It is a personality of the freeride world who passed away this weekend. At 48, Mike Aeschbach was killed in a motorcycle accident at his home in his new adopted country, Mexico.

The Verbier rider was as famous for his exploits on his snowboard or his skis as for his communicative good humor which he shared without counting. In competition, he had surveyed the tracks for kilometers launched during three seasons, bringing his record to more than 210 km / h. The Bagnard was above all a big fan of freeriding.

Winner of the Nendaz Freeride in 2008

Boards on his feet, he had cherished the dream of participating in the Freeride World Tour, narrowly missing the cut. He won the Nendaz Freeride in 2008. A few years later, the dashing 40-year-old still finished 5th and 7th in 2013 and 2014 in the most challenging of the Qualifier’s competitions, the one who said that “the best freeriders are those who last” when he was up against kids half his age. He never had the opportunity to ride the Bec des Rosses, which he knew like the back of his hand, in competition. He was the opener and had also accompanied athletes like Julia Mancuso or Didier Défago on the mythical convict face.

From football to surfing to parachuting

An adventurer at heart, the one who also practiced surfing, kitesurfing, parachute jumping and who also played in the 1st football league, among others, had recently settled in Mexico. An inveterate globetrotter, he loved to ride snowy faces of waves, where others had not yet landed their board. “I love to travel, it will undoubtedly lose me”, he told us a few years ago, he who had only one idea in mind: to live his life to the fullest.