I’ve been racing Downhill Skateboard World Cups from 2002 until 2011. My biggest succes was winning the World Championship three times (2004, 2006, 2007). I’m also really proud of placing first in all three consecutive races down the French mountain pass Col d’Izoard in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Racing in a time where the perfect downhill skateboard did not exist naturally led to developing my own boards. I was lucky to be in a creative environment which eventually sparked my interest in product design.
How it started…
Late at night around 1996/7 I saw the X-Games on TV. The most interesting thing for me was downhill skateboarding. High speed skateboarding, leathersuits, nice aerodynamic helmets… One guy was sliding full speed into a 180° turn! And from this night on I wanted to do the same thing. That was my dream!
So I built my first downhill board with a piece of plywood and a ski. The roads in my town were empty at night. I had endless night sessions, constantly pushing my limits. One place I had so much fun was the parking lot in Liestal. Skate down – get back to the top by elevator. One day I went to an indoor fun race: Rollerball Nr.1, Dürnten (CH) 1999. I was riding and riding, round and round. I qualified for the final and had to race Chris Hart (Airflow Skateboards). He was faster but I was happy too. That was my first race… I was riding more and got faster.
Downhill skateboard races are held on crazy roads from 1km to 3km length. Steep, straight, turny, rough, smooth, slow, fast, technical – every road has it’s own character. After some practise runs you get two timetrials. The 32 (or 16 or 64) best racers qualify for the main race. This is mostly held in a 4-men heat format. The two faster racers advance to the next round. If you wanna win, you have to be smart and aero. You need to know the course, yourself and the other riders. That’s what makes downhill skateboarding so interesting!
My best race results:
1. European Championship, Insul, GER 2010
1. European Championship, Kozákov, CZE 2009
1. Teolo World Cup, I 2009
3. Peyragudes 2Luxe World Cup, F 2009
3. Maryhill World Championship, USA 2008
1. Legendary Race, Col d’ Izoard, F 2008
3. Peyragudes World Cup, F 2008
1. Legendary Race, Col d’ Izoard, F 2007
1. Downhill World Championship, Jungholz, A 2007
1. Legendary Race, Col d’ Izoard, F 2006
1. Downhill World Championship, Tomils, CH 2006
3. European Championship, Insul, GER 2006
5. Hotheels Africa World Cup, RSA 2005
5. Teutônia Downhill Speed, BRA 2005
1. European Championship, Altbüron, CH 2005
2. World Cup Åre, Sweden 2005
3. Hotheels Africa World Cup, RSA 2004
1. World Championship, Auerberg, D 2004
1. Swiss Championship, Altbüron, CH 2004
1. European Championship, Antibes, F 2003
5. Hotheels World Championship, Kaunertal, A 2003
1. Swiss Championship, Altbüron, CH 2003
2. Worldcup, Altbüron, CH 2003
5. Hotheels World Championship, Kaunertal, A 2002
8. Worldcup, Altbüron, CH 2002
Below is a link collection from my original mrtn.ch website. The content is available as basic html files, best viewed on a computer screen.
| mrtn.ch/media.html Most of my newspaper and print media articles and some rather low quality video ( When I started racing, there were no GoPro cameras…). |
| mrtn.ch/pdf/vrv_faeg.pdf *fäG is the Swiss abreviation for “Fahrzeug-ähnliche Geräte”. The PDF contains the relevant laws for skateboarding on public roads in Switzerland. |