Xavier De Le Rue and Lucas Debari know how a base camp should look when they’re out in search of gnarly lines. You want it to be warm and cosy to come back to after a day out and about looking for your untracked lines in Antarctica. The guys figured they’d show us round their yacht ‘The Golden Fleece’ in true Cribs stylee. On the pimped out scale, their floating pad has to be somewhere above Jeremy Jones’ tent and below Richard Branson’s island mansion. Worth a peep.

This week GoPro brought together a bunch of their heavy hitting international team in Laax for 5 days of chilled out shred and afternoons spent nerding off learning the possibilites of the new Hero3 camera. Check the rad gallery of selfies and a lowdown of the haps…

Would I like to spend 5 days with GoPro riders Sage Kotsenburg, Eric Willett, Jamie Anderson, Iouri Podladtchikov, Ralph Backstrom, Elena High, Xavier de Le Rue and Hannah Teter while getting schooled on how to use the magical box of tricks that is GoPro’s Hero3? The fact that it was being held in Laax – right up there in my list of ‘Most Awesome Resorts In Europe’ – only hastened my reply in the affermative. Having said that, even if they’d held it on a dryslope in Bognor Regis the chance to hang with that crew of bosses and tinker with the GoPro would have been too hard to pass up.

Ralph Backstrom, still smelling of Champagne from his winning of the whole damned Freeride World Tour a couple days before, was already there by the time I rolled in, while the rest of the crew, who’d been crushing the Euro X Games, cruised into town on the 12-hour party bus a little later accompanied by a bunch of dudes who boast a knowledge of what those little black and silver boxes can do that borders on the extreme.

This was to become apparent the next morning when we met up for the first of many clinics on how to work the Hero3. Now, previously I’d pretty much only ever hit Go and Stop, so to get the lowdown on what that camera can actually do, and how to do it, was an eye-opener. Videographers I know have expressed bafflement at the amount of sheer tech they can cram in and the quality of the output the Hero3 produces, and we’ve all marvelled at the Hero3 promo video, but to truly get the most out of the camera you really need to learn the modes, the software, the different ways of mounting it and so on.

Reeling with a mind full of ’1440p for POV’, ’30 shots in 2 seconds’, ‘timelapse mode’, ’4K capability’, ’720p shoots at 120fps and can be slowed down to 1/4 speed’, it was interesting to see how into it all the riders were. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as it offers them the chance to provide a unique angle on their riding and to pump out a bunch of content without even needing to wait for the filmer to drag his ass out of bed. You had Iouri strapping himself into a back brace with a pole jutting out the side and grilling the tech dudes on what was possible and how to achieve shots he’d been dreaming up, Elena having a bizzarre extension grafted on to her helmet and Hannah being wowed by the app that connects using WiFi so you get a live view of what the camera sees.

Ordinarily such technically-focussed nerd-offs would have sent many to sleep, but the media specialists they brought in from the US were just a bunch of laid back shredders who managed to strike the right balance of information and bro down-ery so it never felt like being at school. Of course, it wasn’t just about the nerd room and when up on the hill the guys and girls cut loose as they filmed and shot themselves, follow-cammed each other, while us media types failed miserably at bagging anything more than a Finnish faceshot. The riders earn their coin for good reason and bagged a bunch of bangers lapping Laax’s epic freestyle setup – Eric and Sage even managed to pass the camera between them mid-air, which is so insane that when you doubtless see it in a GoPro ad you’ll probably think it’s faked, while Ralph and Xavier sent it off the booters before heading off for some steep action.

Undoubtedly the highlight was the last day when the weather really turned it on and we were able to stay on the hill late for a sunset session that will have produced a heap of sick footage, the crew all smiles and high fives reflecting on this few days of deserved wind-down after a hectic season of travelling, filming and contests.

Yes, I was fed well and they bought me a couple of drinks, and, no, I have not tried any of the competition, but the fact is that the GoPro is an incredible bit of kit that allows everyone – from these cats on the team to Peter Punter – to create a ton of super high quality photos and videos. Are there any faults? My camera froze up from time to time (to fix just take out the battery and put it back in again), the software, while very good, is not the most intuitive, to get the best result you need to learn the modes and the post-production software, and they’re not cheap – the Hero3 Black edition with the WiFi remote is in the region of €450 – but if you’re into shooting yourself or your homies shredding, surfing, skating or whatever, it’s an investment you won’t regret.

