Want to learn firsthand from some of the best in the field? Arc’teryx is hosting an Arc’teryx Backcountry Academy session later this month at Mammoth Mountain (March 7-9, 2025) and we will be there along for the ride. But before we make the drive into the Sierra Nevada, we caught up with team rider Victor Daviet to hear a bit about his winter and what he thinks of the education event.

Victor, hailing from Annecy, France, has been a respected pro around the world since he burst onto the scene in the mid-2000s. Finding success on the contest circuit as well as countless video projects, Daviet has been teaching safety courses on top of all that for the past few years to snowboarders in his backyard and well beyond. It is a pleasure anytime we bump in to him, and soon we will be lucky enough to be learning from him alongside attendees this upcoming weekend in Mammoth! Enjoy our conversation below. – Clavin

How is your winter?
I’m in the Alps. It’s quite dry at the moment. It hasn’t been snowing for a week, so it has been a bit warm and overall pretty chill. But I’m going for a night session shoot tonight and snow is on the way. 

How are you enjoying releasing Fireworks into the world? Is it different working on a project like that compared to a classic part?
Yeah, that was really fun. I have enjoyed the DVD series because I’ve shot at least 10 video parts and now it’s like a collab with a filmer and writers and just trying ideas. Mixing art with snowboarding and sometimes, you know, we have proper tricks into the edits but sometimes it’s just new moves or new way of filming. It’s super refreshing, creatively. And it just took us four days… It was snowing in Italy so I thought let’s go there and let’s try that concept. We shot for three days and that’s it.

Sounds like a big difference. Are you excited about the upcoming Backcountry Academy in Mammoth?
Definitely! Arc’teryx Academy is always a good time. They gather so many people from the company and outside, all the athletes… so it’s super fun to hang out with everyone. And it’s not just the skiers, but the alpinists, the climbers… so really different worlds are mixing together. In the summer we hang out with them. They bring us around climbing some crazy shit, and it’s so gnarly… so to teach them snowboarding and partying in the winter, it’s always a good time. We just wrapped up the Academy in Austria, in St. Anton, and you know… I’m teaching avalanche safety, splitboarding, stuff like that. The people are so stoked. You bring them into the mountains, you teach them the tricks and tips, and everyone is just so happy to learn from pro riders. Giving back is super important and people seem to be really stoked on it.

Do you feel that it’s hard to teach something that you’ve just been doing for so long? Everything is kind of second nature to you…

So it depends on the subject, but I organize some avalanche safety events at the beginning of the season called the Safety Short Days as well. So for splitboarding and avalanche safety techniques… risk management, it’s all good. I need to think a bit about what I’m going to say because risk management and avalanche safety is a pretty important topic and you don’t want to fuck up or miss anything but it’s pretty natural. But then on the other side, last year and I think in Mammoth I will also teach a Eurocarve clinic and in that clinic it’s a bit more winging it. You’re gonna learn how to carve and just fuck, lie down man. It is so hard to break down the movement and teach it properly in a few hours how to make some proper Eurocarves. Each session is different. It is pretty technical and it is super interesting too. In every session so far, they were learning and I was also learning a lot. Carving is so natural, so it is a bit of a question on how do I teach that? 

I didn’t know you also taught early season around your home resort.
Yeah, we have two main events, and it’s pretty similar to the Academy. Just really focused on risk management, avalanche safety techniques, and training. People say style is the most important but safety might be just up there as well, especially when you’re in the backcountry. But now it’s one of the biggest freeride gatherings around the Alps and the Pyrenees. We have been organizing that for seven years now. We train probably 500 riders every year. It’s pretty big and pretty cheap so everybody’s welcome.

Is there a large up-and-coming scene in France that you mentor at all?
Definitely. There is a young generation. We had a pretty good generation with Arthur Longo, Victor de Le Rue, myself, and Thomas Delfino. Below us, it was kind of slow, but now there are a few riders that are getting after it, either in the park or backcountry a little bit. So yeah, now there are a few that we are trying to get hyped on powder riding for sure.

What drew you to the backcountry to begin with?
When I started snowboarding, the parks were pretty bad where I grew up in the south of the French Alps. So on Sundays, we would shape jumps in the backcountry with friends. That’s how it started. I got used to riding backcountry because we didn’t have a park and we wanted to jump bigger stuff. Plus, it was more the feeling I was going for. Being in the mountains with your friends, sharing some good moments, trying to push your level, you know, the competition against yourself and not against your friends. It was more what I was looking for… but competing with Natural Selection and that format was fun.

Which clinics are you teaching in Mammoth coming up?
I’m mixing it with a splitboarding and avalanche course on one day and Eurocarve on another day.

What’s the what’s the first lesson of a Eurocarve?
Drink Génépi, a famous liquor from the Alps, and lie down.

What’s one thing you always take on a splitboard trip that isn’t listed on most safety guides? 
Uno game, for sure.

You’ve been to Mammoth plenty of times before, yeah?
Actually, it was my first trip ever when I was fifteen. My dream was to go ride the park at Mammoth Mountain.

Wow! Have you been back since?
Not that much, like once or twice. It’s a pretty special place to me. 

Do you get jealous of seeing Jeremy Jones hike all over it with the Jones crew and get clips?
Yeah, we’re going to follow their track haha. 

And then after the backcountry academy, what else do you have going on this season?
I’m going to enjoy the fact that I’m in North America and go ride in Canada. I’ve been staying in North America for a bit the past few seasons and I love Canada so much. I guess I’m gonna try to ride some pillows around there.