It was near Mégève that Matthias Giraud came to share his passion for Mont-Blanc, so dear to his heart, during the "Back To Back Freeski Invitational", a ski show for experts in thrills.

He offered himself an impressive freeride descent (steep slope delivering acrobatic figures) from the Aiguille Croche (2,487 m), before jumping from the cliff in free fall (2,022 m) and flying thanks to his parachute.

Giraud is a fan of base jumping on skis, a practice that allows him to descend "a huge face with a bar (very steep slope) of 200 meters".

"You can't survive a 200 meter bar and I really wanted to ski to the point of no return. A parachute was the perfect tool. Instead of stopping, abseiling and coming back up on foot, there we go at full speed and then we fly away", tells AFP Giraud to explain what brought him on this perilous and captivating path.

Frenchman Matthias Giraud, nicknamed "Super Frenchie", a fan of base jumping on skis, poses during a photo shoot on March 15, 2022 in Paris JOEL SAGET AFP / Archives

At the age of 9, he discovered base jumping through a film, "Pushing the limits": "It was a call. I felt like I was part of the tribe, but I had to win my place in the tribe", recalls the 38-year-old Norman, born to a Dutch mother and an Aveyron father and who discovered the mountains during a vacation near Chamonix.

"My real life was about to begin"

At the age of 24, he made his first jump in ski base jump, on Mount Hood (3,429 m, Oregon/United States), a world first that caused a stir in the United States and earned him his nickname "Super Frenchie". (super French).

"It was like in the cartoon + Beep Beep and the Coyote + when the coyote runs off a cliff for a super long time before falling (...) I knew my real life was about to begin", underlines the one who, then, chained very committed and spectacular jumps from cliffs but also from bridges, radio antennas, buildings and even castles.

Frenchman Matthias Giraud, nicknamed "Super Frenchie", a fan of base jumping on skis, poses during a photo shoot on March 15, 2022 in Paris JOEL SAGET AFP / Archives

"I went very hard for several years, doing double back flips on bars of only 80 meters, opening 20 meters from the ground".

And then, in 2013, there was the Pointe d'Areu (2,478 m, Aravis/Haute-Savoie chain).

A step to realize his dream of "jumping Mont Blanc", a few weeks before the birth of his son.

"The wind picked up, but I couldn't feel it (...) my parachute opened sideways, I flung myself into the cliff four times, it broke my femur. I managed to spin the parachute, I passed out under canopy due to pain, then I flew 1500 meters unconscious, I crashed in a forest, down in the valley, it tore my parachute, I fell 10, 15 meters to the ground, it broke my femur," he recalls.

Frenchman Matthias Giraud, nicknamed "Super Frenchie", a fan of base jumping on skis, poses during a photo shoot on March 15, 2022 in Paris JOEL SAGET AFP / Archives

Three days in a coma

After three days of coma and two cerebral hemorrhages, he took three months to walk again, but resumed free fall, four months after his accident, then base jumping: "I had no choice, it was my vocation".

After five years of work to digest his accident, he returns to the Pointe d'Areu.

"It was heavy. I wrote a letter to my son in case something happened. It was dark, a bit like preparing my own funeral. But this ascent was + liberating +", explains the one who lives part of the year in the United States.

Frenchman Matthias Giraud, nicknamed "Super Frenchie", a fan of base jumping on skis, poses during a photo shoot on March 15, 2022 in Paris JOEL SAGET AFP / Archives

"2018 was the hardest year. 2019 was the return of the phoenix. I really felt where I needed to be," he sums up.

In June of that year, he became the first to jump in ski base jump from Mont Blanc, starting from the Red Rocks (4,359 m).

"There was no margin for error, it was a jump that was only 57 meters vertical at 4,400 meters above sea level. If I had not had this accident, the best day of my life in skiing base jump would never have happened", concludes "Super Frenchie", now in search of a new record... at 6,000 meters!

© 2022 AFP