We’re trying to get an edit of the trip dialled, but in the meantime peep this one from the DC Finland team for an example of what this box of tricks can do..

[If you interrupted re-watching triple corks to see Xavier scare himself, scroll down to the bottom. We didn't enjoy watching that live.]

Ralph Backstrom took the Bec des Rosses to pieces this morning and is now the 2013 Freeride World Tour champion. You could be forgiven for getting distracted by the triples over at the X Games but the excitement didn’t stop there. 130 miles away on the flipside of snowboarding 8 more big dogs were bound in and ready for an equally close points battle. With all to play for and just one shot at impressing the judges, 4 of the riders stood a chance of taking the crown. Dropping first into the best snow seen in Verbier for the final stop of the tour in several years, Backstrom set a high bar to for the rest to follow. Starting with the biggest drop from any of the snowboarders today, Backstrom picked a fast line through all the gnar and didn’t hold back for one moment.

Aurelien Routens was 4th in the series when he woke up this morning, still the outsider for the win. With nothing to lose he rode the same side of the Bec as Backstrom – only skipping out the first hit – and just sent it all the way to the bank with barely a speed check in sight. That bagged him second place, and enough points to snake Sammy Luebke in the series.

Jonathan Charlet went even further to rider’s right and through a bunch of rocks, picking a line more technical than a Horgmo rail section and finding the only soft landing under an inpressive drop. And check that 15m olly on his run out – Charlet doesn’t exactly hang about.

Sammy Luebke had it all to lose – lying in first overall after Fieberbrunn and everyone else hoping to take him down. Dropping last it looked as if he had done just enough but clipping a rock at mach 10 in the landing of his last drop he tripped and washed out. It was a costly fall and left the judges with no choice but to give him 4th place, when he needed 2nd to stay ahead of Backstrom on points for the overall crown.

In other news, Xavier De Le Rue figured he’d take a line nobody else could even see, and as he said himself “fuck I almost died”. And that’s coming from a guy who fairly comfortable with stomp or die lines. On the approach to the ‘line’ he had in mind he clipped a rock whilst traversing through near on vertical terrain and cartwheeled towards an rocky lip whilst we all rapidly inhaled. Fortunately for Xavier he is not about to become the next youtube sensation of a GoPro clip slipping over a cliff. He just got back on his feet, brushed the snow off his goggles and straightlined over everything between him and the finish line as if he was trying to make up for the delay. You’re a nutter Xavier, glad you’ll be back for next year’s tour.

For more videos and the exact points breakdown, click over to www.freerideworldtour.com

If a picture is worth a thousand words, surely a washed out digital polaroid of a rider’s eye view of the rockstar life you wish you were living has got to be worth a quick butchers. If you fancy stalking some famous dudes, you could do worse than to download yourself  the instagram and see them the way their iPhone sees them (other handsets are available). You could even stalk us @onboardmag while you’re at it.

Everybody imagines that their heroes live in a rose tinted world of free flowing beers and bottomless pillows, which is fortunate since nobody can resist the temptation to insta-age their life with filters, blurs and borders until it looks like you’re back in the 60s, and snowboarders are no different. What’s that you say? It’s waist deep in junk out there on the internets, possibly more than you can manage to wade through whilst waiting for a gondola, however nifty you are with the Google. Well have no fear, we’re here to help lighten the load. We’ve compiled a who’s who of snowboarders stroking their egos with the knowledge we’d rather procrastinate in their virtual company than with the real people sat around us, so you don’t have to do the legwork yourselves. Phew.

10. Kicking things off is Jamie Anderson at number ten, setting the standard pretty high for vast snowscapes and fluffy pillows we all want to get stuck into. But frankly we don’t need to know what beetroot dinner you’re eating or what colour tea you’re drinking. In fact if it weren’t for the  delicious selfies and lady-yoga shots peppered between the all the self help slogans and your dietary requirements, you wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near this list. And we know you live by Lake Tahoe, we don’t need to see the view again. I’m wondering now if this should have been a ‘top 9′ instead…

@JME_ANDERSON

9. In at 9 is the affable Gigi Rüf, an Austrian unfamiliar with this end of any competition. ‘Shred Dad’ is still keeping it real in between his trophy collecting trips in far off fluffy places as well as producing his own planks to do it on. This guy knows his way around an instafeed, mixing life on the hill with artwork, landmarks, and his mates standing by adverts of themselves on busses. What Gigi lacks in rock and roll he makes up for in stoke, which it’s immediately clear his kiddies have inherited.

