Xavier de la Rue mountaineering and riding ridiculously long couloirs in the Italian Alps.
Ok, I know there is better footage online somewhere of the X-man going off. I couldn’t find anything better than this one. Please put some links to better footage on here and I’ll get ‘em up.
Xavier de la Rue is arguably the best big mountain freerider in the world.
I’ve seen him throw down lines in both Verbier and Squaw Valley during the Freeride World Tour that simply blew my mind. The guy is charging and pulling of lines that skiers can’t stick. I’m not saying skiers are better at big mountain, but it does seem that skiers have been pulling off more impressive lines on the big mountain than snowboarders. So, maybe I am saying that. But, that all ends here and now with Xavier de la Rue.
I can also boldly say that the Fairweather Range footage from Deeper is the most incredible thing I’ve seen done on snow by skiers, snowboarders, snowllerbladers, and even snowshoers. That segment and the length of the spines in the “Spine Institute” melted down and reforged what I considered a “Big Line.”