I’ve known Laurent for a while.
I’ve lived in Switzerland for many years now and he, of course, is a local.
We run into each other now and again, randomly and intentionally, to ski and at industry events.
When Laurent told me at High Five Festival that he was starting a new brand, I was hyped.
Laurent is a thoughtful skier, one of my favorite to watch.
So instead of an interview, here it is in full.
Simply Recreation Club in Laurent’s own words:
I have spent my life on skis.
I started at 3 years old and fell in love with freeskiing at the age of 12.
With these incredible people, I shared unforgettable moments and experienced absolute happiness on many occasions.
We had the same drive, passion & vision.
We created two movies: From Switzerland With Love & Simply.
Through those projects, I realized some of my biggest dreams.
Not because of skiing itself but because of the mental energy & time I was putting into those projects.
And so, I decided to take a year off creating film projects in 2022.
I just wanted to enjoy skiing, without any pressure.
I wanted to reignite the same passion I had for the sport when I was a teenager.
But that feeling of pure enjoyment, the unadulterated love for skiing, wouldnt reappear.
My motivation was hit and miss.
During a movie project, I simply dont allow myself to feel jaded.
Its counterproductive: you are with a crew, on a mission.
Photo: Christophe Voisin
There were plenty of external factors in my frustrations too.
I know a lot of cool stuff still happens in freeskiing right now.
FIS competitions are everywhere, but there is a near-total lack of money for young riders.
Its almost impossible to make it without the support of a national team.
Influencers promote sustainability, but their own footprint is beyond imagination.
Naively, I thought that freeskiing was better than that.
But its not and neither was I.
Ultimately, a single day changed everything.
Yes, Id had serious accidents before.
But one day last spring surpassed them all.
We were filming for a brand.
It was way too warm & snow conditions were terrible.
We were a big group of people who had never filmed together.
There was no discussion, no communication, and no plan.
It was the perfect recipe for a disaster.
I wasnt feeling it but I went anyway.
And a disaster it was.
Along with Mathieu Maynadier, I triggered an Avalanche.
He got caught and ended up with 4 broken ribs.
The crew and guides had to dig him out.
I tried to avoid the avalanche but I ended up skiing off a 20-meter cliff.
The depth of the snow absorbed the impact.
As soon as I landed, I had this sixth sense that I needed to move.
I ran out of the avalanche debris abandoning my skis and gear.
Had I not instinctively moved, I would have been dead.
That day, I did not listen to my intuition.
I was completely lost in the days after the incident.
I couldnt see myself ever skiing again like before.
I couldnt bring myself to go back into the mountains.
I was stuck at home, my mind clouded by the experience.
I second-guessed myself in every way.
All my youth, I had dreamed of the life I have today.
And I couldnt enjoy it.
Thankfully, my friends, especially Sampo Vallotton, were close by.
Its hard to explain, but that experience reignited my love of skiing again.
It was like a fog lifted.
From then on, I resolved that every day spent in the mountains would be a day to remember.
P: Francois Marclay
It was time for a new chapter in my life, a new opportunity.
The idea was sparked: should I create my own brand?
A new start, a blank slate to work on with friends.
We would have to redefine everything from the beginning, but thats what made it so exciting.
Simply put, we could do anything we wanted.
I wanted to gather motivated, inspiring skiers, who want to create something new on a local level.
Something that fit my vision of skiing.
They share my convictions too.
They believe in a local, durable and sustainable vision of ski production.
For almost 20 years now, the freeskiing community has given me so much.
Its time for me to give something different back to the culture.
I want to offer others the joyous feelings and incomparable sensations that freeskiing has brought me.
Along with Sampo, Alice, and other friends, I spent a lot of time trying different prototypes.
We were looking for the perfect shape to express ourselves on snow.
We want to be more than a young brand bringing something fresh.
We want to be a community.
is a new way for me to live my passion to its fullest.
Skiing is my biggest love and inspiration and I want to share it.
That is why we created Simply.
Recreation Club, to gather people with the same passion for skiing that we have.
Today, Im starting a new chapter of my life.
I managed to recover from the biggest doubts and worst experiences of my career.
Im ready for that new challenge.
Today, I feel the same excitement I felt as a teenager 15 years ago when I discovered freeskiing.
A new world opens its arms to me.
will impact the next generation in the way I was impacted by my predecessors.
Above all, I cant wait to see where this new path leads.
And remember: Youre shredding, smile!
