Industry News
For many, snowboarding is enjoyed by taking chairlifts to the top of epic mountains and riding down alongside your closest friends. But for French snowboarder Pierre Vaultier, the beauty of snowboarding can display itself in other ways. In a recent Red Bull video, Vaultier rides a pristine pump track on a glistening lake near his home in Serre Chevalier, France. The “Floating Shapes” video perfectly captures the non-traditional beauty of Vaultier’s course, and the precision of the Frenchman’s riding is a testament to his passion for the sport.
Vaultier is a world-class snowboard cross athlete who won Gold at the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018. His skill has perfectly translated to riding big pump tracks. Vaultier has been filmed riding immense pump tracks all over the world, with his Floating Shapes video being the latest of the bunch.
The track’s design was a perfect blend of creativity and precision. The Red Bull designers took into account the lake’s conditions and the Serre-Chevalier mountain backdrop to create a “flowy” course with tremendous visuals.
Despite his experience, the ‘Floating Shapes’ pump track was a challenge, unlike anything the former Gold Medalist had ever faced before. For one, the floating sections were very unstable. They would rock during the run and would weaken due to the water. To add to the challenge, the width of the track was reduced from 3 meters (10 feet) to 1.2 meters (4 feet) wide, with any small error causing Vaultier to fall off the track into the frigid water. To top things off, Vaultier needed the speed to skim across the surface of the water in the final section.
“The water section is part of the project’s identity–mixing ice, snow, and water, I had to be sure I could reach the island with enough speed to clear that 6 meter stretch. It’s not huge, but water slows you down a lot, and if I hadn’t been going fast enough, I would’ve sunk,” Vaultier said in his interview with Red Bull.
One aspect of the project that Vaultier and Red Bull are particularly excited about is its carbon footprint. The track was made entirely by hand, ensuring a minimal carbon footprint. Each section of the track was made using beams and was then placed into the lake, bringing a clean, sustainable result.
Despite a sore back, Floating Shapes was another impressive feat for the Frenchman. In the future, Vaultier hopes to continue pushing the limits of creativity and one day see competitions emerge from projects like this.
The Floating Shapes project truly showcases snowboarding’s beauty and creativity. Whether riding a big mountain or cruising a pump track in the middle of the lake, snowboarding, in all its forms, is a way to express and embrace creativity.
