro?
Well if I weren't a pro I’m sure I would be enjoying the same sports because they are a big part of my life and I guess I would be having a standard life with a normal job …I don’t know, maybe something would have caught my attention the way snowboarding did but it’s hard to say…I never planned on becoming a snowboarder, I just got this present from life.
Photos: © freerideworldtour.com / C. MARGOT / DomDaher / D. DAHER / J Hadik
Special thanks to Nissan
Nissan are the co-founder and title partner of the Freeride World Tour 2011. Watch footage of the Nissan Freeride World Tour at www.freerideworldtour.com
Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard Magazine
