FREERIDE: What are you doing at the moment, Andreu?
Andreu Lacondeguy: I'm concentrating on filming at the moment. First for the new film Esperanto, After that, I'll use Google Earth to search the Alps for some great terrain. After that, the Chilean Andes are on my agenda. Because the mountain is calling, buddy!
Rather discover than big jumps?
I want to experience something new. In recent years, I've always done the same thing. I travelled from one FEST event to the next. If I wanted to freeride, I flew to Utah like everyone else. Like every goddamn freeride pro in the world. Utah again and again! Dude, I want to see something different. I want to go to Chile, to Peru, to Nepal. To places I haven't been yet.
You've already been to South America for the film "Where the Trail Ends". Is that comparable to Utah?
No. No in a positive sense. South America is Utah "on steroids". The possibilities are endless, and you don't have to deal with the Chinese authorities like we had to in the Gobi Desert.
Does the Gobi Desert still appeal to you?
South America is better. South America means: great food, great culture, great chicas, great lifestyle, and I speak the language. And you want me to go to China? Are you crazy!
So you're in the discovery phase of your life?
Ha ha, that sounds a bit like: A discovery stroll with lots of chilling out and taking it easy. No, I want to explore AND do crazy stunts. Nothing will be easy, just not Utah. Because I can't see Utah anymore. What's more, Utah is the easiest place to do big stunts. I want to do the action somewhere else now. But without Wendy's Diner, a hospital and Las Vegas round the corner. Instead: real adventure.
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But you're still flying to Utah - to the Red Bull Rampage?
Dude, 100 per cent. I still have a score to settle. I hope it goes better this time than last year. You remember: I jumped a drop in training, overshot the landing and hit the ground running. That was probably the heaviest crash I've ever had. What an impact!
Do you still want to win?
I definitely want that. I managed it in 2014, after which I came second a few times or had a killer run and crashed on the last jump. Every year, it seems to me, I scrape very close to victory. Another win would be great. I would love to win for my sponsor Commencal, and for myself, to show the scene: I've still got it.
Do you have the feeling that you are getting better, developing further, or are you maintaining your level?
I believe that I am evolving. I'm becoming more open-minded. I used to be all about tricks, rampage, fat jumps. My urge to discover new freeride locations is a further development.
In the mind. Even on the bike?
One influences the other. I'm now riding better than ever. This has to do with my new attitude, but also with my new practice course. I step outside the front door and have jumps right in front of me. That helps enormously.
And the FEST series?
That's what I've been doing for the last three years. Over and over again. The same places, the same jumps, the same people. It's time to realise my own projects now. My trip to Peru alone gave me such a kick. It inspired me and energised me in a way that I haven't experienced for a long time.
What is your favourite trick at the moment?
Whips, 360s - everyone knows that these are the most stylish tricks ever. It's difficult to ask a freerider about their favourite trick. It always depends on the jump. I'm most inspired by doing sick tricks in sick terrain like wide flatspins or stepdown flips. Snowboard films inspire me to do that. A steezy move from backcountry hero John Jackson impresses me much more than 10,000 rotations from a Japanese slopestyle kid.
We look forward to reporting on your future adventures.
Me too. It's great that magazines still exist. I come from the magazine era. There aren't many bike pros who can claim that anymore. Insta and TikTok are all the rage now. That's the future, but I don't like it. I like films, magazines and cameras. I don't want to film myself with my iPhone.
You lost Red Bull as a sponsor. That surprised many people.
It wasn't easy to negotiate with Red Bull in Spain. My manager in charge didn't understand me. He had no idea about mountain biking. I rode for Red Bull for 15 years, but Red Bull didn't really help me with my projects. And now they prefer to support video gamers instead of action athletes, that's how it seems to me. They even cancelled Sergio Layos, Sergio is one of the great legends in BMX. And hey, at the end of the day, we all know the best drink in the world: water! Drink water, friends! Because water gives you wings!
Andreu Lacondeguy (33), Team Commencal
The commentators called the nimble Catalan from Barcelona the "Spanish fly" when he entered the freeride stage in 2006 - at the Adidas Slopestyle in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. Since then, Andreu has been one of the outstanding personalities in the sport of mountain biking. The unconventional Catalan has influenced both slopestyle and big mountain freeriding.
