Justine Dufour-Lapointe would never have claimed to want to become world champion in her first season on the Freeride World Tour (FWT). Yet this is what happened and she must live with new expectations.
Dufour-Lapointe was returning from a training camp in Austria when she answered the phone. In a few weeks, she will begin her second freeski campaign. However, the current situation is very different, because she will start the season with the objective of defending her world champion title.
“I want to attack this season with the same naivety. This same happiness that I took last year,” she insists.
Because after a prolific 12-year career in freestyle skiing that included two Olympic medals, a world championship title and 15 World Cup victories, it was difficult to set expectations in a completely new discipline. Much wilder, dangerous and counterintuitive.
However, she will plunge into this new season with certain a priori and above all the certainty of being able to win. However, for the 29-year-old athlete, happiness lies in the pleasure of skiing. Victory is important, but without being secondary, its sensations on these unpredictable glaciers are more important. “What you realize is that what fills you with happiness is the feeling of skiing, of arriving at the bottom and being proud. And the result comes naturally. »
Even if winning the world champion title was “a dream” for the Quebecer, she refuses to change her approach. Like last year, she is there to learn and to marvel. Let’s just say that triumphing speeds up the learning process somewhat, so she’ll get to the details perhaps faster than expected.
“I feel in a better position to go explore and push my limits, push back the jumps, do more. That’s what’s great. It’s about being able to go deeper into freeriding. More backflips, more tricks, more 360s. I’m going to have more of that luxury, given that I have more experience than last year,” she explains.
And despite this unexpected title, to say the least, she refuses to add unnecessary pressure. “I want to ski well, to perform well and it’s in my nature to be a perfectionist, to work hard and to want to achieve the best with my abilities,” emphasizes the Montrealer.
Ending your second season on the circuit without being able to defend your world champion title would not necessarily be a failure. Mainly because this adventure is not only limited to performance and output. Above all, it is a long epic journey to finally be at peace with the decision to have moved forward alone as a grown-up.
All her life, Dufour-Lapointe was surrounded. By his family or by members of the Canadian freestyle ski team. Back then, everything was so simple. For the slightest question, the slightest pitfall, the slightest concern, she knew who to turn to.
From now on, in the highest mountains in Europe, she is alone with herself. And this is undoubtedly the biggest challenge of this overseas adventure.
“It’s trial and error. It’s definitely different from what I’ve experienced before where you have a complete team. For me, it’s a personal journey,” she explains.
Then, this continuous work on herself is the greatest gift she could have given herself almost at the turn of her thirties.
This work, however, did not begin just a year ago. For 12 years, she has strived to be as resilient and combative as possible. And it appeared on the snow last year, she thinks.
“There is also the behind the scenes of mental preparation, stress management and I have trained for 12 years to manage the stress of a competition. I am at a level that is adapted to many kinds of stress. »
Still, when she doesn’t have both feet attached to her skis, she still has to learn to live in isolation. For a gregarious being like her, the challenge can seem gigantic. “Of course it can be scary and stressful to have to make all these decisions for yourself. »
Last year, she had to learn to live with uncertainty. Like a sort of mix between chance and carelessness. “Like finding my rental car, driving three hours to Europe, where I have no idea where I’m going, no network and I have to make do,” she recalls.
“It’s these experiences that have been really rich and interesting. »And that’s what she wanted to experience when she started freeriding. Far beyond skiing.
