PHOTO: Patrick Armbruster
RIDER: Terje Haakonsen
EVENT: Arctic Challenge
LOCATION: Lofoten, Norway
CAMERA: Canon EOS 1 (analog)
WRITER: Arlie Carstens ©
In the world of snowboarding, Terje Haakonsen is known for many things. He has style. He has charm. He has supernatural amplitude and an unparalleled bag of tricks. But where he really shines is this—he has vision.
Throughout his career, over and over again, Haakonsen has put his body, finances, and reputation on the line to keep the innovative spirit of snowboarding alive. What does this mean? For starters, it means The Arctic Challenge, the contest event he conceived for snowboarders by snowboarders in the year 2000. Held in remote Lofoten, Norway, north of the Arctic Circle.
Would posh folks from, say, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ever come up with the idea to build this massive quarterpipe? Nope. Would bureaucrats from, say, the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) ever blast a method this high out of that thing? Never. Never. Never. But Terje did, and this is why he will matter to snowboarders until the end of time. You cannot keep a good man—and a great method—down.