Fred Syversen became a well known freeskier by unintentionally setting the new world record on cliff dropping. Surviving 107 meters drop was not only amazing, but also something nobody really expected to happen. Fred Syversen’s new world record is 32 meters higher than the previous record by Jamie Pierre. We wanted to know everything about this Norwegian daredevil, so we asked Fred to sit down for an interview. This is the interview of Fred Syversen, the skier who survived 107 meters (351 feet) cliff drop.

It was a beautiful morning March 18th, 2008. The sun was shining over the powder-covered Swiss Alps as Norwegian freeskier Fred Syversen was preparing to ski the perfect line. He had been checking the mountain from different angles and thinking about his line in advance. Fred always wants to avoid undue risks. On that morning he was skiing with Perfect Moment Production’s filming group who were shooting material for their Nuit de la Glisse ski movie.

Fred Syversen is one of the best professional freeskiers in the world, but he had no clue what would happen that morning. He didn’t expect that very soon he would ski a fine line between life and death. He didn’t know that he would be closer to death than ever before.

A helicopter was flying above Fred Syversen and members of the filming crew. The camera man was ready, but Fred waited. He worried about the snow condition, but after a while he decided to go. The camera started rolling. Fred began skiing a beautiful, untouched powder field with the helicopter flying overhead. He skied smoothly but fast, drawing his own tracks on the snow. At that moment, Fred was focused on doing what he knows best, skiing the big mountains.

Fred continued to ski the white paradise. At one point he got very close to the edge of the mountain with over a 100-meter drop on his right side, but he continued towards the cliff he was supposed to drop off. For some reason Fred followed the wrong line. He should have skied more to the left when he realized he was entering the wrong exit cliff. He planned to drop a rather easy cliff, but the one he was approaching happened to be 32 meters higher than Jamie Pierre’s world record. Fred Syversen was skiing 80 km/h, so he had no choice. Either he was going to end up in an uncontrolled crash or he was going to try his best. And hope for the best. Fred decided to survive, and the rest is history.

Fred Syversen – Alpine race skier turned to freeskiing

Last spring we heard rumors of a Norwegian skier setting the new world record in cliff dropping. Many didn’t believe this, but a few weeks ago, the video clip was released  and people’s jaws dropped. It was true. Fred Syversen dropped 107 meters (351 feet) and set the new world record on cliff dropping. Boy, we got interested. We wanted to talk with Fred. Who is this dude who survived such a gigantic cliff drop?

Fred Syversen, age 42, was born in Norway and currently he lives in both Norway and France. Fred is a professional athlete, and his profession is freeskiing. In addition to skiing he runs a small business with his friend. Fred started skiing at the age of 3-4, and it was love at first sight. Soon Fred got into races and did a lot of FIS competitions over the next 11 years.

Just like any other young skier, Fred also had few skiers he admired. The Swedish alpine race skier Ingemar Stenmark was his true role-model and it is no wonder why, because Stenmark was truly invincible. His 86 world cup victories say it all. Fred is also a staunch admirer of Axel Lund Svindal and his skiing. He also mentions a couple freeskiing pioneers, Jean Marc Boivin and Sylvain Saudin, who took the sport to the next level. After thinking a few more seconds, Fred also mentions Lasse Kjus and Kjetil André Aamodt.

Fred found himself studying in France. Back in those days he met Denis Rey and Sebastien Michaud who took him to ski La Grave. This was his first contact with freeskiing, and soon he found himself riding the big mountains. Fred is known from his high speed, which he says is natural for a former race skier. He is sponsored by Dynastar, Lange and Perfect Moment clothing.

What is the driving force behind all those extreme things you do, Fred?

What makes Fred Syversen push his limits? It is really fascinating to watch Fred ski the big mountains year after year, but where does all that motivation come from?

“I have a competitive spirit.  I guess that gives me a lot of force“.

Years ago Fred Syversen just loved to ski, but nowadays he is deeply involved in gear testing and research & development. Skiing has become his job. All this has taken Fred’s skiing to a new level, but he is still deeply in love with the sport. As Fred says, he wouldn’t do this without his love and passion for skiing.

Many active skiers also have a number of other interests and hobbies, because there is a lot of “waiting time” in skiing. During summer time, skiers typically do sports like water skiing or mountain biking. For example, the living legend of skiing, Glen Plake, is known as an active water skier. Fred Syversen also has a number of side interests, such as base jumping, mountain biking, climbing, wakeboarding, longboarding and kayaking.

