Frenchman turned American, skateboard pro turned snowboard pro, American turned back to Frenchman, it's hard keeping track of Nicolas, but one thing is for sure, Mr. Droz needs no introduction whatsoever... :: interview by andrew winter/step-on.co.uk :: 20th october 2004

AW So Nico, what have you been up to over the summer? I heard you have recently bought a boat, and got into sailing this summer, do you do much snowboarding in the summer, or do you prefer to chill out and do different things?
ND I have been skating a lot with my friends in my home town Thonon, we just got a new skate park so we hang out a lot there. I did a lot of sailing too, we had races on lake Geneva almost every weekend from may to july. Check out www.french-connection.fr to see the boat...
I also went to the beach down in Hossegor with my girl and a couple days to Les 2 Alpes for the summer camp which was really fun. Then I went to Hawaii to help edit my video part for Absinthe, it was just paradise for 10 days...

AW So how was your season last season? Was that your first time filming with Absinthe films?
ND Last season was great, I stayed in Avoriaz all winter filming for Absinthe (the movie "Pop"). It was the real first year I filmed full time with them. I've filmed with Brusti a little in the past on Tribal, the Onboard movie. Filming with Absinthe was perfect because they have good cameramen all over the key spots, on my side in les Portes du Soleil I had David Vladyka and Bill Gallen to work with, it was really nice. We started to shoot early with some rails in the area mid november. All winter David knew good spots so it was easy to make new plans everyday, and being at home was really comfortable too. For the first time in 6 years I didn't go to the states during the winter. It was a cute season for sure.

AW Do you stay in France more than the States these days?
ND This season I just wanted to film my video part at home like I said, but I will go back to the states next season, I miss my friends over there and the snowboarding there is fun too.

AW You have been one of the best known snowboarders for years now, and have the longest list of sponsors I have ever seen! Did you have to promote yourself a lot to brands, or did it all happen naturally?
ND It pretty much happened naturally, people support me and I try to give it back to them. It's the game. I've always been 100 % stoked on all of them, that's the most important part about it.

AW Do you remember when you got your first photo in a magazine? What magazine was it, and when?
ND The first skate photo was taken by Vianney Tisseau in "Anyway", a french sk8 mag, the snowboard one was taken by Scalp in Anyway too I think.

AW You were sponsored for skateboarding before snowboarding, tell us about that...
ND My first sponsor was a local shop in Thonon where we had 15 % off regular price. Then we went up to Avoriaz and got sponsored by the local shop Street Trash for skateboarding. The owner hooked me and Stephane Lochon up with distributors like Santa Cruz first, and then V7 distribution with brands like Etnies, Morrow, Special Blend, and then I slowly made my way up those brands...

AW So I guess you have him to thank! Have you always been more into freestyle/jib riding, or was there once a Nico Droz with tight pants, helmet, a backpack, and a shovel?!
ND I started skateboarding first so I had the whole influence of it pretty early, but I had some tight pants and flashy colour in the early days......

AW Nice! Do you think living near Avoriaz dictated your riding style? ..Like if you had grown up near Chamonix maybe you would be a freerider?
ND Living in a mid mountain like Avoriaz gives you such a fun and easy play ground, plus the all spirit came from the locals and the shop "street trash". It was very well sk8 orientated, but maybe in Cham you have to be more careful and respectful of the mountain because it's a glacier sometimes and you have to be aware.

AW You were part of the snowskate revolution. That seems to have died down a little now, do you still do it?
ND We used to do it a lot with Paco and Grego when I first brought back the first snowsk8 in France and maybe in Europe. After my knee surgery 2 years ago I had to focus on getting back into snowboarding first, but I will get back into it next season...

AW At one stage there were very few international French riders, but now the French scene keeps getting better and better, with younger riders like Crepel becoming superstars so young! What do you think of the French scene at the moment?
ND We have plenty of very talented kids like Mathieu for sure, Mathieu is lucky to have Quiksilver behind him to travel and film, a lot of kids in France need to get more exposure and there are not too many strong companies to push them. At the same time they need to be more professional too. Ilike riding with all those kids, they're really fun to be around.

AW Do you enter many competitions yourself these days, or is your snowboarding for you mainly about filming and photo shoots?
ND I pick my contests, but I'm having way more fun in the backcountry for sure, in contest these days anybody can do any tricks, plus my sponsors want me to get my video part done so I put all my effort into that.

AW What did you think about the Nixon jib fest leaving Avoriaz? I heard it was pretty cool over in Austria..
ND We had it for 2 years in Avoriaz, it was really fun for sure but last year we really wanted it to be private and Gigi wanted to be more involved in the project. I was stoked that Gigi was in charge because it gave me more time to ride and not deal with all the set ups. I helped him a lot still, but he was in charge with Henning, the boss of Nixon. We had such a great time at Gigi's backyard it was perfect, too bad it snowed so much during the event!

AW Everyone is talking about the TTR and how it is changing snowboarding, but you do not seem to be involved too much in that scene, what do you think of it?
ND I'm part of the riders board, the ttr is a good thing for sure. It's good to see real people fighting to make snowboarding look good and have the riders well treated. Last year I was so busy fiming I missed some meetings but the riders board is always in touch via emails.

AW You recently changed your clothing sponsor from years with Special Blend, to Helly Hansen, what prompted this change?
ND I guess Four Star dist wasn't doing too good and my contract was up, so they decided to not renew it. HH came up, and i'm super stoked about it, they gave my the chance to film with Absinthe, plus the product is high quality and good looking so i'm set for sure. It's perfect for sailing too.

AW Yeah man its good shit the HH stuff, Ok, enough of snowboarding! So you're quite into DJing at the moment, do you play any nights anywhere?
ND I play one night a year at my b day party in a bar up in Avoriaz.

AW What music are you in to?
ND Hiphop for sure! US and French.

AW You are nearly 30 now, and still going strong! What does the future hold for Nico Droz?
ND Keep shredding as much as I can and keep it real for the 30. I feel good right now so want to keep on moving forward.

AW So we'll be seeing you around for a while yet! Anything else you'd like to say?
ND Thanx to all my sponsors, my girlfriend Celine and my parents. heo to all my friends, be safe. Thanx to the step-on crew.

NICO'S SPONSORS ARE:
SIMS SNOWBOARDS / HELLY HANSEN / ANON OPTICS / NIXON / TECHNINE / 32 / ETNIES / PREMIER SNOWSKATE / EASTPACK / 2 HIGH / AVORIAZ RESORT.

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