SECOND PART OF THE INTERVIEW WITH OUR AMBASSADOR AURELIEN DUCROZ
Read the second part of our interview with our Our ambassador Aurelien Ducroz when he came to visit us at our Manufacture.
The ski season is nearly over, what are you going to do after? Do you have already a project in mind?
Well, you will see me on the sea, of course. In the next two days I will cross France to go to Great Britain to pick up my new sailing boat in order to participate in the Tour de France à la Voile. It will be the first time that I am sailing a regatta mainly because I want to improve my technique. This will take the whole July and we will stop in nine different cities of France.
If you go from skiing to sailing: are there any similarities?
The link between these two is the element. The mental way you have to take to go out skiing is the same you have to take when you go out in the mountains. The snow, the conditions, the weather, all these processes are exactly the same when you go sailing. That’s the similarity and that’s also why I have been able to do that. Without my mountain experience I would have never been able to start sailing at that late age.
What is the relationship between sport and risk for you?
I think it’s a progression. As soon as you do sports in a natural environment, in the sea or in the mountain, often you take a risk because it’s risky places and there are things, which you cannot foresee. But I always say that nature wasn’t made to have you skiing in a 50° angle in 50 cm of powder. But if you do it in the right way and you follow the rules you can do it. And it is the same with sailing. You cross the Atlantic with a six-meter boat, which is not made for that at all, but if you follow the rules you can do it. It is important to listen to the nature and then everything else was a progression. My main interest is to reduce the risk as much as possible.
You as a four-time champion, what would be your counsellors to a young fan who wants to start a career like yours?
Of course I would tell him to go for it and to do it in a good way, meaning always looking and listening to the nature, which is the most important thing to stay alive. In the beginning you should always go out only with the right person, a professional. Otherwise just follow your dreams. If you want it, then go for it. The only thing is that if you are doing that then there is a route to follow and as long as you follow it, it will work.
It’s been 2 years now, since we joined our forces in the water guardian program “Race for Water”, could you please tell us why you have your heart set on this project?
I am spending my whole year on water, either snow, ice or water so that element touches me a lot. And also the water cycle from the top of the mountain down to the sea is exactly what I am doing and I am following that cycle all way long. Of course the chance to develop this project with Alpina and Race for Water was a great experience. I am very happy to be an ambassador for that and to continue to build a nice foundation together with that brand.
What do you do in your every day life to reduce your water footprint?
I learnt a lot from the foundation that I could do many small things every day in order to reduce it. I also put a water-tank outside to collect rainwater, so there are a lot of ways to reduce it. They are a lot of small things but if you add them up you will conclude in a very big improvement.
You have been an ambassador for Alpina for a few years now, is there any particular model in the Alpina catalogue that is special to you?
Of course it is the Alpiner 4 Race for Water model, because we did that project all together. And of course it was already a nice watch which touched me the most because all my world, the skiing and the sailing, was in it and it was my favourite project I did with the brand.
Alpina introduced the First Horological Smartwatch, what do you think of it?
It is just an incredible watch and it doesn’t seem to be a Smartwatch. I will use it a lot while skiing to see how many steps it took me to go to the top of the mountain. And I will also use it a lot while sailing because you are not sleeping very much on a boat and it is always interesting to see how well you slept. With the Horological Smartwatch I will be able to see that and I will be more efficient in my sailing because I know when it will be the right time to wake up. It is just an amazing watch because it also looks like a super nice and elegant watch. At the end it is a Horological beauty.
Thanks you for your time Aurelien !
The ski season is nearly over, what are you going to do after? Do you have already a project in mind?
Well, you will see me on the sea, of course. In the next two days I will cross France to go to Great Britain to pick up my new sailing boat in order to participate in the Tour de France à la Voile. It will be the first time that I am sailing a regatta mainly because I want to improve my technique. This will take the whole July and we will stop in nine different cities of France.
If you go from skiing to sailing: are there any similarities?
The link between these two is the element. The mental way you have to take to go out skiing is the same you have to take when you go out in the mountains. The snow, the conditions, the weather, all these processes are exactly the same when you go sailing. That’s the similarity and that’s also why I have been able to do that. Without my mountain experience I would have never been able to start sailing at that late age.
What is the relationship between sport and risk for you?
I think it’s a progression. As soon as you do sports in a natural environment, in the sea or in the mountain, often you take a risk because it’s risky places and there are things, which you cannot foresee. But I always say that nature wasn’t made to have you skiing in a 50° angle in 50 cm of powder. But if you do it in the right way and you follow the rules you can do it. And it is the same with sailing. You cross the Atlantic with a six-meter boat, which is not made for that at all, but if you follow the rules you can do it. It is important to listen to the nature and then everything else was a progression. My main interest is to reduce the risk as much as possible.
You as a four-time champion, what would be your counsellors to a young fan who wants to start a career like yours?
Of course I would tell him to go for it and to do it in a good way, meaning always looking and listening to the nature, which is the most important thing to stay alive. In the beginning you should always go out only with the right person, a professional. Otherwise just follow your dreams. If you want it, then go for it. The only thing is that if you are doing that then there is a route to follow and as long as you follow it, it will work.
It’s been 2 years now, since we joined our forces in the water guardian program “Race for Water”, could you please tell us why you have your heart set on this project?
I am spending my whole year on water, either snow, ice or water so that element touches me a lot. And also the water cycle from the top of the mountain down to the sea is exactly what I am doing and I am following that cycle all way long. Of course the chance to develop this project with Alpina and Race for Water was a great experience. I am very happy to be an ambassador for that and to continue to build a nice foundation together with that brand.
What do you do in your every day life to reduce your water footprint?
I learnt a lot from the foundation that I could do many small things every day in order to reduce it. I also put a water-tank outside to collect rainwater, so there are a lot of ways to reduce it. They are a lot of small things but if you add them up you will conclude in a very big improvement.
You have been an ambassador for Alpina for a few years now, is there any particular model in the Alpina catalogue that is special to you?
Of course it is the Alpiner 4 Race for Water model, because we did that project all together. And of course it was already a nice watch which touched me the most because all my world, the skiing and the sailing, was in it and it was my favourite project I did with the brand.
Alpina introduced the First Horological Smartwatch, what do you think of it?
It is just an incredible watch and it doesn’t seem to be a Smartwatch. I will use it a lot while skiing to see how many steps it took me to go to the top of the mountain. And I will also use it a lot while sailing because you are not sleeping very much on a boat and it is always interesting to see how well you slept. With the Horological Smartwatch I will be able to see that and I will be more efficient in my sailing because I know when it will be the right time to wake up. It is just an amazing watch because it also looks like a super nice and elegant watch. At the end it is a Horological beauty.
Thanks you for your time Aurelien !