French ripper Margot Rozies used to kill it in the pipe but this year she’s switched to freeride contests scoring a whopping second in her debut event at the Freeride World Tour in Revelstoke and then getting another second at the FWT event in Chamonix. We checked in for a chat

Interview by Sam Haddad, photos by Matt Georges

Hey Margot, well done on your second place at the FWT in Revelstoke? Talk us through that?
Thanks! It was a big surprise for me as it was my 2nd freeride comp and the 1st one on the FWT. I figured I still really have to get used to riding big mountain as I was pretty scared up there… But I tried to ride fast and fluid, and take no big risks and it worked out!

What made you decide to give the FWT a go this year?
Last season I tried to enter a comp but I couldn’t ride, then I got an email from the FWT director offering me a wildcard for the season 2 weeks before Revelstoke. After thinking for a short time, I was down for it and I booked my flight to Canada.

What are your dream FWT conditions?
Good powder for sure!!! I like to ride couloirs you can ride fast, but I really don’t wanna get lost somewhere, it’s easy to get lost as it looks totally different from the top!
And I always try to find some nice things to drop, which is also kind of hard as you have to guess the size of the drop… Not easy from the bottom of the face.

Are you excited to do the Bec de Rosses in Verbier?
Well, you’ve got to be qualified to go there, so we will see if I get my spot!

Where are you based during winter?
I’m a gypsy queen this season, my house is my car! Luckily I have a lot of friends around the Alps. I go buy food for them, I cook, I clean… 🙂 Not so easy all the time though…

We ran an interview with Basa Stevulova about a provocative Whitelines article describing a Chamonix trip you’d been on, did she say it right and do you have anything to add?
No, I think she said it all really well!!!

Do you miss riding pipe at all?
Well, when I was last in Laax I had the chance to ride the pipe often, but yeah I’ll miss it for sure!

Were you friends with fellow Roxy skier Sarah Burke (who sadly passed away last week following an accident in training)?

Yes, I’m really sorry for her family, husband and friends. She was a great person, and a legend. Everyone is gonna miss her so much. It was a terrible accident.

You nearly had a career as a surfer. Do you ever wish (say in horizontal blizzards and icy wind packed snow!) you’d been a surfer instead?
Well, I get to surf every season (May to October) so I’m fine, trying to get better every year!

Thanks Margot! And who are your sponsors so we can thank them too?
Well there’s Roxy, Seventy-One per Cent and Replay cameras. I hope I get some more after this season 🙂

To follow Margot’s progress on the Freeride World Tour head to freerideworldtour.com