Alpina times the most successful French snowboarder in history in a new hypnotic line
In 2022, Alpina accompanied the most successful French snowboarder in history, Pierre Vaultier, in the achievement of a new challenge, alongside Red Bull France. Entitled Reshapes and carried out in the French ski resort of Serre Chevalier, this extraordinary project consists of a unique snow pumptrack with 14 modules, in which the athlete dashes, timed by an AlpinerX Alive, for a demonstration of sport at the highest level.
2017 World Champion, double Olympic gold medallist and holder of 6 Crystal Globes, French snowboarder Pierre Vaultier broke the web in 2019 with his film “Shapes”, which totalled several tens of millions of views around the world and in which he imagined an original snow pumptrack. Forced into early retirement due to a knee injury, he hung up his board in December 2020.
Always looking for new challenges, he returned this year with Reshapes: a clip in the same vein as his first project, with an even more impressive snow structure. Built in the French ski resort of Serre Chevalier, at an altitude of 2400m, alongside Red Bull France, this new scalpel-sculpted pumptrack counts 14 modules for 300 metres of slope – requiring 8 shapers, 14 days of work and up to 1500 m3 of snow.
50 seconds of absolute mastery, timed by Alpina. In 2022, Pierre Vaultier set off on this spectacular line wearing an AlpinerX Alive.
Alpina on Pierre Vaultier’s wrist in Reshapes
What could be better than a connected watch to time his performance in a project like this? Or to be able to measure his heart rate, the adrenaline level once he’s completed the course, and the pride felt at having met his own challenge? These are the kind of moments that Alpina’s heart beats for, as the Brans places great importance on accompanying passionate and ambitious sportsmen and women to reach their own summits.
“It was a huge technical and sporting challenge, we had no certainty that it would work, not to mention the fact that the weather played tricks on us throughout the shooting. The jumps had to be ultra-precise, meticulous; the landings were really perilous in some of the modules built on the side of a cliff. I had absolutely no right to make mistakes, there was no room to deviate or even to brake. From the moment I stepped into the line, I had to go all the way”, says Pierre at the end of the shoot.
Perseverance above all
In a 25-minute documentary accompanying the clip, in which we see him take part in this hypnotic course, Pierre Vaultier looks back on this comeback to the highest level after injury. He talks about the conception of the route, the realization of this technical, human and sporting performance.
“The doctors didn’t think much of my skin… So Reshapes is not just this new line, it’s above all the story of the long road I travelled to get back to the highest level”, he recounts with emotion.
Achieving this challenge as Pierre Vaultier did is down to a mind of steel and unlimited self-confidence. Perseverance, never giving up, trusting your instincts: this is the philosophy advocated by Alpina since the beginning. This is why the company naturally chose to join forces with the Red Bull France team to support Pierre Vaultier in the realisation of this bold project.
With over a century of experience in creating sports watches capable of withstanding the most demanding sporting environments such as the Alps, the Swiss watchmaking company is proud to be partner of the Reshapes experience.
