Pierre VAULTIER |
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Although Pierre Vaultier made his first turns in the 2006 season, this young rider born 1987 in Briancon took the scene by storm in the following years. Now, he is the top bit for victory in every race which he enters.
After having been skiing ever since age 2 and a half, the Serre Chevalier resident quickly fell in love with snowboarding. The five-years-old boy took the board of his older neighbour and started to learn how to ride in his parent's garden. From there on, he went on with it. "What I love about snowboarding is the spirit and the freedom which make snowboarding so different to other sports", Vaultier states.
And as he was always into the variety of the sport, it was predictable that he would end up with snowboard cross. Being a true athlete, he also brings in the right competitor attitude which he switches on when entering the start gate. "I love the fight for crossing the finish line first, to be the fastest on the course." This character mixed with a perfect gliding technique, a strong condition to absorb and work through the roller sections, taking on big jumps and an eye for the perfect line quickly made him the rising star of the snowboard cross scene.
Three months after his first World Cup start in Valle Nevado, Chile, the Frenchman claimed his first podium spot by finishing as runner-up in his fifth ever race at Whistler. In a total of 28 races until the 2010 Olympics he earned eleven more podium results including nine victories - an incredible record for this complete rider.
What is missing to his belt so far is a major title, an Olympic or FIS World Championships medal. So far, he ended up as 41st at the 2007 Worlds in Arosa, Switzerland and as 35th out of 36 at the 2006 Torino Winter Games. But those results didn't put him back. His main goal as professional snowboarder always remained the same: "For sure I want to succeed at the Olympic Games and World Championships. I will try to grab every title I can."
And with this end in view he also managed to work himself out of his hardest time so far. After he had won the first ever World Cup on Argentinean soil (Chapelco 2008), the 2009 season's snowboard cross kick off, Vaultier, who had been the defending World Cup title holder back then, suffered a bad injury in Serre Chevalier on December 13th 2008. "I crashed down on a jump and injured my vertebrae. I had to undergo surgery and went to a rehab centre thereafter and never stopped working."
Due to a conservative training he stayed in shape. "I just had to make sure my spin get enough time to recover - with all the screws and sticks in there. But never losing my goal - Vancouver 2010 - helped me a lot to go on."