Remember the RK1 boys’ banging Colorado edit that dropped over the holidays? You know, the one that’s probably the best park lapping edit you’ve seen in a long while? The one with Len Jorgensen’s awesome handspring knuckle thing? Yeah, that one. Here’s an edit made of B-shots from the sessions there. It’s still decent.

If you needed more proof that the Scandis – specifically the Norwegians – are owning park snowboarding these days, then be sure to check out this edit from the RK1 crew as they put the beatdown on Keystone and Breckenridge. Humbling skills and a bang bus of an edit from bossman Olav Stubberud, this even features a cameo from Steve-O of all people and some of the best knuckle tricks you’ll ever see. Check it…

Torstein Horgmo hosts the latest installment of a game of In Your Face, with Norwegian homies Alek Østreng and Torgeir Bergrem battling it out to avoid a double faceshotting. These dudes are way too good.

Young Norwegian powerhouse Alek Østreng had a breakout season of sorts last winter. Finals at the WSC, first major career win in the slopestyle at the BEO, a joint part in Forum’s Vacation, and a profile in Onboard magazine. Here is said profile from issue 127 with some added video gaga…

We think it’s safe to say that this is just the beginning for Alek. Heavy skills and a heavy style have the habit of taking you a long way in snowboarding, and the 20-year-old Østreng has them both in spades. This profile was originally in Onboard issue 127.

RAW TALENT AND STYLE

[Words: Uli Köhler]

An exceptional work ethic, a strong set of shred skills, and an ever-growing presence in Forum’s team videos: Alek Østreng might just be the next big thing from Norway. Time for Onboard to shed some more light on the versatile redhead who also goes by the name of ‘The Donkey.’

BATTERY BATTLE EDIT – 2009

It all happened on a trip to New Hampshire, where the Forum team went to film for last season’s team video Fuck It. Alek Østreng had been to the States before, and wanted the crew to stop at a Dunkin’ Donuts. Only he didn’t remember its name and kept asking if they could go to Donkey’s Donuts. That’s why Kevin Keller, his US team manager, started calling him ‘The Donkey.’ Somehow, this name seemed all too fitting for a rider whose snowboard skills might seem boundless, but who more often than not ends up in comical situations. “He is such a cool and funny guy,” his European team manager Chris Patsch tells us. “Not funny as in cracking jokes… more unintentional stuff… he is funny without trying to be. He is nice and polite, but never quite knows what’s going on around him.” Alek’s long-time friend Olav Stubberud uses the words “kind, weird and strong” to describe the 20-year-old Norwegian. But when it comes to his riding, there are no doubts about his exceptional talent, which was already evident from a very early age.

TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE PART – THEY CAME FROM… – 2009

Alek grew up in an unassuming suburb of Oslo called Rykkinn. In fact it is so peaceful and quiet that urban developers from around the world visit the place for inspiration for their own perfect suburbias. However, it was there that he started snowboarding and where he met Onboard’s staff photographer Olav Stubberud: “We met at a playground outside of where we live, I think I was four and he was five,” remembers Olav. “It took some time until we got to know each other because he was too afraid of my sisters to come and visit me at my place.” But soon this changed, and when his grandfather gave him a snowboard for Christmas, it was all about gliding on snow for Østreng and his mates.

Turning Heads

Quickly he progressed his riding, and garnished it with an abundance of talent and style – just as so many world-class snowboarders from Norway before him have done. Kevin Keller has his own theory for what makes Norwegians excel at snowboarding: “As a Norwegian, he [Alek] gets to drink the water up there that makes everyone from that country an amazing snowboarder. People from everywhere else in the world have to work a lot harder to become that good.” Maybe it also helped that from early on he had riding buddies like Ståle Sandbech and Torgeir Bergrem – all outstanding snowboarders in their own right. Alek himself believes it was also down to the local infrastructure: “We have small hills so people get a lot of runs. The hills are also opening in the evening, so kids snowboard pretty much every day after school.” Not surprisingly, it did not take long until Alek got his first sponsors: “I got kind of recognised in a shop. They asked me to give them a video and they were stoked on it I guess.”

YOUNGBLOODS PART – F’ IT – 2010

As most successful Norwegian riders he was also a student at the famous snowboard school in Geilo, from which he graduated in the spring of 2010. But even before that he had many heads turning: partly due to his growing success at local and European contests (most importantly a third place at the Andreas Wiig Invitational in Geilo in 2009) and partly through his solid video appearances. He had filmed for Factor Films’ They Came From (2009), and Video Wizards’ I’m Here Out There (2010), and delivered impressive appearances in both. It was not long until he attracted more sponsors, and in 2010 he became part of Forum’s Youngblood team.

To Olav this success was no big surprise: “Alek has a board feeling that is from another dimension. He can ride anything, and by that I mean literally anything. You can give him a stick and he can kill it. His style is unique, and he is a perfectionist when it comes to how a thing he does is going to look, and that shows.” When we asked Kevin Keller what Alek’s greatest assets as a rider are, and what made him stand out from all the other young riders, he replied: “To answer both questions: raw talent and style.” His short but strong video part in Forum’s latest team movie Vacation is a testament to this sentiment: From front 12s in the park to rail trickery, from backcountry doubles to monster backside 1s – Alek puts every trick in the book down with apparent ease.

