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Mathieu Crepel
Born: 26 October 1984 in Tarbes
Lives: Anglet (France)
Sponsors: Quiksilver, Nidecker (snowboard), Blue tomato (online store), Ulysse Nardin (watches)
Profession: Snowboarder
Favourite Snowboarders: When I was young my heroes were Serge Vitelli, Darius Heristchian and Jamie Lynn.
Height: 170 cm
Stance: Regular
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Favourite Spot: La Mongie, Pyrenees, France
Favourite food: Homemade chocolate cake and Mexican food.
Favourite Music: A bit of everything, it depends on the moment.
Hobbies: Surf, skateboard
Best Trip: Greenland, I was 10 years old, my first big trip with the Quiksilver Team.
Few Professional snowboarders are lucky enough to ever earn the titles or even have the life experience of Mathieu Crepel considering he is just 25 years old. This is a quick recap of his career:
In 1990, aged 6, Mathieu did his first run on a snowboard. It was an old adult board cut down to size by his father in the La Mongie resort of the Pyrenees. Aged 10 he embarked on his first trip to Greenland and realised he could live his dream. In 1999 he left home for a college course in Villard de Lans, which enabled him to snowboard all winter and had a progressive sporting program. In 2001, legend Terje Haakonsen invited Mathieu to the Arctic Challenge (Norway), which is a restricted contest reserved for only 20 elite riders.
As a vice president of the G2N Association (Ride, Nature and Food) he pushed to allow skiing and snowboarding access to the Pic Du Midi Bigorre. Also as Ambassador to the Tourmalet Domaine and the resorts of Bareges and La Mongie, Mathieu works with the locals to make the most of the magical environment around his home resort. Since 2002 he has helped organise ‘meet the stars' which brings the best snowboarders together to promote the area. The stress is on ecological and educational values, with school programs such as ‘the water cycle - from the snowflake to the waves'.
In 2003 aged 18 he became Big Air and Half Pipe Champion of France. In the same year he sadly lost his closest friend Tristan Pirot and has since dedicated every win to him. In 2005, Mathieu became spokesperson of the Eurosima Mountain Division at the European Snowboard Festival. He finished his season with a win at the FIS World Cup Half Pipe and earned a ‘Crystal Ball' for the best snowboarder of the winter.
In 2006 he rode in the new Ticket To Ride professional circuit (TTR) and won his first World Title. He was also selected for the French Olympic Team.
In 2007 Mathieu did the double in Arosa (Switzerland) and became FIS World Champion in both the Big Air and Half Pipe categories within a 24-hour interval. He also scored his first invitation to the X-Games in Aspen in the Slopestyle and Half Pipe. He made both finals and finished 5th just 3 points away from a medal in the Slopestyle. In 2007 Mathieu became Ambassador of the Quiksilver eco-line products and began his signature series of technical products using recycled materials.
In 2008 Mathieu was recognized as a godfather at the ‘Stars of Sport' alongside the great sporting champions of France. He chose Arthur Longo as his protégé in a project that encourages sporting values in young people. Arthur was selected as the star of 2008 and received his award from the hands of the Minister of Health and Sports Minister, Roselyne Bachelot. Back on the mountains Mathieu worked on filming an incredible section with the US company, Standard Films, for the movie ‘Aesthetica'.
At the star of 2009 Mathieu was back in the Half Pipe and won a bronze medal at the FIS World Championships in Korea and won the World Cup in Bardonecchia. Midway through the season during a trip to Japan, Mathieu suffered a foot injury and underwent a phase of rehabilitation. This forced timeout allowed him to take part in an ecological youth project sponsored by Orange in association with French football star, Zinedine Zidane. Returning to the snow, Mathieu embarked on a 4-month training regime in Mount Hood, USA and New Zealand.
The 2010 season started at top speed. Mathieu had to quickly catch up on lost time following his injury. The technical level of the Half Pipe is now incredible and mastering moves like the double cork is essential to survival at this level. At the start of the season, the French Team organised an airbag session at Les 2 Alpes with the support of Coca Cola Zero, which allowed practice of high risk manoeuvres whilst lessening the chance of injury. During the mayhem, Mathieu found time to score a 2nd in the World Cup in Saas Fee with a varied technical run. He is yet to use the new manoeuvres that he perfected in the airbag sessions.
He continued training in Switzerland. Before flying off to the US to train, Mathieu was in the spotlight alongside boardsports athletes such as Kelly Slater, to celebrate the 40th year of Quiksilver, at the incredible Tony Hawk Show in the Grand Palais Paris.
Mathieu‘s focus was to train alongside the best Americans and to perfect his game on a half pipe of Olympic proportions. Whilst landing a 1080 he fell and suffered a ligament injury to his hand. He chose not to have an operation so he could still compete in the Vancouver Games. A week before the Olympic Games he perfected his run with the French Team in Salt Lake City. He was determined to enjoy the event and the experience was marked with his teammates as they chose to grow moustaches for the occasion.
In spite of ideal conditions the big day didn't go to plan, Mathieu qualified for the semi finals whilst riding below his level. He gave it his all risking everything for a podium finish. Unfortunately Mathieu didn't manage to pull off his perfect run and left Vancouver in 10th place, disappointed but with no regrets.