The Downhill Sailor - Aurelien Ducroz

2009 Freeride World Champion Aurélien Ducroz will be showing off more than just his freeride skills in Chamonix this weekend. He’ll also be christening his new trans-Atlantic racing sailboat on Friday at the Place Balmat at 18:30. Yachting shoes not required.

 

FWT: Most people in the skiing world know you as one of the best freeriders in the world but what many people don’t know is that you're also a competitive sailor. Tell us about it.

Aurélien: Everything started in 2007 when a sailor asked me to be the godfather of his boat. I went there and he was a super cool guy, sailing on a super cool boat, and for me it was a whole new thing. I’d been sailing a little bit with my grandfather, you know, sailing around the bay a little bit in the south of France but never in the Atlantic and never on a competition boat. When I came back home I was like, ‘Wow! That’s what I want to do.’ So in 2008 I started this qualification program and in 2009, after I won the Freeride World Tour I won a little bit of prize money so I bought a boat. It was a pretty old boat but it was still quite a cool boat, full carbon and everything. And all my ski sponsors joined me on the sailing project and it was hard for me because I needed to learn everything super fast on a super technical boat. I moved to Bretagne for six months and when I went there I had never sailed by myself, I had never spent a night on my boat, and in Bretagne it was only solo sailing so it was a big deal for me. My objective was to qualify for a trans-Atlantic race and although I broke my mast and had electronics problems – it was an old boat so everything broke all the time – I managed to qualify so it was a super cool year. The new boat is being prepared for the start of the trans-Atlantic race on the 25^th of September 2011 so it’s cool. It’s fun.

 

FWT: Tell us about your new boat.

Aurélien: It’s a six-and-a-half meter boat so it’s super small and the cabin is like two meters cubed, maybe one meter high. You sleep on the hull, really, and you have no communication, no computer, you do everything like they did in the past. You have a GPS just for the coordinates so you have to transfer the numbers to a map. It’s so old school. There’s no engine on the boat at all so to get into a port, for example, is a nightmare. The boat will be here this weekend so maybe you will understand how hard it’s going to be. The race is 4500 nautical miles from La Rochelle, France to Salvadore de Bajia in Brazil. There will be no communications and no assistance at all and it will take me between 23 to 30 days. You sleep a maximum for four to five hours a day, which is also the minimum. But the hardest thing, especially for me, is to not be able to communicate with anybody. Even after two days without talking to anybody I’m going mad. It’s crazy.

FWT: Is there any way that sailing helps your skiing or that your skiing helps your sailing?

Aurélien: I think skiing helped me quite a lot in the beginning because I’m used being in the mountains, out in the elements with the risk of being in the mountains. Being in the sea also involves a lot of risk but I’m used to that so I’m not afraid to go to sea by myself. Knowing how to analyze the mountain also helps me know how to analyze the sea and be confident when I’m out there.

And I think the sailing helps my skiing because the days are pretty long and you get mentally stronger because you’re by yourself and you really have to focus. You can’t stop. You can’t say, “Oh, I’m tired I’m going back.” So I think my head will be stronger than it used to be. And I’m not going to worry about small things that used to worry me before, like if you forget something. In sailing you don’t have time to worry about the small things. I think that will help me a lot. I don’t know, we’ll see.

 

FWT: How do you feel going into the FWT11?

Aurélien: Actually I’m pretty excited. I left Chamonix on the 5^th of April and I went for seven months without talking to anyone from the ski world and I was just really focused on my thing. And when I came back I was really motivated because I haven’t been skiing for a long time and I want to come back and do something good. I had a super good and super positive summer so I’m really starting this season in a positive way.

 

FWT: Which event are you most looking forward to?

Aurélien: Chamonix, of course. It’s my hometown and last year I crashed so I’d like to do well here. I’d also like to do well at the beginning of the tour well because it helps you all winter. There’s also Verbier because I love this face and this mountain and I’d really like to do well there.

 

FWT: You're a Chamonix local. Is it easier or more difficult to compete in front of your home crowd?

Aurélien: It’s both. In a way it’ easier because all the people who like you and believe in you are here and they really give you their power. In another way there’s a lot of pressure because everyone is looking at you, everyone is expecting you to do well so it’s always difficult. Last year was the first time we’ve had a FWT event in Cham. I had the world title so there was huge pressure on me. I made a mistake last year and I think I have learned from that mistake so I will take it a lot easier. I know I have the ability to do something good and I will do my best so we’ll see. If I have fun I’m sure it will go well.

 

FWT: Can you give us an honest evaluation of the snow conditions in Chamonix right now?

Aurélien: I’ve been skiing quite a lot in the last week. Of course, it’s been a long time since we’ve had any snow and all the south faces are in bad condition because we also had really, really warm weather. I’ve been skiing the last two days on the Aiguille [du Midi] and we managed to find really good powder on the north faces so there’s still a possibility to find good snow. Of course, everything facing east, west and south are really bad – crusty and hardpack. But I’m sure they’ll find a great event site. We found two spots today that were in really good condition. We managed to find some good faces so I’m pretty confident.

 

FWT: You said in a recent video that you need to work on your freestyle moves? Any chance we’ll see you in the snowpark this spring?

Aurélien: The thing is I’ve never skied a park at all. I came from ski jumping and then I moved directly to freeskiing and I’ve never been in a park. So the front flip and Lincoln flip are the only two things I can do so I really need to work on that. But as you get older it’s harder to convince yourself to try new tricks because you get hurt more easily than before. But I’m working a lot on my backflips right now so maybe we’ll see one during a race this season. Maybe. We’ll see.

 

FWT: What do you love about the Freeride World Tour?

Aurélien: The whole organization. It’s a cool organization. There’s a lot of cool things to love like being invited on the tour, to have all the best riders there, Nicolas [Hale-Woods, FWT Founder and Director] is always looking for the best conditions for us. For example, today we went to check some faces and he’s really working hard to make it happen in a really good way. I’m also happy the FWT is growing. We’re six events now so it’s dynamic. It’s making the sport grow and I think this year the Freeride World Tour helps the sport of freeriding a lot. It’s good.

 

FWT: What don't you like about it? 

Aurélien: What I hate about it is when I get second or third place, of course – hahaha! No, nothing really. There are things we can change but there’s nothing I hate about it.

 

FWT: What is the significance of the FWT to you? 

Aurélien: For me it’s very important because it’s my main goal. I’ve been competing all my life and I love competing, that’s why I do it. When I was a child my dream was to become a world champion skier and so for me, in 2009, I realized the dream I’d had since I was five years old. So of course it’s significant for me. Nothing has changed. Your life doesn’t change at all but you’re happy that you were able to achieve something you’ve wanted to do for a long time. Even if I end up as a sailor or something else I will never forget the Freeride World Tour. No, it’s a big thing for me. The FWT will always be a part of me.

 

FWT: What does skiing mean to you?

Aurélien: It means a lot of things. Skiing in many different ways has been my life for the past 20 years. I’ve been a racer and a ski jumper and now I’m a freerider. I grew up in a skiing family, my father was a mountain guide, my mother is a ski teacher so skiing is a huge part of my life and it’s not the end. I know there will be new projects. So yeah, skiing is my ‘house’ I would say.

 

FWT: What's important?

Aurélien: My wife and my son. My family. That’s the only important thing. The rest is pleasure, which is also important but not really compared to them. They are the one.