Dominique Perret is one of a rare breed of individuals who combine unparalleled physical ability with personal discipline and business acumen, and exploit this gift its full commercial potential for the benefit of those less fortunate. Dominique Perret is Freeride skiing's pre-eminent Athlete, Engineer, Entrepreneur and Ambassador.
The Skier
Declared Best Freeride Skier of the Century by specialized medias, readers as well as Internet users from every discipline of the Surf Culture, Dominique Perret has defined himself and his career by the passion to look beyond the norm, to travel a path where there are no pioneers and no finish lines. Press and media have lost little occasion to highlight Dominique's multiple skiing achievements, films, expeditions, and events crowning him "Best Freeride Skier of the Century" as the most outstanding radical free-skier of his generation. Skiing runs thick in Dominique Perret's blood. His first skiing experience took place at the age of two! And, he spent the next 15 years building a formidable technical base excelling in the Swiss development system of slalom, giant slalom, and downhill competition. But, the boundaries set by traditional competition were too pre-determined and, ultimately, too limiting. For Dominique, skiing was - and remains - not about winning or losing. It's more. It's an attitude, a lifestyle. Freeriding embraced that lifestyle and Dominique became its star, redefining the concept of possible and impossible.
• 1990 - Cliff Jumping World Record: 36.4 metres (120 feet).
• 1991 - Speed Skiing, Portillo, Chile: 211.825 km/hr.
• 1996 - Dominique together with snowboarder and friend, Jean Troillet attempted to ski Mount Everest on the Tibetan side via the North Face. Climbing non-stop and without oxygen - in pure alpine style - they made three attempts on the mountain, but were turned back by cold (-60°C), snow, and storm (200+ km/hr winds). Nevertheless, despite the perilous conditions, they successfully skied down from 8,500 metres on the final attempt.
• 1998 - Vertical Descent World Record: 353,600 feet (some 120,000 metres) in 14.5 hours of non-stop skiing in Blue River, BC, Canada.
• 2000 - Nominated Best Freeride Skier of the Century by specialized media, readers and Internet users.
• 1990-2002 - 20+ films.
The Engineer
Dominique has deep understanding of the public's desire to share in his unique achievements, and the commercial value of satisfying this need. More than a connoisseur, Dominique is a formally trained technician with a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has been employed by a number of renowned manufacturers, including as Consulting Engineer for Lange ski boot R&D and Product Manager for Scott Europe. Since 1991, Dominique has pursued his own design and development interests, through his company THEMA, and established himself as a product advisor to industry. In this capacity, Dominique has helped brands of international reputation realize the vision of their product concepts ranging from Hard Wear (skis, boots, poles, goggles, and sunglasses) to Soft Wear (clothing and accessories). Dominique's first-hand engineering/consulting experience even extends into indirect industries, such as watches, having worked with several brands to help design, develop, and test products whose positioning shares Dominique's lifestyle, boldness and zest. The Swiss ski brand Stöckli teamed up with Dominique to create a freeride line of skis Stormrider & A-Steroids, bearing his name "Pro Model Dominique Perret".
Films
Over the past decade, Europe, North America, and Japan have witnessed an explosive growth in the pursuit of outdoor sports. In parallel, has been the public's seemingly insatiable appetite to celebrate and communicate the spectacle and attitude this lifestyle embodies: the conquest of mountain, snow, sea, sun and wind. In an increasingly frenzied, complex world, this conquest is Man's reconciliation with his most basic elements, his natural surroundings. Ever aware of the environment in which he was/is, both, participating and helping to create, in 1991 Dominique founded "Vertical Zoo", a film production company focused on feeding and fueling these trends. To date, Vertical Zoo has produced more than 15 commercials and 45 films including 13 films with Dominique in "Solo": C'est Tout Bon (Canada), Perret-stroika (Uzbekistan, the first ski movie ever filmed in USSR), Go East (Russia), Rocky's Rock (Canada), Edelweiss Powder (Switzerland), Alp Fiction (Switzerland), Natural Born Skier (France), Speed is my Friend (multiple locations), Just in Powder (Canada), Soul Pilot (Alaska), and Y2sKi (Switzerland), Timeless ( Norway & Switzerland) & Origin ( Yukon & BC, Canda). Not solely a vehicle of self-promotion, Vertical Zoo also works cooperatively with major feature film companies, such as Filmauro. Vertical Zoo's track record and Dominique's personal network enables the company to bring together not just "solo-focused" projects, but comprehensive productions requiring the participation of the world's top extreme athletes (from skiing, snowboarding, surfing, skysurfing, freefalling, base jumping, canoeing, hydro speeding, mountain biking, in-line skating, and more) and securing of the most desired, "far-out" locations. The critical appeal and commercial success of Vertical Zoo's productions are best measured by the size of the audience, today reaching more than 100 countries around the world, and by the 60 awards earned at leading global sports film festivals.
Communication Network
Dominique's access to a global audience has been facilitated by the extensive media network contacts he has nurtured. Television, Radio & Press.
The success of TV programs about Outdoor/Extreme pursuits, in general, and Freeriding, specifically, are proof of the impact and appeal of these new sports genre and the importance of such media coverage. To reach the television audience, Vertical Zoo has established strong distribution partnerships, which acts as an intermediary for core news agencies (Reuters, WTN, TWI, and GSS) as well as several Continental Europe distributors (including Eurosport and Primesport). Eurosport 20 countries, Odeon, TV Italia, Motori Italia 3 channels, national television companies 9 countries, Reuters 6 channels, Middelwest Sports (newsfeed) 4 channels, Bright Star (American feed) 15 channels, WTN Europe 7 channels, Australia 2 channels, TWI TransWorld Sport 80 channels, GSS Magazine 99 countries, Primesport Asiasat1 28 countries. Radio backup is made via both local (such as Couleur 3, NRJ, and Radio Tonic) and national (such as RSR 1, RTL, Europe 1, France Inter, and RMC) networks who invite Vertical Zoo/Dominique to present projects, primarily via interview. The variety of subjects, ranging from athletic achievements to travel to the art of living, provides a multitude of opportunities to highlight sponsor support and products. "Contra deals" involving the exchange of promotional space have been made with over 40 specialised magazines worlwide (including Powder USA, GQ Japan, Ski Japan, Bravo Ski, Fall Line England, Buona Neve Italy, Sciare Italy, Ski Suisse, Nouvelles Sensations, Vertical, Ski Français, Grand Ski, Skieur, White Spirit, and Seventh Sky) as well as weeklies such as VSD France, Paris Match France, and Illustré.
The common theme in all pictures and articles is the illustration of Dominique's groundbreaking accomplishments, and the innovativeness of his latest films or expeditions. The enthusiastic, awe-inspiring storylines provide a unique context in which partners can be showcased.
Recently, Dominique collaborated with the skiing mecca, Verbier, to host a charitable event called "Les 24 Heures Freeride" in support of children who have been victims of land mines. Dominique's respect and draw among his peers is such that his idea of "One More Reason To Ride" quickly evolved into an event whose success surpassed all expectations, with more than 130 teams participating and over 160,000 Swiss Francs donated in just 24 hours.