@GIGIRUEF

8. Next at 8 is Kevin Pearce, the second coolest Kevin of the week. That dude’s grin must have a lot to do with why he has 9931 followers lapping up his every instamove. As our man on the ground in the FRENDS house, he’s pretty handy with the camera. After hard months of rehab pics it’s great to see some riding creeping back into this guy’s feed.

@KEVINPEARCE

7. Number 7 is Frank April, whose online persona is just what you’d expect from someone who in real life spends his days gliding down handrails like a boss and his nights necking Grand Marnier. His feed is a one stop shop for gnarly places to sleep, beer bongs on wakeboards and empty booze collections. The man’s got plenty of rockstar in him and mayhem around him – get your glimpse here.

@FRANKAPRIL

6. The top Kevin of the internet is Kevin Bäckström, our 6th Favourite instasnapper. A healthy portion of his 15,000 followers are swedish girls who seem to like nothing better than to scrawl his initials on their perfectly hemispherical buttocks in order to qualify his status as Scandinavia’s favourite rebel son to hate. In between tattoos, parties, and moody portraits, there’s snaps of lines and from events as well as plenty of reminders of his initials.

@KEVINBACKSTROM

5. Shaun White is like Marmite in whatever he does, and it’s no different here at number 5 in our oh so crucial list. No doubt he’ll be devastated with most likely his worst result of the new WST year. Those of you outraged by what he choses to dress himself in each day will get no end of amusement here, where bare chests, hawaiian shirts and cravats are just the start of it. If dog beauty pageants are more your thing or you want to know what he’ll look like in 25 years time before your man crush goes head over heels for him, you’ll be well catered for. And If you can’t remember what Lake Tahoe looks like since Jamie last reminded us, he’s got that covered too. 

@SHAUNWHITE

4. Mark Landvik is actually quite good at taking pictures which, combined with being privvy to some banger action most every time he goes riding bags him spot number 4. Silhouettes, tilt shift, double frames, you name the settings and Landvik’s all over them. If it’s too long since you were last out there getting after it, let Landvik lend you a glimpse from his drop in for you to dream a line down. Cats have been winning the internet since before it was dial-up, and mark’s is one ridiculously hairy feline. Shaun’s bulldog’s never had a chance.

@MARKLANDVIK

3. Eric Jackson takes home the bronze medal today, albeit with a little help from his friends. It’ll not surprise anyone that the man who apparently never stays still has done a few things recently that might blow your mind. Luckily for us, he had the good grace to share the stoke from along the way. He’s got fish on hooks, ridiculous lines and heaving barrels up in his page there, and a beard to be proud of too.

@EJACKSHREDS

2. Second place goes to the man with the most pets and guns in the industry, Scotty Lago. Man’s got style for days in the pipe, and he’s none too shabby behind the camera either. Also, his was the only page with a horse’s head mask, always a winner. What more could you want?

@SCOTTYLAGO

1. The biggest of the instadogs of snowboarding right now is Xavier De Le Rue. It was always going to be tough for anyone to compete considering what the Frenchman’s been up to. Then he went and dropped the ‘waterslide with a penguin’. There was no looking back from that really, was there? Big lines, big hair, and big animals are a winning combination even in real life, and right here they’re all that mattered. Hats off to you Xavier, we wish we could’ve been there.

@XAVIERDELERUE

As you may know, Xavier De Le Rue convinced The North Face and Swatch to help send him and his buddie Lucas Debari to ride the mostly untouched peaks of Antarctica. Here’s episode 1 of the trip. Even though there’s zero snowboarding it still manages to be fully nuts.

“It’s probably the steepest line that I’ve ever seen that wasn’t a sheet of ice,” says a clearly humbled Lucas Debari at one point. Maybe hold back with the ollies on that bad boy…

When Xavier de Le Rue convinced his main partners The North Face and Swatch to help him set up a dream trip he had in mind, he didn’t think it would end up being that good. The expedition with Lucas Debari, on a small boat, to seek the best playground down in Antarctic was a great success. The movie will come out next Fall, here is a Sneak Preview of what happened down there. Captured by TimeLine Films crew and Renan Ozturk from Camp 4 Collective. Next Mission Antarctic episode will be premiered at Verbier during Freeride World Tour final ( march 23rd) and put online right after.