Fred Syversen likes to be active. When he gets tired of skiing, Fred grabs his bike or parachute and goes out to enjoy life. Although Fred is a sporty man, it’s not only sports that keep him busy. This fall Fred founded a company with a friend. He didn’t tell us what SteepZone is going to offer to its clients, but I guess the name says it all.

Death is always lurking right around the corner, but it’s part of the game

One of the biggest name in skiing so far, Doug Coombs, passed away last winter. Doug fell off a cliff and died immediately. The death of Doug Coombs was a shock to us all, although everybody knows that risks in big mountain skiing are sometimes pretty high. Doug knew this too, but I am sure we can agree that he lived his life exactly as he wanted to. Doug enjoyed every bit of the sport.

Fred Syversen almost died as well when he unintentionally set the new world record on cliff dropping. Surviving 107 meters drop was a miracle and a close call. We asked Fred how he feels about the recent deaths of many pro skiers such as Doug Coombs, John Nicoletta and Billy Poole.

“I feel sorry, it is a small community and deaths affect us all, even if you never met them. I knew Doug from La Grave and got to meet Billy in Riksgrensen, Sweden. Those were great guys“.

Death is always lurking around the corner, but pro skiers know it. Risks levels can sometimes be high, but pro skiers always calculate it. Skiers like Fred Syversen take only calculated risks. Accidents happen, as with Doug Coombs, but in skiing steep mountain faces or dropping big cliffs, risks are minimized as much as possible.

It’s a beautiful life out there, so enjoy it

Why are we here? Finding the right answer to this phenomenal question of life on Earth is impossible, but I think we should at least enjoy the life we have been given. Skiing, music and photography, and  of course my children, are my vehicles for enjoying life. I wanted to know what Fred Syversen’s best single skiing related memory is , and his answer was clear and fast:

“Skiing Aiguille d’Argentière, couloir Barbey in 8 turns“.

Not all people have a straight and well thought out answer to this question. It seems to me that Fred has pondered this before. Skiing the couloir Barbey of Aiguille d’Argentiere in 8 turns must have been an extraordinary experience. Barbey is a pretty wide and long run, although not very steep, which makes it perfect couloir to ski fast. You can see Fred ski the couloir in The Contact ski film by Perfect Moment.

Skiers like Fred Syversen have traveled the globe looking for perfect moments in the mountains. They have visited dozens or even  over a hundred ski resorts in many countries. If you want to get a tip on a good place to ski, ask pro skiers. We asked Fred to name the three best ski resorts, not including backcountry skiing. Again, Fred gave a fast and wellthought out answer.

“La Grave, Narvik and Hemsedal“.

La Grave, a small ski resort in France, is known as an off-piste skiing Mecca. Although skiing in La Grave can be very dangerous due to the lack of formal avalanche control, it is very famous among the top big mountain skiers of the world. Every big mountain skier knows La Grave.

Narvik and Hemsedal are both Norwegian ski resorts. While Narvik is small northern ski resort providing excellent off-piste skiing, Hemsedal is the most popular ski resort in Norway. Narvik and its off-piste runs are well known in Scandinavia, and Hemsedal was elected as the world’s 7th best snowboard destination (according to Skistar.Com).

Fred Syversen has skied many mountains and off-piste runs. He says the most exotic places he has skied are Lyngen and Tamok valley in northern Norway, as well as the west coast range of Norway. Although Fred might like to promote his homeland, Norway definitely provides some awesome places to ski. For example, skiing the very cold Tamok and Lyngen is an experience you cannot get in central Europe and Northern America. In fact, Tamok and Lyngen are comparable to Alaska, although the mountains are a bit smaller.

Can you imagine how would it feel to fall 107 meters, get up, and ski down to a helicopter?

Last year Fred Syversen was filming Nuit de la Glisse ski movie with Perfect Moment Productions in Swiss mountains. Although they had safety up there and everything was well-planned, something went very wrong. After skiing a perfect line Fred picked the wrong exit cliff, and unintentionally set the new world record in cliff dropping. Fred fell 107 meters and landed with approximately 150 km/h velocity. It was a miracle Fred survived. So, Fred, what the heck happened that day?

