Mathieu Crepel

News just in...Mathieu and the Burn Units were out in Norway a few weeks back. Mr Crepel took it upon himself to shoot a little film, which you can watch above.

Check out our mini-interviews with Mathieu and the other burn riders here.

Another French rider to the burn units snow team! Head here to check out the new Burn Units film, Alive, and read the other rider bios.

Born: 26 October 1984 in Tarbes
Lives: Anglet (France)
Favourite Snowboarders: When I was young my heroes were Serge Vitelli, Darius Heristchian and Jamie Lynn.
Height: 170 cm
Stance: Regular
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.
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 26 years old. This is a quick recap of his career...

Mathieu started boarding aged six on a cut-down board in La Mongie and left home nine years later for a high school in Villard del Lans, which enabled him to snowboard all winter. Just two years later in 2001, Terje Haakonsen invited him to the Arctic Challenge in Norway as just one of 20 elite riders.

He was crowned the Big Air and Half Pipe Champion of France in 2003, aged 18 but the year was also set with tragedy as his closest friend Tristan Picot passed away. As well as winning the FIS World Cup Half Pipe, Mathieu also scopped the Crystal Globe for the top ranked snowboarder of the winter.

2006 saw Mathieu compete in the new Ticket To Ride pro circuit, winning his first world title in the process and being selected for the French Olympic Team. The following year he did the double of the Big Air and Half Pipe categories at the FIS World Championships, also scoring his first invite to the X-Games, finishing fifth 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. The following year he was one of the godfathers at the "Stars of Sport" in France. He chose fellow Burn Unit Arthur Longo as his protege in a scheme that encourages sporting values in young people.

As 2009 began, he was back in the Half Pipe, securing a bronze at the FIS WC in Korea, but later on in the year he suffered an injury to his foot and underwent a phase of rehabilitation. During his time out he took part in an ecological youth project sponsored by Orange, in association with French footballing legend Zinedine Zidane.

Mathieu returned from injury in 2010 to success, getting a silver in the World Cup at Saas Fee. Despite suffering another injury, this time to a ligament in his hand, he decided against surgery to compete in the Vancouver Games where he gave it his all, but finished in tenth place but with no regrets. Just a few weeks later he overcame his disappointment with a silver in the X-Games Europe.

Crepel is also heavily involved in promoting snowboarding in his home resort, as a vice president of the G2N Association and ambassador to the Tourmalet Domaine and the resorts of Bareges and La Mongie.

Sponsors: Quiksilver // Orange // Domaine du Tourmalet // Burn // Gnu Snowboards
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Titles:
2010 - Silver Medal X-Games Europe Tignes
2009 - Bronze Medal FIS World Champion Half Pipe
2008 - Winner World Cup Big Air, Grenoble
2007 - Double World Champion Big Air and half Pipe Arosa (Switzerland)
2006 - Winner Ticket To Ride professional circuit
2006 - 2nd Burton European Open, Laax (Switzerland)
2006 - 2nd FIS World Cup Half Pipe, Kreichberg (Austria)
2006 - Winner SB JAM, Davos (Switzerland)
2005 - Winner FIS World Cup Half Pipe
2005 - Double winner FIS World Cup (Korea)
2005 - Winner Nokia French Champion, Half Pipe
2005 - Winner Best Trick and Big Air, Arctic Challenge (TTR Norway)
2004 - 2nd Quiksilver Slopestyle Pro (TTR Les Arcs France)
2002 - 3rd FIS World Junior Championships, Rovaniemi (Finland)