THE CULT SHAPER

In the world of freeride skiing, there are names that travel differently. In conversations at the bottom of runs. In workshops where people talk about flex and sidecut radius. In the mouths of riders who know how to recognize, beneath their feet, the signature of a particular shape. Julien Régnier is one of those names. A shaper whose work has crossed generations, not because he set out to build a reputation, but because he set out, from the very beginning, to answer a simple question: how do you make a ski that lets you do what the mountain makes possible?
The answer, he looked for it where few people would have thought to look. In his own body. In his own practice. In the gaps of the equipment available when he was still a professional skier. That singular path, from the athlete who demands a tool that does not yet exist to the shaper who ends up designing it himself, is what gives his work a rare density. Julien Regnier does not think about skiing from a desk. He thinks about it from the snow. From the turn. From the sensation, precise and fleeting, of what a run can be when everything is right.

Three new freeride prototypes are in development within the walls of the ZAG Lab, within reach of the north faces of Chamonix. 95, 105, 110 millimeters underfoot. Three hypotheses on what freeride skiing can become. A conversation with a man who thinks about skiing the way others think about language, and who has not yet finished shaping it.

J.R. — The idea of designing skis came to me quite naturally and quite early in my career. Simply because, at the time, we didn't have twin-tip skis. When I started freestyle skiing and we needed to ski backwards, we didn't have the tools to do it. So I had to ask for this type of ski to be developed. That's pretty much how my adventure as a developer began. You ask for a tip at the back, the technicians ask you what height and what dimensions you want. You have to start thinking, making drawings, coming up with ideas. And that's how it all began.

J.R. — A good ski is above all a high-performance tool in its field of activity, within its range of use. A good ski aids performance, facilitates it, and allows the skier to perform better, more easily. This is not ease in the sense of laziness. It is an ease that opens up new perspectives and solutions. A good ski is something that brings you things and removes certain constraints on the snow.

J.R. — There can be very different skiing sensations. Depending on the shape of the tips and tails, the rockers, the camber, and the flex, you can express yourself in very different ways. A loaded freeride ski does not ski in the same way as a backcountry ski with more generous tip rises and more progressive flex. They offer different sensations. Either one can be excellent depending on your style and what you want to do. Each ski and each shape gives the skier something different, and that's what I find so exciting.

J.R. — It always starts with a skier's need. For years, I met my own needs because I was a professional skier. Today, I listen to young people, I listen to people who have different needs. I also like to push skis towards performance and a slightly competitive spirit, because that's where the skiing of tomorrow is built. In concrete terms: an idea, a need, then you have to respond to it technically. That's where there's a little bit of magic, something that's hard to explain. I try to understand how the sidecut influences the behavior of a ski. With all this accumulated knowledge, I draw my lines.

J.R. — I've made a lot of mistakes in the past by having too many people breathing down my neck. These are often athletes who aren't necessarily used to reading technical drawings. It's very easy to get sidetracked and end up with something that doesn't work because you've tried to listen to everyone. I prefer to have a clear brief at the outset, then I do my drawing. Only then do we have a collective review.

J.R. — I remember one ski: when I received the final technical drawing, the tip was very square. I thought it was just a pixelated export of the file, so I didn't check it. In reality, the tip was really square. I learned that you always have to check, to make sure that everyone is speaking the same technical language. Every time you work with a new factory or new collaborators, it takes time to understand each other and create a common language.

J.R. — When I design a ski, my main goal is for it to quickly give the skier confidence. If you feel good from the very first turns, everything becomes easier. My ambition is always to open up the sport to as many people as possible so that they can enjoy themselves. The idea is not to create competition skis for ultra-powerful athletes. It's to create a tool for enjoyment for as many people as possible.

J.R. — For me, what defines ZAG most today is renewal. There is a very strong motivation behind the brand, lots of new people, but also real technical expertise and passion, particularly with Bastien, who has developed the entire laboratory and engineering department in recent years. What's really interesting is the flexibility. If I have a slightly crazy idea, it's not very expensive and it's very quick to test it. The process is quite simple: an idea, some dimensions, then back and forth with Bastien and Paul. We make the prototype, assemble the Bindings test it.