"He emerges as a deeply philosophical rider intent on pushing the limits of his own experience."
A master of the mountains explores virgin slopes
You can't keep Xavier De Le Rue off the mountain. He was born in the Pyrenees, and, outside his family, the mountains have remained his most enduring love. Now a double Freeride World Champion and a previous winner of the Big Mountain Pro, Xavier was the rider Relentless had to secure for the snow chapter of the new feature-length documentary, Lives of the Artists.
So it was that Xavier found himself shooting on the untouched terrain that rises steeply out of the shimmering Fjords of Greenland. Though he will compete again in the Freeride World Championships next year, he is still driven more by this primal need for solitary adventure than he is by the lure of competition.
Of course, things might have been very different. Xavier admits now that, having been swept up and dragged 2 km by a huge avalanche last year, he is lucky to still be here, to have these opportunities. He was forced to reassess his career, but even as he lay gazing out at the mountains from the hospital ward, the desire to continue riding was there. "All I could see," he said, "was lines."
Such a deep-rooted desire to ride reveals itself in stark, snow-covered majesty in Lives. The lines he rides are captured in their full panoramic glory - that goes without saying - but really it's Xavier's personal reflections on his sport that elevate the story above the usual snow film part. He emerges as a deeply philosophical rider intent on pushing the limits of his own experience, a man defined, it seems, by his admiration for the place he was born and resides even today, despite his recent escape: the mountain.
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