Speedriding Through An Alpine Resort | From Avoriaz With Love

What do you do in when you’re living in a resort and the lifts aren’t spinning? Well, most of us would gladly grab the nearest touring skis and head out to lap what is essentially a private resort all to yourself.

Speedriding maestro Valentin Delluc, on the other hand, has other things in mind. In the midst of a closed and desolate Avoriaz, Delluc used the deserted French resort as his own personal speedriding playground. This included some never-before-seen tricks including kickers built on previously inaccessible roofs, chairlift cable grids and wall riding Avoriaz’s distinguishable tower blocks.

Valentin confessed that the wall ride was a lot of stress for him: “There was a balcony above the wall that we put down, and I really had to shift my sail to the side so that my sail didn’t catch on it. I had been practicing on cliff sides to try and touch them, but I had never done it on a vertical wall when coming up in front of it. I’m happy with the result.”

Now for many of you eagle eyed readers, Delluc sliding a chairlift cable is nothing new, however Delluc claimed that this time things were a little more technical as “you had to lift your legs above the hook of the seat on five sections (the part between the two seats) to keep speed with the sail, because if you don’t have enough, you can’t go up enough and you get caught in the grip.”

The 28-year-old revealed: “I had already done flights there in 2016, and that’s when I saw the potential it had. With the confinement, and the fact that the ski lifts are closed to the public, we thought we could do something even more advanced. I did a lot of freestyle when I was younger, and I wanted to bring that side to speed riding.”