At 80 km/h in longboard, he descends the Izoard pass, a windboard

On the road leading to the Izoard pass, the rhythmic friction of the longboard on the asphalt sometimes replaces the roar of motorcycles or the silence of cyclists. For the past month, Jules Duchêne, 25, has been hitting the collar laces on her roller board, a longboard Downhill model. Originally from the Landes, this gliding enthusiast took up residence in a van, nestled in the forest at the foot of the pass, on the Briançon side. Each morning, he climbs to the hitchhiking top, board under his arm, thumb raised by the road. “I have to be around thirty, perhaps around forty descents since I was there,” he says, a frank smile and sparkling look. This is how I met the young man and was able to attend the departure of his last descent.

No question of talking about “skateboarding”. Jules is the point of precision: “It’s a longboard. »His pleasure? He finds it by hitting the winding bitumen ribbon between the top of the Izoard pass, culminating at 2,360 m, and the village of Cervières, huddled at 1,620 meters above sea level. In almost ten minutes, helmet screwed on the head and gloves reinforced with hands, he continues around twenty turns. “What I’m looking for is sliding, controlled slippages, speed … Bringing the curves of the road, it’s a unique feeling,” he explains.

At nearly 80 km/h, the latter “run” spins like a farewell to Haut-Alpin relief. Tomorrow, Jules will start elsewhere, carried by the same vertigo, in pursuit of other lines to be traced.