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The trailblazing Frenchman talks IMA, riding and dreams Salut Diego! You've been a big player in the mountainboard scene since the late 90's. For those out there who don't know who you are, tell us about your involvement. I'm 35, and have been riding mountainboards for 10 years. I organized the first mountainboard event in France in 2001, then created the AMTB (french ATBA), managed a mountainboard center in Morzine, organized a few events (French champs or international like Morzine), rode all over Europe, and a few other parts of the world. I come from a snowboard background, where i've been an event promoter too. How did you first hear about mountainboarding?... I discovered my first board in the window of a kite shop when i was a student in Toulouse in 1999. I didn't know what it was but understood quickly that it could provide great fun. Coming back home i had a look on the web, and found out what the sport was looking like on MBS or noSno websites. Since then, i've thought about mountainboarding every single day of my life... Do you still ride any other boards? I keep on doing some others sports that help me to keep me fit and have fun depending on the time, opportunities and weather conditions : snowboard, free climbing, streetluge, kayak, and a bit of skateboarding, even if i'm not good at it, i'm still having fun... What has it been like watching the French scene grow over the years? how have attitudes changed? Of course, it's not the same atmosphere as the beginning, when we were always the same 30 guys at the comps, but the spirit stayed the same : A bunch of people who are riding alone or in little groups in the middle of nowhere, are coming to have fun at competitions. The beginners are learning a lot, the older guys are transmitting their experiences, and everyone is having fun, without taking it too seriously. The scene is actually rising faster than the past years. More riders, and more parks ! Not less than 4 new ones this year : Compiègne, Fécamp, Les Saisies, Payolle. Added to the the existing ones which are also increasing their tracks (Monistrol, Loge des Gardes...), it's really good news for the sport. Thanks to the motivation and involvement of riders in the local clubs, the sport is now growing faster. There are also a few new riders who are coming through the mountainboard schools from the ski resorts. Finally, we are doing a good job advertising over the web and locally or nationally through the medias, who are beginning to take care of us. All in one, we're on the good way to develop the sport. As well as organising comps you participated in them very successfully! Do you prefer bx, downhill or freestyle? I love everything, it's always good to ride, even if i'm better at downhill than freestyle... How have the French comps evolved from your point of view: from one event to three, from Morzine to Loge des Gardes to Bareges and back? Have 'politics' and 'red-tape' made it harder to promote? It has always been very politic over here. I wasn't good at that game at the beginning. Now i understand that it's important to be able to talk with these people in order to achieve your goals. You have to give them what they want to hear, even if the result is not what they could imagine. If you explain to them that you're going to welcome the world's best riders instead of having a party with your mates in the mountains, the attention of the politic is better, even if the result is the same... It's all about taking profits out of the system, without being involved in it. We did good or bad events during the past years, made some mistakes, and learned from that. Nowadays, we're on the right way to making it look serious, which is important if you want to promote the sport. Combining mountainboard events with other sports seems to work well, like Bareges 05- running alongside downhill longboarding, streetluge and paragliding. Any more crossover plans for the future? I've got loads of plans for bigger events, but it will take time... You also established the French equivalent of the ATBA, the AMTB, with Nico Maldonado, Mikael Gramont and Jonathan Gomart, as well as contributing to More mountainboards (www.moremtb.com) Has mountainboarding taken over your life? Do you still have time for the day job? ! I'm thinking every single day to mountainboarding and try my best to promote it. Unfortunately, i don't earn any money from the AMTB, and around 1000 € per year from MORE, so i can spend it in the trips, but not live from that. I've got a real job which takes me a lot of time, and which is passionating, meaning that i can't do anything else than thinking about it when at work. :D Finally, i also have a family, which is the more important, far from everything else. So i can't spend as much time as i would like to, but that's life, and it's been the situation for most people in the sport for years. But on the contrary of a few of them, I won't get discouraged, i love to work, and if i manage to keep o n riding, i spend most of my free time to work on what i could bring to the sport, in France or Worldwide. You've ridden alongside most of the world's best mountainboarders. Have you got any moments which stand out in your mind? I have had some great moments thanks to the sport. I went to the US twice for mountainboard competitions. Des Moines in 2003, met some really cool people there, and in Kansas too in 2005. Unfortunately, my english level didn't permit me to really communicate with them at this time. We had some fun though with Akoni Kama or Zack Heberly in Kansas building a nice boardercross track in the middle of nowhere in a period when relationships between France and US weren't good at all. But all mountainboarders and Zack's family welcomed me as a guest. That was good to see that what medias can tell us was just a big bullshit, we may not have the same views, we're still all humans. Amsterdam event in 2002, in the football stadium was crazy, i don't really remember the comp, but the trip was great ! I won't talk too much about the UK, where i've been a few times since then, discovered a lot of cool people and great riders : Pete tatham, Andy Potter, Tom Kirkman, Renny Miles, Nicky Forecast... and so much more i couldn't name them all. I have some of my best mountainboard souvenirs there. Belgium, Arno, Marteen, Jeroen... lot of fun, lovin't ! Czech republic, Poland, Italy, Spain are some great moments too, too many to name them all... every trip is different, but it has never been bad. France is good too, with many cool people... It's always worth going out of your little area and share your passion with different people, even if you don't understand each other. Moments that will stay in my mind ? Jereme Leafe's backflip one foot in 2003, Tom and Alex pushing the limits at the world's in 2006, getting arrested in Courchevel with Andy, in Cortina with Leon, in France with Nico (many times...), filming an advert on a fantastic secret spot in Spain, fun party with Leon and the crew in Cortina, having a few beers with many people all over the world... And i'm sure that it's not finished yet... Mountainboard is just an invitation to ride the world... True, nice line ;) What is the French scene like in 2009? More riders than ever, 4 new mountainboard parks added to the 2 existing ones, 5 comps over the season, many new projects, and a quality of riding never seen before... 