Terje’s Gift to Snowboarding

As a legendary transition rider, Terje knows a thing or two about shaping walls of snow, and the Arctic Challenge quarter has consistently offered up a platform for next level airtime

No history of snowboarding would be complete without mention of Terje Haakonsen. Having won pretty much everything there is to win in the sport, and then taken the decision to boycott the Olympic Games on the basis of the way it is run, Terje –along with fellow Norwegian Daniel Franck – organized an event of his own. Taking place in the far north of his homeland, it was called The Arctic Challenge, and its sole premise was to be a competition run by snowboarders for snowboarders.

Invitations to the Arctic Challenge were like Golden Tickets to the Willy Wonka factory: rare and special. In fact, so much kudos was attached to receiving an invite that when a new world snowboard tour was launched, winners at local events were presented with a ‘Ticket To Ride’ at Terje’s season-ending contest (despite evolving into a global mega series, the name ‘TTR’ is still attached to the world tour).

The competition’s appeal lay in the chance to ride amongst the very best riders on the planet, in a relaxed, progressive atmosphere, on a park that was shaped to perfection. Although the slopestyle kickers and halfpipe at TAC have always been special, the single obstacle which has made the biggest mark on snowboarding has been the quarterpipe. As a legendary transition rider, Terje knows a thing or two about shaping walls of snow, and the Arctic Challenge quarter has consistently offered up a platform for next level airtime.

First came Heikki Sorsa, an unheralded Finnish kid with a giant mohawk, who in 2001 launched a stylish 9.3m (29 feet) method out of the top. It was a new world record that finally surpassed that of Ingemar Backman in Riksgransen and lit the fuse on Heikki’s career. That same year, Terje sealed his cat-like reputation by landing on the coping, bouncing into an unplanned frontflip and landing perfectly on his feet. Then, at the Oslo event in 2007, this same improvisational talent saw Terje break Heikki’s record with a 9.8m (32 feet) air that was meant as a method but drifted into backside 360 – landing switch! While it wasn’t quite enough to claim Oakley’s Gold Time Bomb watch – a bling timepiece worth £20,000 and offered to any rider who can top 10m – it still stands as the highest ever jump on a snowboard and a fitting reminder of Terje’s singular talent and vision.