The French Xavier and Victor de le Rue live for snowboarding. They overcome the steepest rocks – and their fear. An encounter at Verbier Xtreme.
Victor de le Rue is afraid of the Bec-des-Rosses. He planned the departure for days.
Valentin Flauraud / Keystone
Above him is the gate to heaven, below him the gate to hell: Victor de le Rue stands on the summit of the Bec-des-Ross near Verbier, 3222 meters above sea level. The north face of the mountain is 600 meters high and is up to 60 degrees steep in certain places. Meter-high rocks protrude from the wall. De le Rue wants to conquer the Bec-des-Rosses with a snowboard.
He is in the final of the Freeride World Tour – the Verbier Xtreme. The event brings together the best freeriders in the world to ski steep slopes and jump over cliffs off-piste. They do tricks where a fall can be fatal. Only the most experienced freeriders are allowed to plunge down the Bec-des-Rosses in March.
De le Rue speaks in a soft voice, he has large dark brown eyes, his hair sticks out on all sides. The 34-year-old has something boyish about him. But he rides snowboard descents that no one has ever dared to do before: for example, the north face of the Mont Blanc massif or icebergs in Antarctica.
The Frenchman is considered an icon in freeriding; some consider him unbeatable. Last Friday he wanted to continue a piece of family history in Valais: win the most difficult descent on Bec-des-Rosses.
Their parents had forbidden them the Game Boy
Xavier de le Rue, Victor’s older brother, 44 years old, is waiting at the summit. He wears an elegant black snowboard suit and sunglasses cover his eyes. He speaks calmly and firmly – just like those who know how they affect others do.
Xavier de le Rue knows the pitfalls of the Bec-des-Rosses: He has won the Freeride World Tour three times and was a two-time world champion in snowboard cross. He has now stopped competing and lives with his family in Verbier. Victor allows him to take part in the Verbier Xtreme again, he says. His younger brother is better than he ever was.
The two brothers are among the few who can make a living from professional snowboarding; it has been their main source of income since they were young. Sports brands sponsor and film them as they push the boundaries of what is possible on the mountain.
Nicolas Hale-Woods from Vaud has known Xavier and Victor de le Rue for many years. He founded the Verbier Xtreme in 1996, and the Freeride World Tour was added in 2008. To this day he organizes the World Freeriding Championships. Hale-Woods says of the brothers: “They are unique. They have talent and they are professional. If they want to achieve something, they can achieve it.”
Xavier and Victor de le Rue grew up in the Spanish Pyrenees. They have two other brothers and a sister. The parents ran a sports store. They worked a lot and had little time for their five children. They gave them a lot of freedom, but one thing was taboo: playing inside. The de le Rues looked in vain for a Gameboy or a Playstation. They spent their childhood in the snow.
When Xavier de le Rue was 18 years old, he moved out and traveled around the world to compete in snowboard cross. One of his opponents: his brother Paul-Henri, who is five years younger. Xavier de le Rue speaks of a good relationship, a relationship without envy. And that despite the fact that Paul-Henri always stood in his shadow.
Victor, the youngest in the family, sought his own path. He chose the most playful discipline: freestyle. As an eight-year-old, he was already spending his days in the snow park, daring crazy jumps on his snowboard. He was good at competitions, but he was never among the best. Until he discovered freeriding.
Happiness and fear of death are close together
When Victor de le Rue talks about snowboarding, the word “passion” is often mentioned. He wanted to live something strong, he would never do anything just for the money. So are all his siblings.
Victor de le Rue likes to push his limits and sometimes exceeds them. He says that’s the only way he’ll get better. He is slowly approaching increasingly dangerous descents. Wanting to start at extremes is “stupid”.
De le Rue has not lost respect for the mountain. He is often afraid – and he prepares meticulously. He observes the terrain with his binoculars, studies maps, and sketches possible routes. Preparations for a trip often take several days.
Paola de le Rue is Victor’s wife and is also an alpinist. She often accompanies her husband. She says about the two brothers: “They are very different.” Xavier fights against the others, Victor against himself.
Victor and Paola de le Rue have a three-year-old son, Markus. Victor de le Rue says that since he became a father, he weighs decisions more carefully. If he plans a dangerous tour, then only with someone he knows well. But stopping freeriding is out of the question for him.
For the de le Rue brothers, happiness and fear of death are close together. Victor de le Rue says that first comes the tension, after the descent comes the release: the more intense the descent, the greater the euphoria afterwards. He says: “Sure, it’s an addiction.”
“This is the perfection of snowboarding”
The Bec-des-Rosses particularly challenges Victor de le Rue. He skied the north face a few years ago and knows how steep and dangerous it is. Now there is the pressure of competition. De le Rue had been nervous over the past few days and felt stressed: sometimes he imagined himself doing the perfect run, then he was overcome by the fear of making a mistake.
The first few meters after the summit are so steep that de le Rue jumps the first turns – as if he were floating. He jumps over a rock and spins on his own axis. The moderators shout: “Watch and enjoy. This is the perfection of snowboarding.”
Then comes the “Hollywood Cliff”, a 12 meter high rock. Clouds have made visibility worse, Victor de le Rue jumps, flails his arms – and then something happens that almost never happens to him: he falls.
De le Rue slides down the mountain, the presenters and spectators scream. After a few seconds he manages to get up again. He came fourth in the final and remained first overall in the Freeride World Championship.
At the finish line he falls into the snow and is annoyed. Things went badly, he says. His wife Paola de le Rue, on the other hand, is relieved: she is just happy that he reached the bottom safely.
At the award ceremony, Markus climbs onto the podium, with wide eyes he looks up at his father, who is holding the winner’s trophy in the air. Victor de le Rue hopes his son will choose a different path. He would be afraid for him.
Victor’s son Markus is three years old and already skis.
Valentin Flauraud / Keystone