When Xavier De Le Rue started snowboarding at age 13, he already had a decade of skiing experience under his belt. Raised in the Pyrenees and based in Verbier, Switzerland, the three-time Freeride World Tour champion helped establish big mountain snowboarding as we know it, systematically ticking off some of the steepest and most mind-boggling descents in the world.
Xavier’s resume spans genres, from the Baker Banked Slalom to first descents in Chamonix, Alaska and Antartica to the Snowboardcross World Championships and the Freeride World Tour. A master of the Bec des Rosses, the famous mountain face that serves as the final competition in the Freeride World Tour, Xavier is a four-time winner of the Verbier Xtremes. His film “Mission Antarctic” tells the story of this expedition with legendary sea captain Jerome Poncet De Le Rue into a frontier of vertical coastal peaks (he rode lines up to 70 degrees) near the South Pole.
The oldest of five accomplished siblings, including Olympic boardercross bronze medalist Paul-Henri and snowboard film star Victor, Xavier values family time and enjoys spending his days in Verbier with his two children. Whether it’s snowboarding, climbing, paragliding or just mushroom picking, he values all time in the mountains and lives with a philosophy of humility and respect.
Xavier’s next round of expeditions will span the globe, focusing on climate change and snowboarding.
Accomplishments:
- FWT overall titles in 2008, 2009, and 2010
- Winning line, Verbier Xtreme, 2010
- Baker Banked Slalom, 2002
- Four-time winner, Snowboardcross World Championships
- First Descent, Captain Face, Antarctica
- First Descent, Impossible Wall, Alaska