It was a beautiful day, lots of fresh. I worried about the snow conditions that day, more than anything else. It was my first day filming with Perfect Moment, and we were a crew with one snowboarder, 2 skiers including myself and one helicopter. All set to be a good day on the hill. People may say what they want, but the route finding on this was not as easy as it looked from the air (of course ). I took out one spot on the whole route, I was scouting from a side angle. I reached this spot, no worries.

Speed is picking up as it’s getting steeper, and i realize this is the wrong place ( you can say it was a twin spot, you can see it in some of the stills, taken by Felix St. Clair Renard ), it was supposed to go slightly skier’s left here, but instead it goes straight down to a cliff edge. Speed is high, some rocks on the surface and just below the surface, it is also much narrower than it looks on the film, makes me wonder if it is worth the chance of a stop turn, split second decision. All of this happens in a matter of seconds. There will be no stop turn, the risk of a fall will kill me. I know it is a huge cliff, I only see the other end of the valley.

In my left side vision I see rocks, I think seriously that this is the end! The last right turn gets my angle a little away from the rock band, my takeoff is slightly left because of sharp rocks just on the edge. then airborne, I can see snow underneath, I knew at that instant that I will make this, my whole mind changed from total resignation to attack, I had no feeling of the height, I only knew it was very high ( it is normal to loose your feeling of height when it gets too high ), landing seemed totally flat as well.

I’m out in the air hucking the biggest cliff ever hucked, I am amazingly stable in the air, due to the initial resignation my arms go a little backward for then again to start pressing forward, preventing my skitips from flipping me over on my head due to the wind pressure, which is getting very strong, on my fats. Closer to the ground I let the forces come to use and flattens out on my back to get the largest possible area for the force of impact. Speed at impact is said to be up near 170 km/h.

Explosion !!! the landing was brutal, from going that fast to total stop and total silence was a weird feeling. I was not even unconscious, nor did I even loose my breath. First thing, checking my ability to move my toes, I am OK. Then trying to get out of the bomb hole, no way; I was totally stuck. Panic for a second, can’t breathe. Calm down, ate some snow in front of my mouth. Close my eyes, breath what i could through my nose, try to get my pulse going as low as possible. One of my poles is lying partly above the snow, and i signal with it  you can see it in some of the stills taken by Felix), I could move my right forearm a little bit, for the guys who I knew would come get me as fast as they could. About 4 minutes underneath the snow, according to the rescuers, I was up and about. I put my skis back on, and ski down to the waiting helicopter.

Fred’s story is absolutely the most shocking news from the world of skiing last year. Many big things happened, such as the dramatic crash of Matthias Lanzinger, but Fred’s story is amazing because he survived a deadly drop. We wanted to know more about Fred’s thoughts after the cliff drop. We asked, “What was the first thought when you realized that you survived this incredible jump? What were you thinking when you went to sleep that night”?

“I looked at the cliff several times from underneath after being dug out, even got the helicopter pilot who took me to the hospital to do a last flyby.. like I wanted to remember this one.. I went through that day many times in my head at the hospital, just to be ready for anything that might come up now and in the future. I had some weird dreams a couple of nights at the hospital, but they’ve stopped”.

Don’t try this at home – Dropping huge cliff can kill you

Fred Syversen has been interviewed a few times after his incredible cliff drop, but the injuries he suffered have not been discussed that much. People think Fred didn’t get even a scratch, but that’s not actually the whole truth. Fred Syversen suffered a partially collapsed lung and damage in his liver. The great thing is that Fred has recovered 100%, but his doctor said that the force of impact from a jump like this could tear the main artery of the heart (aorta) and cause instant death! So please don’t go dropping cliffs unless you know exactly what you are doing and what the risks are.

One might think that after surviving 107 meters cliff drop Fred would never step on skis anymore. But no, Fred is still going strong. Soon after the accident Fred Syversen jumped back on his skis and went checking some backcountries. Fred thinks he didn’t become afraid of big mountain skiing at all, and in fact he believes that what happened last year will make him even a better skier.

Today Fred Syversen feels really alive. He goes skiing and enjoys his life as much as possible. Last time I talked to Fred, he was driving towards Chamonix, the off-piste skiing Mecca of the world. Although Fred set the new world record on cliff dropping and survived a pretty amazing drop, he wants to point out that we should all be responsible for crediting good skier’s and not stunts that might get people killed! He is right. Although Fred is now known for his incredible cliff drop, we give him credit for being a damn good skier and a humble mate with whom you would enjoy drinking a beer or two after a good day of skiing.

Photos by Colin Samuels with copyrights. Photos used with permission.