Standard Films just dropped over this early bit of Christmas cheer – a re-edit of Victor and Xavier De Le Rue tearing Alaska to pieces together from their new film, 2112. It’s darn HEAVY, and you can read all about it in the January issue of Onboard mag. For now, peep the madness…

Take flight to access the peaks of Alaska and Alps riding the steepest terrain with the De Le Rue brothers, Xavier and Victor. Nonstop top to bottom action at dare devil speeds, shredding the best conditions that will make you hit rewind.

ORDER 2112 on DVD & BLU-RAY NOW at www.standardfilms.com

Starring: Mathieu Crepel, Frederik Kalbermatten, Gulli Gudmundsson, Ethan Morgan, Xavier De Le Rue, Tim Humphreys, Nils Ardvisson, Kimmy Fasani, Victor De Le Rue, Chas Guldemond, Anne-Flore Marxer.

Filmed on location: Iceland, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Washington, Red Mountain BC, Whistler BC, Alpine Meadows, Northstar, Mammoth Mountain, Haines, Alaska.

Watch ‘em all here on the Dew Tour Recognize page and then vote for your favourite on Facebook.

Here’s how Standard were touting their clip: Take flight to access the peaks of Haines Alaska riding the steepest terrain with the De Le Rue brothers, Xavier and Victor. Nonstop top to bottom action at dare devil speeds, shredding the best conditions that will make you hit rewind.

And it’s pretty darn nuts. You know Xavier will blow minds in situations with consequence, but young Victor really impressed with his hard charging. The other edits are also super strong, so we’d suggest you watch ‘em all and vote for the one that gets you most hyped.

These two mentals are sponsored by The North Face, who’ve commandeered a boat and sailed them to Antarctica to allow them the chance to shred the virgin terrain there. This is a video dispatch from the guys on the ground and the spots look out of this world. If Xavier’s shitting it you know it’s on another level of gnarl…

If you believe our photo editor, snowboard photographers are the hardest-working people in the world. Ukrainian coal miners come in a close second. This episode of Jeremy Jones’ Further Umplugged reveals what photogs and cameramen do to get that perfect shot.

In episode 13 of Jeremy Jones’ Further Unplugged, the Teton Gravity Research camera crew reveals how far they go beyond their comfort zones to film TGR movies. Different challenges emerge every day that force them to truly push their limits. Watch as these guys take you behind the scenes and show you the extreme risks they take in order to capture the perfect shot.

Further Unplugged takes you behind the scenes of Jeremy Jones’ two-year snowboarding film, Further. Get an inside glimpse of what goes on between the lines as Jones and other top riders including Terje Haakonsen, Xavier De Le Rue and Josh Dirksen travel to exotic locations such as Japan, the Arctic Circle and the Wrangell-St. Elias Wilderness. Challenges arise around every corner as this crew attempts to push their minds and bodies further.

Ok, so it isn’t actually in any way competitive at all, but this Relentless Revolutions clip does have the contrasting styles of brothers Victor and Xavier De Le Rue on show. And what style these boys have –  Good genes in the De Le Rue, that’s for sure…

There comes a point when gravelly voiceovers, drawn out intros and storylines begin to get in the way of honest-to-goodness, backcountry powder porn. It’s time to strip things back to what matters — getting knee-deep in the white stuff. Introducing Relentless Revolutions.

Ahead of Xavier De Le Rue’s eagerly anticipated White Noise, we’ve pulled together a few outtakes from the past two years to give you a taster of what’s to come. You could call it ‘Tales from the cutting room floor’, but we’re fairly sure that once you’ve wrapped your eyeballs around it, there isn’t much you’d leave lying around.

Shot in and around France, Switzerland, Alaska and Argentina, Xavier and brother Victor are set to keep the De Le Rue legend going for a fair few years to come. So sit back, put your feet up and get an eyeful of action.

Victor and Xavier De Le Rue are Relentless Energy Drink athletes.

Artist: EMB 
Track: My home 
More info: www.facebook.com/embmusicale

For more info check out:

www.facebook.com/timelinefilm