XGames Oslo Quickfire

A few months ago I attended the one day XGames in Oslo, and whilst there I rattled off a few quickfire interviews. I meant to do more of them, but the event was quite hectic and I had too much fun watching the motorbikes, so you've only got five to read. Three of them aren't even with people riding in the event, but that's fine, who wants to listen to snowboarders anyway? If you're wondering why these interviews are only being uploaded now, it's because I'm not particularly professional and I've only just learnt how to use our website - Theo 

Sven Thorgren

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© Theo Acworth

Where are you from and what’s it like there? I’m from Stockholm, Sweden. It’s nice.

Do you like brunost? Not the biggest fan. In Sweden we call it meesost. I prefer normal cheese.

When’s Norway day? 17th of May.

Would you ride your board across a fjord? Yes.

How many 360’s is too many? 5.

Are you going to do a 1080 at the XGames? Probably not.

How about a switch backside 1260? Probably not.

Dream sponsor outside of snowboarding? Apple. Nah. Tesla.

Do you know where Sal Masakela is? I have no idea.

When is it time to get extreme? At XGames.

Are you in love? No.

Personal XGames Norway highlight so far? Skating the street course.

If you win can I take a picture with your medal? Yeah for sure. (editors note, Sven got 2nd, and I forgot to ask to take a picture with his medal. Bummer.)

Dex Carrington

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© Theo Acworth

Where are you from and what’s it like there? I’m from Norway. Oslo Norway. It’s cold there. Winter is coming, which in Norway, is always true.

Do you like brunost? Oh yeah. It’s like a big chunk of liquid caramel that’s solidified.

When’s Norway day?17th of May.

Would you ride your board across a fjord? I already have.

How many 360’s is too many? 7.

Are you going to do a 1080 at the XGames? I decided against it.

How about a switch backside 1260? I would, but I decided against that too.

Are you in love? Yeah.

Dream sponsor outside of snowboarding? A real estate development company.

Do you know where Sal Masakela is? Don’t know who that is.

Personal XGames Norway highlight so far? Me on the screen. *laughs like a maniac*

I have a lot of photos of you on the screen. Can I give you my email? Can you send me some?

Sure. Final question. When is it time to get extreme? Only the present bro.

Jack Mitrani

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Where are you from and what’s it like there? Burlington, Vermont. It’s nice. Mountains. Lakes. Nice people, no traffic. Good ice cream, great maple syrup. It’s a great place to live.

Do you like brunost? I love brunost. I don’t know why the rest of the world doesn’t have it.

When’s Norway day? May 17th. Been here twice for it. Got the suit. One of the best days of the year.

Would you ride your board across a fjord? I would definitely ride my board across a fjord.

How many 360’s is too many? 5.

Are you going to do a 1080 at the XGames? *Jack does a 1080 on the spot*

How about a switch backside 1260? No. Leave that to the pros.

Dream sponsor outside of snowboarding? United Airlines. You could go anywhere, anytime. Fly the plane. I’ve always wanted to be sponsored by an airline company, just travel the world with ease.

Do you know where Sal Masakela is? Where is Sal? He’s hard to keep track of, he’s everywhere. Are you in love? Yeah I’m in love. I’ve got a fiance, she’s pregnant. Her name is Hannah Rose, soon to be Hannah Mitrani. Very in love. About to be very in love with the baby too.

When’s the due date? Due date is November 6th. Coming in hot. Life changer. I’ve heard it’s fun.

When is it time to get extreme?After 5’oclock.

Personal XGames Norway highlight so far? As soon as everything started in the arena together. Moto, skate, big air. Seeing the amount of respect all the guys have for each other and getting stoked on everything going on.

Gary Rodgers

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Where are you from and what’s it like there? Lets just say somewhere in the Bay Area. It’s cool. Gets a little weird sometimes, but it’s cool.

Do you like brunost? What’s that?

A type of brown cheese, it’s great. Never tried it. I’m addicted to cheese. I have a fatal addiction to cheese.

When’s Norway day? Zero idea.

Would you ride your board across a fjord. Skateboard? Across a field?

A fjord. The nice Norwegian lake things. Would I ride a board across one? Hell yeah.

How many 360’s is too many? 4.

Are you going to do a 1080 at the XGames? Never.

How about a switch backside 1260? Only for 2nd place.

Dream sponsor outside of snowboarding? Snowboarding.

Are you in love? Yes.

Personal XGames Norway highlight so far? I had diarrhea this morning.

Do you know where Sal Masakela is? E-News.

When is it time to get extreme? Never. Fuck it.

Fridge

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Where are you from and what’s it like there? I’m from Norway, and it’s like this.

Do you like brunost? I do like it, and also the original gjetost.

What’s that? It’s only goats cheese, the brownest of the brown cheese.

When’s Norway day? May 17th.

Would you ride your board across a fjord? Of course.

How many 360’s is too many? None.

Are you going to do a 1080 at the XGames? I don’t know.

How about a switch backside 1260? Maybe probably.

Dream sponsor outside of snowboarding?A food sponsor.

Do you know where Sal Masakela is? No.

Are you in love? Yes.

Personal XGames highlight so far? This.

When is it time to get extreme? Now.

If you win can I take a picture with your medal? Of course. (editors note, he didn’t win, but he definitely took the best slam)

I actually have a really funny story about Sal Masakela.

Oh yeah? Yeah, I met him once at the Burton US Open. It was his first time back commentating for a while, and he’d cut his hair. So it was my first time drinking in Colorado, and I got completely fucked over by the altitude, so I was the most drunk I’ve ever been in my life. I was on my way to the after party and because I did pretty well at the contest a bunch of people were recognising me, and then this guy walks up to me and says he has to say hi to me, and I ask him his name and he says ‘Sal’, and I say

‘What, Sam?’

‘No, Sal’

‘Oh, nice to meet you man, what are you doing here? Have we met before or something? I think we maybe played ping pong in China?’

So far off. So I woke up the next day and that was one of the only things I could remember, meeting Sal Masakela and saying that stupid shit to him. And I’ve wanted to apologise for so long but I haven’t seen him again since. So I really wonder where he is.’

That’s a great story. One more question, how’s the new hair? Dude it’s pretty nice. Its super light and really aerodynamic, but my ears get a lot colder now.

Do you feel like its changed your vibe? You don’t seem so young. A tiny bit more serious. I don’t know. I don’t feel like I look more serious with this hair colour. The blue takes off the edge a bit.

Are people backing it? I think so. They think it’s cool that I donated my hair. I think I’ll probably grow it back, my girlfriend is pretty pissed. She started crying when I called her in the hair salon and told her that the hair was going. She really misses my hair. She said the three things she likes a man to have are long hair, tattoos, and a beard. I don’t really have any tattoos, or a beard, and now I don’t have long hair either.

The only thing shes been saying since I cut my hair is that now it’s very obvious who’s the reacher and who’s the settler in our relationship. She’s definitely the settler and I’m the reacher. But at the same time your job as a boyfriend is to make your girlfriend feel like the most beautiful person in the world, so if I cut my hair off and she now feels much prettier than I am, in a way that compliments her. When we’re walking next to each other everyone knows for sure that she’s the prettier one.

Well that’s very noble of you. I’m a very noble guy.