Red Bull athlete Romain Allemand (France), 18, is one of the most exciting new talents in slopestyle and big air snowboarding. After securing two fourth-place finishes at the 2025 World Championships, the La Plagne–born rider reflects on his progression, the adrenaline of high-stakes tricks, and why “le kiff” remains at the core of everything he does.
Origins
The Red Bulletin: Where are you right now?
Romain Allemand: I’m in Wanaka, in the South Island region of New Zealand for a snow camp. The resorts organize a lot of these over there because there are great conditions in the fall, which we don’t have at all at this time of year in Europe. I’ve been doing this for three years; I come here to spend a few weeks with other athletes.
The Red Bulletin: When you started snowboarding, did you ever imagine you’d spend weeks riding in New Zealand in October?
Romain Allemand: When I started, I didn’t even know you could snowboard in New Zealand, I had no concept of “elsewhere.” There wasn’t even a snowpark near my house, so I just wanted to go to a park at the next resort, snowboard for fun, and try to beat my friends in competitions. That’s all I thought about, and I figured going to other countries might come later. I remember, when people told me, “You’re going to spend a night in a hotel somewhere else,” for me it was “wow,” even though we were just at the next resort, two hours from my house.
Choosing Snowboarding
The Red Bulletin: Some people play soccer, tennis, or dance, do you remember why you chose snowboarding?
Romain Allemand: That goes way back. Actually, I didn’t really choose it — my dad was a snowboard coach. Naturally, he put me on his snowboard when I was little, and that’s how it started. He passed his passion on to me. He saw that I was having a blast, so we stuck with it from the beginning and just kept going! And since I loved it so much, it just clicked.
Competition and Progression
The Red Bulletin: You were talking about competitions and the pleasure you get from winning—how did you get started with that?
Romain Allemand: It wasn’t very developed at first… There was something called the SST, small regional competitions every weekend. During the week, I’d go to class and then, on the weekend, I’d head off to compete! It allowed me to meet up with my friends, to push myself, to try to win and beat them. Even though we were mostly doing it for the fun of snowboarding. Because our sport isn’t necessarily a competitive sport. It’s not like track and field, for example, where there’s less fun in doing it—it’s really about passion and competition. In snowboarding, we’d have a blast and just go ride together, that was our basic way of doing things.
The Red Bulletin: And the fact that snowboarding became your job, how do you feel about that? Does it add pressure? Does it take away from the “fun” you mentioned?
Romain Allemand: It’s different… Before, it was just a weekend competition with friends, it was cool. Now, it’s become a job, but it also opens other doors for me, lets me meet even more people, go try out new spots, new parks, travel to discover new countries! Sure, I ride a bit less, but at the same time, I get to visit the best parks in the world, travel everywhere, and always with friends. There’s still a lot of enjoyment in it.
The Adrenaline of Big Tricks
The Red Bulletin: And the stakes of competition: winning, nailing the perfect line, landing all your tricks. Does that change your relationship with the sport?
Romain Allemand: It’s a bit of pressure, but it’s exciting—the adrenaline of always wanting to go further. When you succeed, when you land your trick in the middle of a competition, it’s an amazing feeling. It’s a whole vibe that can also be not cool, because sometimes you’re just stressed out, you almost don’t want to snowboard because the conditions are terrible… But that’s what makes the adrenaline of competition take over and push you further.
The Red Bulletin: You don’t oppose the pleasure of riding and the pleasure of competition, but between a super clean backside 180 landed in a session with your friends versus a triple rotation in competition, is the feeling different?
Romain Allemand: It’s interesting because, in both cases, you enjoy it! On one hand, it’s about passion—you do spins and tricks for fun, you want to look stylish for yourself and for others, for people to appreciate it. Rediscovering the simple pleasure of flying, really doing what you like and what you’re comfortable with, without the competitive mindset. Because honestly, spinning as fast as possible, like in competition, I know very few people who enjoy that. But the pressure, the satisfaction, the adrenaline, the fear you get from landing a big trick in competition—that’s something else. When you do chill tricks, you don’t get that extra feeling you get when you do big spins. Yeah, you enjoy the moment less, you’re stressed, you have a knot in your stomach, you go for it, you launch yourself, you’re scared! But when it goes well, it’s awesome. The feeling is incredible, and it makes up for the fact that the trick itself is less pleasant to do.
Competition as a Catalyst
The Red Bulletin: Do you see competition as a way to improve, or does it not put too much pressure on you for now?
Romain Allemand: Competition is healthy, because we push each other, we’re not enemies, we’re not all necessarily friends either, but when you see someone else do a trick you’ve always wanted to do or were scared to try, you think, “That’s so cool, I’m going to try it too!” Everyone pushes each other like that and that’s also why things go so far. Alone, no one thinks they need to spin as much as possible because there’s no one to impress and nothing to win! Competition makes you progress super-fast.
Inspiration and Creative Ambitions
The Red Bulletin: Speaking of “others”: who inspires or has inspired you in snowboarding?
Romain Allemand: When I was a kid, it was Shaun White. He’s a snowboarding legend, so even if I didn’t get everything, he did style-wise, he was a huge inspiration. The guy achieved everything, X-Games and much more, it’s crazy. But he’s not my favorite rider in terms of style: a bit later I discovered Marcus Kleveland, a Norwegian… Him, but also other guys who showed up in my dad’s old VHS tapes, like JP Walker, who I watched all the time.
