Seb Michaud, an authentic Legend of Freeride

He began skiing at the age of three in Thonon les Bains and Avoriaz, but quickly progressed to ski even better than his parents. His family then moved to La Clusaz when he was 15 where he began mogul and acrobatic skiing. He then became part of the French National Freestyle Team for over 5 years. And this is just the beginning… He won his first Freeride competition at the age of 12 and has never looked back.

“Freeride was a natural transition because I am comfortable in the air and I really enjoy it. I began doing more and more Freeride for photo shoots for my sponsors. I have been with the same sponsors for many years, Scott since 1997. Though I worked with many different people at Scott throughout the years, we have always had mutual trust. I have also been with Sun Valley for over 12 years, and then of course La Clusaz.”

Throughout his career, he has only suffered two major injuries (knee ligament tear and broken elbow) which is quite surprising as he takes lots of risks in his jumps, but as he explains, “all the risks I take are calculated. I start the season slowly, skiing for pleasure. I also rock climb, mountain bike and surf whenever I get the chance to stay in shape and enjoy the sports I do. I don’t do any specific physical training, but I listen to my body, not others’ opinions, only my body.”

He has been part of the Freeride World Tour since its creation three years ago and furthermore the Nissan Xtreme Verbier since 2004 (though he did demos in Verbier 1998/1999), when skiing became part of the competition. Second of the Freeride World Tour Ranking in 2008 and 8th in 2009, Seb is really motivated for the upcoming tour.

Throughout the years, he has learned a lot about event planning, thus he developed his own event: the Seb Michaud Invitacion in Argentina. With friends in mythical spot, breathtaking slopes, powder, the mission was to bring back incredible images. With one filmer and two photographers, Phil Meier, Adrien Coirier, Richard Permin, Sverre Liliequist, Kaj Zackrisson, Vince Michaud, Bruno Compagnet, Camille Jaccoux, Tato Vasiuk, Xavier Delerue, Laurent Favre and Thomas Diet all spent an unforgettable week freeriding.

When he is not traveling for the Freeride World Tour or in Argentina, he spends a lot of time with his two children, ages 5 and 8. “I am lucky because in the summer, I keep my kids. We do all kinds of activities together. That is one of the positive aspects of working mainly in the winter, though I don’t want my kids to feel like they have to follow my path later. I want them to do what makes them happy since that is what I am doing!”