Martin Bender, between Freeride and downhill mountain biking

Crafters

Apr 24, 2023

Martin Bender, entre Freeride et VTT de descente

Today, we welcome a new crafter: Martin Bender.

Between freeride skiing and downhill mountain biking, this young man from Martigny, Valais, has made a place for himself in the craft heart of WhiteFrontier for many reasons.
First of all, we admire his talent, but mostly his determination. His dream is to combine his passions with his professional life. Who doesn't dream of making his passion his job? However, how many people really give themselves the means to achieve this? Martin goes to the end of his dream and constantly pushes his limits while still remaining humble and extremely friendly. That's why he has a natural place in our team of WhiteFrontier crafters.

Beyond his determination, what surprises us about Martin is the true passion he has for skiing during the winter season and for biking in the summer. So of course, the goal is to perform at the competitions, but when he practices his sport to achieve the best results, he doesn't say "I'm going to train", he says "I'm going to ride", because he loves it more than anything.

Let's take a look at his background:

Martin Bender - Swiss Brewery

Martin is a pure product of Martigny. Born in this Valais city well known for hosting the Foire du Valais, for its Fondation Giannada or its archaeological sites, Martin has the Valais in his blood. Surrounded by mountains since he was a child, it is in Verbier that he decided to practice his favorite sports. He started with skiing, and was soon coached by the best. Robin Darbellay and Alastair Yule had the chance to take on this kid and accompany him in his progression. (Or is it rather Martin who was lucky to stumble upon them? 🤔)

Martin Bender et son coach Robin Darbellay - Verbier

How can you not excel with coaches like that? They transmit the passion of skiing like no one else while teaching the safety rules that are essential when freeriding. The atmosphere in this club is unique, the 4 coaches, Robin, Alastair, Benoit and Martin combine respect, passion, fun, performance and safety. All the parents who put their child in the Verbier FWT club have made an excellent choice. In addition to an incredible pedagogy, these kids are really preforming and Martin is the proof. At just 19 years old, he qualified for the Freeride World Tour. And that's just the beginning. And as if that wasn't enough, Martin is also the Swiss Junior Downhill Champion.

A little reminder of what the Freeride World Tour is for newbs like me:

The Freeride World Tour is the most prestigious freeride ski competition. It takes place in several stages in several countries around the world and ends with the impressive and dangerous stage of the descent of the bec des rosses in Verbier called the Extreme of Verbier. Whoever scores the most points in the various events becomes the Freeride World Champion. WhiteFronter has been a partner of the FWT for many years. We have now decided to end this partnership to support people who inspire us.

So how do you qualify for the freeride world tour?

Martin Bender - FWT

Well, it's not that simple. Either you get a "Wild Card", because you are an incredibly good and well known rider (to put it simply), or you climb the pyramid (ah ok, well, I'll get started now). To reach the Grail and enter the Tour, you have to go through many steps. You can start at a very young age and train in junior competitions. Then you enter the qualifying competitions and work hard to get as many points as possible to hopefully qualify for the last competition before the Holy Grail, the challengers. Only those who have the best results in the challengers have a chance to enter the Tour. So that's what Martin did to achieve his dream, to participate in the FWT. He is one of the 4 riders (men's ski category) who will be able to enter the tour in 2024. And as if that wasn't enough, he came in first in the ranking. (He's a bit annoying isn't he?)

But then who is Martin Bender?

Martin Bender - Swiss Brewery

You'd have to ask his coaches and his parents who spend a lot of time with him, but my little Martin's experience would allow me to describe him as a guy who's a little crazy, who has a hard time settling down for two seconds, very talented and very humble. His humility is impressive by its rarity in the industry. Martin enjoys himself above all and it is obvious. After 7pm, he's the cool guy you want to party with, always with a joke, always ready to help. In short, once again, you'd have to ask his friends and family (who probably have a lot of funny stories to tell), but for me, he's a great guy.

So thank you Martin for your trust. Welcome to the WhiteFrontier crafters team. The whole team wishes you a brilliant career and hopes to follow you for as long as possible.

casque floqué ski - flocage intégralement casque de ski - martin bender

PS: Thank you for embodying our slogan "Craft Your Life". Although you may not be able to find the words to describe this slogan, you live it every day. Bye Martin

Martin bender, skieur, dans une brasserie