The Red Bulletin: We see quite a few young riders in snowboarding or skiing putting competition aside to focus on the more creative side of their sport—does that appeal to you?
Romain Allemand: I’d absolutely love to, but not for now, because I don’t have the budget or the connections for that. (Laughs) Making creative videos appeals to me just as much as winning competitions. But now that I’m really into competing, I’m sticking with it, I enjoy it, but I also want to make videos, and I watch a lot of them. I follow the guys when they release new videos, whether they’re street riders, park riders, backcountry—I watch a bit of everything and of course it makes me want to do it too. With friends, we try to motivate each other, get the camera out and film some sessions. We try to put out little edits, like back in the day, but it’s not always easy. Competing is cool, but snowboarding is still a passion and pure fun! You have to try to do both… Which is a bit tough, since I’m young… And I still have the image of a young competitor who’s just starting to win his first competitions, but hasn’t made a video yet, so no one expects me to make one. If I make one and no one watches it, it’s kind of pointless.
Competition as a Springboard
The Red Bulletin: You’re saying that competition is a springboard for you to be able to do creative projects, videos, and video parts!
Romain Allemand: Totally, it’s thanks to that that I meet people, that I have sponsors, that I’m connected with Red Bull, and lots of people in the industry. All of that is thanks to competitions, so yes, it’s a springboard that I use. When I want to do something else, it’ll be a bit easier to do.
Looking Ahead
The Red Bulletin: If I let you choose between leaving Italy in 2026 with a gold medal, or a big 52-minute film shot all over the world, which would you choose?
Romain Allemand: It’s a bit hard to answer… Right now, the thing I’m preparing for is Italy. So if I have to answer now, it would be the competition. And I’m going all in. Ask me the same question at another point in my life and I might answer differently, because in terms of satisfaction and desire, both are at the same level.
Cross-Disciplinary Inspiration
The Red Bulletin: So, to keep your creativity alive, where do you look for inspiration? Elsewhere? In other disciplines?
Romain Allemand: Totally, I’m a huge skate fan. And then, by doing snowboarding, you inevitably try skateboarding at some point in your life. Also, since I live in Hyères in the summer, I do more kitesurfing. It allows me to try rotations and moves that I wouldn’t necessarily try on snow. I also develop a lot of reflexes that I would never have had just with snowboarding. It’s a great creative mix to draw from other disciplines and learn from them.
Community and Culture
The Red Bulletin: In skateboarding, there’s a strong community vibe: everyone celebrates everyone, and competition is sometimes secondary. Do you find that spirit in snowboarding too?
Romain Allemand: It’s interesting, because these are sports for passionate people: even if you know you’re getting beaten, you see someone else do something amazing and you just want to celebrate with them. And it’s not a sport where everyone’s sulking either. We appreciate it. We do it because we love it. When someone else wins, it’s because you didn’t do enough, there’s no point sulking. That said, there’s been a big change in recent years, with the sport becoming more professional.
The Red Bulletin: What do you mean?
Romain Allemand: I’m thinking about the contribution of certain countries like Japan, which have developed a huge sense of discipline and competitiveness. Before, when you watched the old competitions from the Travis Rice era, the guys were just messing around. They were there to have fun, they wanted to goof off, nobody wore helmets, and they’d throw triples wearing beanies and headphones. There wasn’t that very professional side… I remember when I was a kid, they’d do four little warm-up flaps… now, they take thirty minutes, even an hour at the start, and you feel like you’ll get punched if you talk to them. For some, there’s this super robotic vibe, like if you lose it’s terrible, and if you win, they’re not even that happy. When some people win, they’re already saying they can do better! It’s rare, but sometimes it kind of kills the passion side of our sport, with guys who are a bit salty or don’t celebrate. Still, it’s good, it helps the discipline evolve. Even if not everyone agrees.
Safety, Music, and Style
The Red Bulletin: Speaking of that more laid-back vibe from back in the day, do you miss that “beanie-headphones” side?
Romain Allemand: Riding without music is always a bit sad, but riding without a helmet was just because everyone did it back then. Like: “Oh, you wear a helmet? That’s not cool!” It’s fine, but you do a boardslide and fall on the rail, you lose five years of your life just because it’s “cool and stylish.” I’ll admit, now that I’m doing 25-meter jumps, I don’t want to be brain-damaged at 30 because I took too many hits: it’s simple.
The Red Bulletin: And what can we hear under your helmet, in your headphones?
Romain Allemand: Oh, that’s super broad because I really love music. It’s something that transcends me. I really have a playlist for every mood or style, whether it’s French rap, US rap, old-school rap, metal or punk rock. I also listen to R’n’B, sometimes country, house, even jazz—though less often, to be honest. On my Insta videos, I like to dig too, not put the most underground stuff, but also not the songs everyone uses in their stories. Kendrick, Travis, Kanye West, Ice Cube, Biggie, it’s all in there. Even rock! Whether it’s Metallica or others. When I get in the car, sometimes I’m like, “Come on, I need to get pumped,” and I put on some rock, you know? Like some good heavy rock, whether it’s Nirvana or any band, it gets me hyped and I just want to smash everything!
