Terje Talks!

Unless you are just crawling out from under a month-long party binge, you know that the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are going down right now. With snowboarding absolutely in the Olympic limelight and the men's pipe contest coming up tomorrow, we found ourselves in the possession of the full transcript of an interview Terje Haakonsen gave to the top-selling newspaper in America, USAToday. His original statements were used slightly out of context in their story about the Winter Olympics, creating ambiguity where there was none, so we decided to post the whole thing to clear things up once and for all. We strongly urge you to take heed of the Sprocking Cat's wise words, young shredi!

When snowboarding became an Olympic sport in 1998, you refused to participate, citing the method that was used to select FIS as the world governing body for the sport and the corruption within the IOC. Twelve years later, the sport is one of the premier attractions of the Olympics. Have your feelings about Olympic participation changed?

No, it's actually gotten stronger. Since I get asked this question so often, I've really thought about it. I still don't see a positive change. Snowboarding in the Olympics is still run by a ski federation, and I'll never accept that as long as there is a real alternative created by snowboarders. The Olympics' most amazing achievement is to create the most exposed snowboard event in the world without having any real effect on snowboarding culture or its finances. Twelve years after snowboarding first appeared in the Olympics, videos, magazines and independent snowboard contests are still the main driving force of our culture and the peer-accepted contest scene. Take a look at the FIS Snowboard World Cup. Nobody goes there except in years they have to qualify for the Olympics, not the other way around, which is probably the strongest statement the riders can make about the FIS. Snowboarding is good for the Olympics, and the Olympics is good for the podium winners. Competitive riders want to win the contest with the most exposure in the world, I respect that, but it has the potential to be so much better if it was run by those who care more about snowboarding and not only banners and commercial licenses. If the IOC had any true respect or interest for the sport, they wouldn't invite a ski federation to run snowboarding. I think the Olympics is a really old, national-driven model. It's going to be interesting to see the upcoming BBC documentary on the IOC called "Behind Closed Doors", how they control and manipulate everything for their own benefit. I've been speaking to a lot of people who work for different national (snowboarding) bodies and they're all totally over the ridiculous rules, systems and structures.

Twisted tip boner to fakie in his backyard

Snowboarding is also a big money-maker for the ESPN X Games.  How do you feel about the sport's relationship with ESPN and its parent company, The Walt Disney Co.?

TV-driven events will always be driven by ratings, but I think ESPN has improved. TV focus only can make things rider-unfriendly, but the X Games make snowboarding exciting and they put a lot of effort into making it easy to understand for all audiences. The main problem today isn't the X Games, the Dew Tour or other TV-driven events, it's simply that there are too many initiatives like this all over the world. They compete for sponsorship dollars, but don't cooperate for the greater good of the sport - because their owners are competitors. As a result, the calendar is a mess. On any given weekend you have several top events going on, making none of them truly top events with all of the best riders. I won't criticize these events for what they are, only for their lack of cohesion and understanding for the spirit of the sport in general.

Classic Craig-style toeside pow burnout in the Helvetic backcountry

There are now millionaire professional snowboarders who endorse all types of consumer products, own expensive sports cars, etc.  How do you feel about that, has snowboard culture debased itself or is this a good thing?

I believe all human beings, snowboarders or not, should think twice about what they buy, eat, drink or consume in any way. We can't continue plundering Mother Earth for her resources in an endless consumption growth.

Savage FS invert in yo grill, son!

What is your vision of the future of snowboarding?

We need to keep the fun and positive lifestyle aspects, despite all of the commercial interests in the sport. The contest scene will grow, sponsors will increase and media will continue to expose. We need to develop great events under a common project for the greater good of snowboarding, like the TTR, but the best days will still be the powder days. I think the snowboarding culture and lifestyle is so strong that it won't go away that easily. Even in the biggest contests, with the exception of the Olympics and the FIS World Cup, riders from all nations live in the same hotel, share the same backstage and hang in the same bar. It's a well-functioning global community. It's a good vision to keep it that way. As for the competitions, we need to give athletes more influence to assist the progression of snowboarding and ensure their safety.

Words courtesy of Terje Haakonsen

Photos by Frode Sandbech