2009 is going to be a great year, and i'm pretty sure that it won't stop there... A new global super-group has been formed to promote comps, the IMA. (www.mountainboardworld.org). How did this international governing body for mountainboarding come together- Who and what else is involved? It's been a project i had in my suitcase for a while now, since the death of ATBmag exactly. Problems of time, of involvement, of technical habilities, slowed the project down. But finally, it appears thanks to the involvement of many legends of the sport as Jason Lee, Pete Tatham, Ajay Watkins, Mitch Stegall, Andy Potter... and with the kind help of all the representatives in 22 countries over the world. The aim of this association is to help people to develop their national scene, give more credits to the international comps for medias and politics (it was mandatory in France if we wanted to keep on evolving in bigger events), and finally, try to attract bigger sponsors by giving more credits to the sport in general. I saw what happened to skateboarding in the 80's, and if i like the initial spirit, i personally think that you can't forget the institutional side of an activity. Skateboarding nearly died because it was so much out of control, that no one wanted it in it's area. X Games managed to get it back with a lot of money and promotion. Both spirits are useful to a sport. The punk style keeps the original spirit and the core side of the sport, the institutional side give the sport more credit and promotion to medias and main public. The development of the sport is mandatory if we want to keep on quality in riding and materials, and good exposure to the sport. Both shouldn't be opposed. Punk riders can keep on riding with their style, and new people can discover the sport and become a professional athlete, or an underground rider... Finally i also wanted the sport to be kept by the people who knows it, and not finish like snowboarding with a FIS circuit which is a joke compare to the TTR, because it's ruled by people who don't know the sport. But despite that, you keep on having to qualify on FIS event in order to enter the Olympics... Creating the IMA was a way to take control of our own sport and avoid mistakes of the past in close activities... Are there plans to bring back a world series with an eventual World Champion? Having a World champion title is not really useful, except if you really promote the sport through it. At the moment, the event title just permits to events managers to advertise it better and attract more riders, but it doesn't shows the reality of who is really the best. I went on many scenes over the world, and i can sware that if we were taking all the best riders in every country, our sport wouldn't have anything to envy to the best snowboard comps... It's difficult to organize a world tour. Everyone knows that the mountainboard industries are not big enough to pay a rider to go all over the world like it is in snowboarding. What we would like to, is to regroup biggest events all over the world and have a champion by area (South America, North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania...). Then find a big sponsor who would accept to pay for the trips of the bests riders, in order to have a World championships with all the bests riders on the planet and promote it on main TVs. That's one of the goals to achieve, it may take time, but who cares... What other plans does the IMA have for the future? The main goal is to regroup the scenes, help each other to develop and give the sport a unity, that will be useful for the future. I'm pretty sure that we could see in a few years, things that we don't even imagine now. IMA will make its best to prepare this time, and will help the scenes to have more credit in front of medias and politics. Plans... It depends on so many factors at the moment that we may have big things to do in the near future, or in ten years... ! On a personal note, where do you enjoy riding most and what would your perfect days riding be? Every day riding is a perfect day... I enjoy every time i ride, wether alone on my local skatepark, or fullface on with many other riders in the mountains, i don't really mind... I dream of a really long slopestyle, top to bottom of a mountain, where you could hit many features all along your run with a lift to keep on riding all day long... What are you looking forward to in 2009 and beyond? Looking forward to meet my friends again, ride and see the best riders pushing the limits of the sport. I think that with my job, and the lack of money at the moment, i may focus a little more on french scene, where many things are happenning in 2009... Any shout-outs or props to give? Mad mad props to any promoter of the sport in any part of the world, wether you promote it to your friends, or to mass medias, as long as you enjoy it and share your passion, i like you... Finally, here at Remolition we have some quick-fire questions we always ask... How many pairs of shoes do you own? 2, 1 to ride, 1 to wear. And once the one to wear is too old, i keep it to ride and buy a new one to wear... Blue or red tyres? I don't care, as long as i have tyres to ride... How big do you think a mountainboard will be before it becomes the first mountainboard bus? Big enough... :D What do you do on a Thursday? Usually at work then ride, or the contrary... Beer or Cider? Beer. The Alps or Pyrenees? Both can give you the time of your life. But i'm feeling good in the Pyrenees. The spirit is more roots... Croque Monsieur or ham n' cheese toastie? Pizzas ! Are there any good places to eat round your way? My friends cooking is always the best one : sandwich, pizzas... Lastly, What question do you wish we'd asked You? Do i like Remolition ? Of course i am ! Diego, Merci Beaucoup et maintenez le bon travail ! ;) Last word ? Taking the words of a famous 70's surfer : You think i'm good ? OK. You think i'm bad ? I don't give a fuck. I like to ride this board, and if people think it's a complete waste of time, allright. But i'll do it with more style and fun than any of my human neighbours. I love this sport, all my life is in the dirt, all my life is mountainboarding... |