Above: How fun does this pre-game warm up run look?

Is it still a necessary step for every young rider?

I wouldn’t say it is necessary but I think it’s important for a rider to go through a bit of a competition period. It forces you to train harder, to try new things and to have some goals. It allows you to compare yourself to other riders and to see where you’re at. But I would say that in order to really make a career in competition you have to have the right mindset and the discipline that goes with it. Today, the level in contests has made them very demanding and you really have to work hard on your tricks and on your runs. It takes a lot of time to train, which is not necessarily the funnest part. I mean, it’s not the best way to have good feelings of fun and freedom – you need to have precise goals and you need to crank it to reach them. You spend days, weeks and sometimes months repeating the same runs to get them under your skin; it’s hard really. Fortunately there is a huge reward when you do your best run in a contest and you have a good result! It’s always a great feeling of achievement.

There’s hardly any French riders competing at high level, at least consistently. What are the reasons, for you, that France sucks at competitive snowboarding?

Well, if we talk about training facilities and general infrastructures on the mountain, there’s hardly any compared to some other Euro countries. Today in France, the resorts and the scene seems to be happy with cool Sunday parks, that are good to ride with friends. Some are really fun and original, like the one in Les Arcs or others, but frankly they are not at the standard of what the high level requires today. That’s one reason, I guess. And it’s the same for halfpipe – there’s pretty much nothing, compared to what we should have if we wanted to perform. And the problem is that’s probably the first step to bring kids to competition and create new champions.

Do you think it’s a shame?

Definitely. The French kids don’t have the same chances if they want to start doing competitions, that’s for sure. It’s actually a real shame because we have everything we need for skiing, so why not snowboarding? I don’t know all the political or economical reasons behind it, but there’s also the fact that snowboarding is not even taken seriously in France by the authorities. It’s under the ski umbrella and it sucks. Plus resorts want to monetize their parks, so they’re better of building kids/beginners parks. Plus they don’t have to worry about injuries: all good for them, but bad for us I guess. We should have decent training grounds in France, but we’re far from it: that’s a reality. And nobody seems ready to put money on the table or take any decisions about that.

So moving to backcountry was a very normal for you, but still, was it hard to manage?

Actually, since I started snowboarding, I’ve always loved to ride in fresh pow with my friends each and every time we could find some. But due to the demands of contests, I had less and less time and opportunities to go and ride pow. And slowly but surely, I started feeling that I was losing appetite for contests; I was not happy with the format. So I needed to do something else and to reclaim some sort of freedom that is, for me, really essential in snowboarding. The freedom to ride the spots I wanted to, to do the tricks I wanted to, to follow the snowfalls and to have fun with just a few friends!

Below: Ain’t no failing with Vale’s front 7 tailing. 

Good to hear, we think you can be indeed! What about this winter’s plans?

This winter I’m filming again with Almo Films. I feel good with this crew, we’ve all known each other for a really long time. Every session is a pleasure, and I really like the way their work, and the result of course. Next to this, I’m going to be involved in other projects. Vans will carry on with the ‘First Layer’ project – a 10-15 minutes video with riders from the European team, accompanied with a great photo book by Matt Georges. We are off to Japan to film all of this and I think it’s pretty exciting!!!
There is also Volcom, my main sponsor, that is trying to put me on a trip with the Method crew, they are going produce a film this year.

And finally, there is the ‘John Doe’ session at Les Arcs at the end of the season. We are really into it and I get more involved with my friends from “L’amicale du Snowboard”, and with the support of Les Arcs resort itself and the sponsors, we really want to develop the event further and make it a big end of season rendez-vous. We have loads of ideas and we are preparing some heavy shit for this new edition! By the way, I hope to see you on April 9th and 10th in Les Arcs to give you all your dose of fun!

Was your career ever at risk with the retirement of APO? Did you fear anything at the time?

I never doubted that I would continue to ride as a pro. But I couldn’t get another sponsor for boards because there is basically a world war about money for most of the brands in the industry. Since then I’ve been riding Volcom boards, because I don’t want to accept a cheap deal from another brand. And for now it’s perfectly fine like this because the Volcom boards are not yet on the market, so it draws attention. I’m ready to go again with a new brand if there is a good deal and if there is a common goal on the long-term.

Above: Backside 540.

Which crew do you ride with most nowadays?

It’s always changing and that’s what’s fun about it! I rode a lot with Coin-Coin, Tyler [Chorlton] and Johann Baisamy during the WhatWeWant times. Now I ride with the Almo boys so I spent a big part of the last season with Victor De Le Rue and Victor Daviet. And as soon as I have the opportunity, I love to get some good sessions with my friends Olivier Gittler and Arthur Longo, on top of my friends in Les Arcs with whom I ride withon a regular basis… In short I ride and have fun with a lot of different crews and that is what I like about snowboarding, we all get along really well and we are always really motivated to meet and go shred together!

Which riders would you say you look up to?

Arthur is one of the riders I’ve admired the most for several years and I’m not saying this because he’s my friend! Whatever he’s riding, he’s so at ease and with a great style. Really crazy to shred with him, we have fun on anything. Otherwise there is the RK1 crew, they post video after video and they are all totally mental. They are so creative on the park, and committed at the same time, big up!

You’ve been travelling around a bunch, but is there a place you are still dreaming of riding?

For snowboarding, there are still destinations where I never had the chance to go. I dream of going at least once to Alaska. It must be so amazing to be up there at the top of a remote mountain like this! If I don’t have the opportunity to do this trip within my career, I would love to make myself this present as a post-career fun trip, with a few good friends, just to have fun!

I really want to ride Mammoth too, in spring or summer time maybe. I have never been there and I think it’s still a destination that is a must for a rider nowadays, like it’s always been pretty much. I am under the impression that this spot, since the beginning of freestyle, has always been at the top of the list and it’s a bit weird but I am also under the impression that everybody went there except me! So I want my trip to Mammoth!

Finally there are the Andes mountains that I never had the opportunity to go to. And when I think about it, I immediately see beautiful landscapes that come to my mind, so I also dream of doing a big trip to Argentina!