The Almoster snowboarder returns to the competition tomorrow, Saturday, in the first event of the Freeride World Tour (FWT), which due to a last-minute change is held in Verbier, Switzerland, in the same setting as on April 4, 2023. She survived a terrible avalanche that buried her face down for more than ten minutes. Núria, 26, has taken months to process what happened on the Bec des Rosses mountain; for a few moments, before fainting, she felt the life slipping away from her. Freeride is an extreme modality in which each athlete traces his or her off-piste route, on virgin terrain, with dizzying slopes and obstacles that must be overcome with elegance, fluidity and creativity. This demanding style has captured Castan, who last year captured three victories in the Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ). This 2024, she is the only Spanish woman who will compete in the FWT Pro.
The circuit was supposed to start this weekend in Baqueira Beret, but the snow conditions have prevented it from starting in the Pyrenees. The first stop will be at the Bec des Rosses, where she was trapped in an avalanche almost a year ago. How do you overcome a trance like the one you experienced and arm yourself with courage for new challenges?
The first week of January I returned to the area where the avalanche caught me, I felt I should return. There I let go of all my emotions, I was not afraid, I have worked through the trauma with a therapist and I have realized that I am another person.
This season the Bec des Rosses is presented twice; In addition to tomorrow he will also be relegated in the FWT final if he qualifies.
I went at the beginning of January to prepare in case I qualified for the final, but now I have to get straight to the point. Obviously I remember what happened in 2023, but I try to face it positively to overcome my fears, if I overcome them they will make me stronger. Yes, I’m a little nervous but I’m looking forward to going down the Bec des Rosses, I’ve worked hard.
He says he feels like a different person. How has the experience of finding yourself in an extreme situation changed you?
There is a before and after. I had suffered other avalanches, but none like this one, it dragged me about 400 meters through channels and between rocks. It took about twelve minutes to get me out and I lost consciousness. After being buried, I value the little things more, I appreciate the importance of being able to breathe, I have rethought my life and analyzed whether it was worth continuing. It has taken me months to realize what I have learned. I am a different person but in a positive way, something of me was buried there, I have found stability.
And the conclusion he reached is that it was worth it…
For me, returning is a personal challenge, it is a matter of improvement. I started training again in October and progressively so as not to get frustrated.
What do you have to have to be one of the best in freeride?
Know how to improvise, have imagination, creativity and courage.
Combine the mountains with graphic design.
I studied graphic design in Barcelona and work as a freelancer in Innsbruck, where the conditions for skiing already exist in October. Design and freeride require being creative.
Creativity and a certain touch of art.
The day before the competition, the organization shows you a photo of the face of the mountain through which we will descend. I spend two hours studying the area and draw up a plan A, a plan B and even a third option for unforeseen events that may arise and to look for escape routes. The judges value the originality of the line drawn to go down, the fluidity, control, technique and jumps and acrobatics.
Seeing where it goes down is overwhelming.
It is an extreme sport and what I like is to feel the adrenaline.
Who is your reference in this sport?
When I started there was a Swiss snowboarder, Estelle Ballet (FWT champion in 2015 and 2016), who did incredible performances, she was very inspiring. She died at the age of 21 due to an avalanche, I was 17 or 18 at the time and she affected me a lot because she was my role model. Although she died due to bad luck, it is super important to have all the mountain, safety and rescue knowledge to try to prevent these accidents from happening.
How does a girl from Almoster, in Baix Camp, far from snow destinations, make freeriding her life?
I started skiing when I was three years old, my parents like snow and we went up once or twice a year to Tavascan, La Molina, Andorra… At eight I tried snowboading and at thirteen I tried freeride.
What are your best results?
In 2019, I came second in the general European ranking of the FWQ; 2020 was the first year that I qualified for the FWT and the first Spanish person to enter, I finished second in the Ordino test; in 2022, fourth in the general world ranking of the FWT, and in 2023 I won in Les Arcs, the Rosiere and Fieberbrunn of the FWQ.
