Hasta La Ideas

CH recently had the chance to catch up with some of Burton‘s best boarders when they passed through NYC to help promote the brand’s new HD snowboarding flick “
The B Movie.” (Download it from
iTunes or get a copy from
Burton or
Amazon.) We asked them all the same three questions and naturally they supplied some rather entertaining answers.

What was your biggest fail?

Mads Jonsson (below, right): I broke my arm during a contest earlier this year. It was snowing a lot, I was just warming up, and that was it for the rest of the season. It makes me more excited to get back.

Jussi Oksanen (above, left with Jake Burton): When I was 19 I tried riding a pipe and had a pretty big fall. I broke my collar bone, wasn’t the biggest crash I had, but it was like holy crap! Before I was just like a little kid, running around and never thinking you’re going to get hurt. I broke the same exact collar bone exactly six months later. I went snowboarding too early and it wasn’t healed. I had to have my whole collar bone rebuilt.

Kelly Clark (bottom right): I don’t know, it’s hard to say. I always like to look at what is going on instead of what is not going on, so nothing quite comes to mind.

Frederik Kalbermatten (bottom left): I got caught in an avalanche a few years ago in Canada. I dropped in, fell over some cliffs and then all the snow went over me. It was a huge cloud, everything was totally white, I couldn’t see. I had to climb out. You’ve go to respect the mountain. It was a wake-up call.

Shaun White (above, right): In general or like hitting on a girl? I mean the nice part of snowboarding is you get to try new stuff, you get broken and come back and ride again. But my worst crash was when I was eleven on a skateboard. That was probably the worst mistake ever because it almost made me quit sports. I broke my hand, foot and fractured my skull. I was stuck inside, it was hard times. I tried to skate again but wasn’t into it. I told my mom I was over it, and she was like, “Well I paid for the session!” You know, it was like three dollars or something and I was like, “God, I hate you!” So I went back to the ramp and tried new tricks that day. I think she knew that deep down I still wanted to do it, that I was just frustrated. It kind of made me respect how injured you can get and definitely to think things through better. It showed me that if I wanted to come back and really wanted to do something, something that dramatic wasn’t going to set me back.

What music do you listen to?

Mads: I like a lot of music as long as its good. As long as you can tell the artist has thought about it and really wants to perform it and it’s not something slapped together. My favorite type of music is whatever is played on the guitar, just because I play the guitar myself. For riding it’s all about happy rhythms. I can listen to Iron Maiden and ride and have the best time or I could listen to Sublime. Whatever is happy music for me, it’s really hard to describe, but good music.

Jussi: None, as far as snowboarding, nothing. I want to hear what’s going on and most of the time I’m filming. I’m into nature and in the back country and I want to feel the whole environment and just be in there.

Kelly: I’m kind of one of those people who gets the CD and then just like listens until I can’t listen anymore. So it changes weekly. But I listen to Kim Walker, David Crowder, Anthony Skinner—a bunch of different bands.

Frederik: Nothing particular, but I like old school rap from back in ’93. I don’t really listen to music when I’m riding. Like I said before it’s serious on the big mountain. But I used to listen to Gang Starr back in the day and Tribe Called Quest.

Shaun: I’m into a mix of things, nothing too new, mostly rock. I used to like hip-hop a lot but not so much anymore. I like Danzig. We were in Japan and we started YouTubing Danzig videos and we watched Danzig’s grocery list, this guy doing Danzig’s voice but about what he bought at the store. It’s amazing! I like “No Fun” by Iggy Pop and I like to listen to the Strokes because the songs don’t change dramatically. I really don’t ride with music actually. A lot of times someone is talking to me, or I get distracted by it. It’s super annoying if you’re in the flow and suddenly your cord pops out or something. I like to get stoked at the top and then go for it and keep that song in my head. Like at the Olympics, you choose what you want to hear at the top. Last time I had “Back in Black” by AC/DC. It’s almost like the horse at the start gate, they play that song, you sing along and then drop in. That was the 2006 Olympics. I played that song and then I won. So at the next event and I wanted the same and I won again! I ended up having an undefeated season.

Final question, hard or soft?

Mads: Can I be like Winnie the Poo and say, please I’ll have both? That’s a tough question, as far as snowboarding though…soft. Powder. It’s better for me.

Jussi: Soft for sure. Soft sounds a lot better, I’d rather ride in powder than ice.

Kelly: I ride a lot half pipe and I always like when its a bit more firm cause it’s a bit more consistent. So, firm.

Frederik: I choose soft because that’s how I like it, smooth rides.

Shaun: Are we talking ice skating? Soft I guess. I don’t know, that’s a tough one. You know when you’re on a mattress and your back hurts ’cause it’s too soft? So you’d say firm? Yeah I’d say firm if I could. I like it just right.