Kriss Kyle: Grape harvest - BMX superstar freestyles with the Enduro in the Swiss wine village of Lavaux

Kriss Kyle (32) is a phenomenon. The Scotsman was well on his way to ending up under the bridge. Skipping school, running away from home, years without a permanent address, sleeping in the skate park and now: BMX superstar. What's more, Kriss transferred his skills to mountain biking and inspired the entire MTB scene with his style. His debut edit "Out of Season" collected more than 1.5 million clicks. Kriss recently explored the vineyards of Lavaux on Lake Geneva. An area where we would not have expected to find the Scottish BMXer.

FREERIDE: Lavaux on Lake Geneva. We didn't expect to see you there.
Kriss KyleOh yes, I can imagine. I'd never been there before. The idea came from Red Bull Switzerland. When I saw the area, I immediately realised: this is mountain bike terrain, I can safely leave my BMX at home.

Your clip features some really crazy locations. What do you think of them?
That's the biggest difficulty: finding good spots for stunts. That's usually the case when I tackle a project like this. That's why I travelled there with my team. We explored the area and saw what was possible. You can imagine it like painting. The painter initially sits in front of a white canvas. This is how we see a railway crossing. And then the ideas come. The boys say: What if we build a kicker here and you jump over there? Could that work? I say: No, there's a lamppost there, it blocks the trajectory and so on. It's a cool, creative process and I feel very privileged to be able to realise such projects.

How can I imagine your team?
They are basically my best friends. I work with them on all my projects. Jack and George are the wood specialists. They build all the ramps and walkways. And then I have five guys who do all the earthworks. So 6-7 dudes in total.

The open loop looked particularly spectacular.
I saw the sloping house wall and it immediately caught my eye. It seemed like the ideal landing for an open loop. I brainstormed with Jack and George whether we could position a wooden kicker so that it would carry me into the landing. The stunt was pretty badass because I couldn't see a thing. I had to pedal down this alley towards the kicker and couldn't see where I was going to land. The motto was: pull on the handlebars, throw your head back and hope it works.

That sounds very fatalistic. How do you deal with such situations? You actually have no idea whether the trick is even possible.
You mustn't forget that I have a lot of experience. I can't say for sure whether the stunt will work, but my eye has become so good over the years that I can see what's possible and what's not. A good rule of thumb: if I can visualise it, then I can do it. Rest assured: I'm not shooting myself into the sky somewhere stupid. My actions are calculated, otherwise you won't last long in this business.

Nevertheless, there is an incredible pressure to perform. What was it like in the open loop?
These projects put pressure on me, for sure. This is often increased by time pressure. At the Open Loop, we were given a maximum of two hours, then everything had to be gone again: the ramp, the cameras and ourselves too. Because the road was closed to traffic and people who wanted to walk around. So everything happens very hectic.

So no airbag?
No, we had two mats. I wanted to land on them in the event of a crash. And of course it doesn't go smoothly straight away. The first two times I fell onto the mats. But I was close. So I removed the mat and landed the jump on my fourth attempt. What a relief! I was very happy to be able to tick off a stunt.

But you couldn't tick off the 40-foot gap.

My motto is: if I announce a stunt, I want to have tried it at least once. We wanted to film this gap on the last day. But by then I had already broken my toe and my knee was in a lot of pain. I wanted to jump from a railway bridge over 10 metres onto a wall. Even my friends - and this happens very rarely - said: "Don't do it. We have really cool stunts. No need to take such a big risk."

So, have you stayed true to your motto?
When I tried the run-in a few times, it got windier and windier. No, it didn't feel right. My friends were rubbing their chins instead of cheering me on with: "Send it! You got this!" So I trusted my instincts. Because I'm really good at judging what works and where you get injured. That's why I've had very few injuries so far.

Which stunt from your edit got your pulse racing the most?
The wallride with the long wooden approach. I had tried it out the night before and jumped too far. I couldn't hold it any longer, flew over the handlebars and broke my toe. Soooo annoying! The filming hadn't even started yet, on day 1 of a total of 10 filming days. That's why I was really scared of this stunt the next day. Before the pain! I knew that if I even slipped my foot off the pedal - it would hurt like hell. I didn't even want to think about crashing. This wallride and the open loop stressed me out the most.

In contrast, the tailwhip over the railing looked so easy and light.
I'm pleased about that, but it was anything but easy. Because the kicker somehow lifted me into the air in a strange way and that Specialised Stumpy tailwhipping is so much more difficult than a BMX. I had to give the bike a good kick. It took me five attempts to get it right. The Specialized is a standard bike. I only changed one thing, as I do on all my bikes, even the e-bike: I modified the cable routing so that I could do tailwhips and barspins.

Who decides what you wear with your edits? The orange-coloured blouson was very telegenic. Did you pick it out?
Ha ha, the blouson was from Prada. Prada had always wanted to support an MTB edit and happened to pick my project. So Prada flew me to Milan, where I was able to design my own clothes with the Prada tailors at the headquarters. The blouson is a one-off and probably worth 6000 euros - crazy! My T-shirt cost 800 euros. My Built team also got Prada T-shirts. It was funny to see George full of sawdust, sweat and dirt on his Prada T-shirt for 800 euros.

Prada! Does that suit you?
What do you mean? ha ha. I think it's cool when brands outside of sport support ideas like this. It helps us all. Because the audience gets bigger, mountain biking becomes more popular, more money flows into the sport and makes new projects possible.

Do you have a say when it comes to editing the clip or choosing the music? Or does Red Bull do that?
No, I chose the music for the clip myself. I know the band's drummer and asked him. That's how it came about. And I also had a say in the editing. Matty Lambert, who I've worked with for years, did the editing and composing. He also did "Out of Season", for example. I trust him completely, we have the same view, you could almost think we're looking through the same pair of eyes. I work on the clip with him until we like it and only then do we send it to Red Bull.

The competition in this field is getting fiercer and fiercer. What clips do you watch to see what the others are doing?
When Brandon Semenuk brings out something new, I watch it straight away. He's number 1 and Brandon is one of my favourite riders. I admire him because he's creative, has style and can do all the tricks. Plus, he's a really likeable guy. The same goes for Brage. His videos are also crazy. Fabio too, of course, or my friend Danny MacAskill. You're right, there are so many out there now. I like to be inspired by them.

The X Games Real MTB video contest recently took place. Did you watch it?
Of course. Oh, I would love to take part.

Which trick impressed you the most?
Tom Van Steenbergens Bunny Hop Cork 7 at the end. Or Matt McDuff's wallride from one roof to another. The riding level is incredible. You wonder when the level will stop increasing, but it never stops. I can't wait to see what will happen in the next 10 years.