RK1 CREW CRUISING AT HOME - 2012

Holding High Standards

When asked about his own style, Alek finds it hard to find the right words. “That’s a hard question. I like to ride all kinds of terrain: Park, powder, rails, transitions.” One has to watch his video parts to understand just how good he is in each of these environments. Chris Patsch is less reserved with his own response: “This might ring hollow as it comes straight from a team manager, but I believe Alek Østreng will be ‘the next big thing’ from Norway. He just knows so many different tricks. When he rides contests he does not show a standard trick with the easiest grab. He is more likely to throw down that one extraordinary trick that nobody else is able to do.” Not only does this make him stand out from the crowd, it also pays off result-wise: he bagged a couple of podiums over the past seasons, and most recently won the TTR 5-star big air competition at the 2011 Livigno River Jump.

WINNING SLOPESTYLE RUN – BEO – 2012

Olav, who spends a lot of time nowadays shooting his childhood friend, points out another of his outstanding characteristics – his relentless work ethic: “You will always get something done when you shoot with Alek. If you don’t it’s because he either ended up in hospital or you broke your camera.” Which makes us doubt Kevin’s “Just add Norwegian water” theory even more. That’s why he is quick to add this to his earlier description of ‘The Donkey’: “Alek is the most mellow, happy-go-lucky kid in the entire world. He loves snowboarding and skating more than anything, and he holds his own standard of riding higher than anyone I know.” And what does the future hold for Alek? “It’s hard to say. An Olympic medal? Enders in videos? He’s so young, so talented, and so motivated … possibilities are endless.” Whatever his future will bring – we’re already looking forward to seeing more of him, and we will keep you posted!

Alek rides for Forum, Foursquare, Arnette, and Junkyard.no

YOUNGBLOODS PART – VACATION – 2011

These parts are indeed Max Sexy. Scroll down to check 'em.

Forum’s Vacation continued in their tradition of dropping barnstorming team flicks, and now you can feed your eyes with the full parts of the Youngbloods. Daniel Ek and Alex Østreng share a Norwegian bromance of a part, while Austen Sweetin gets one of his own. Watch them now.

We’ll have more full parts from Vacation dropping soon, so keep your peepers pealed…

AUSTEN SWEETIN

ALEK ØSTRENG & DANIEL EK

[All photos: Danny Burrows]

Laax was blessed with another scorching day of bluebird and the guys and girls put on one hell of a show for the BEO Slopestyle finals. Alek Østreng and Jamie Anderson won, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the story of the frankly mindblowing display of snowboarding that went down today…

Shitthebed that was nuts. You’ll doubtless have read the report of yesterday’s action where we waxed lyrical about this BEO slopestyle course, and it certainly got the level of riding it deserved in today’s finals from both the men and women.

The girls had the early start and swiftly set about giving the course a good seeing too. There were several who were putting down some killer 5s and 7s, only to come unstuck on the odd  jib that cost them dearly in the end. But to get on the podium you needed to bring your A game for sure, and Jamie Anderson certainly brought that as she applied here inimitable style to the rails and rhythm section, stomped a mean Cab 7 and the patented Anderson switch back 5 finishing off with a little back lip on the underused gap to wall MINI CUoS feature. Enni Rukajärvi was sending it with her patented Finnish depth but could only manage second, while the hometown hero Isabel Derungs turned heads with her booming back rodeos and took the third spot.

If the girls contest was sick then the dude’s final was purely terminal in its illness. Seriously, guys were stomping runs that in most other contest would be at the minimum good enough for the podium yet ending up in 8th place. It was that heavy. The amount of doubles, 12s and 10s linked with the more floaty rhythm hits and jibs was insane. Finnish rider Ville Paumola took an early lead with a run that managed to be narcoleptically stylish yet über tech at the same time. The kid is so smooth it’s unreal. With guys like Seb Toutant and Mark McMorris coming unstuck on landings and regulation rails it was ripe for someone to claim their first big win and for a while it was looking like Ville could be that boy. But on the third and final runs the level, incredibly, upped itself once more.

Guys got their 12s dialled deep, nailed the rails and 1st place swapped a bunch of times. For a while it was looking like an all-Finnish podium with Peetu in 1st, Roope 2nd and Ville 3rd but then Alek Østreng went ballistic, putting down one of the best back 12s ever in the process, and went into pole position. The other riders knew what was up as they mobbed him. He’d just one the first major title of his career, and he’d done it at perhaps the best slopestyle contest ever.

There was some more cash up for grabs on the Mini end section and, unsurprisingly it was Jamie who bagged the 5k for the chicas and rookie Emil Ulsletten took the cash for the men.

Seriously, the course, the riding level, the sun… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better slopestyle contest. Pipe today, shit’s gonna go down.

Results Women’s Slopestyle Finals

1. Jamie Anderson (USA), Billabong, 93.58
2. Enni Rukajärvi (FIN), Burton, 81.80
3. Isabel Derungs (SUI), Ride, 68.20
4. Spencer O’Brien (CAN), Nike, 65.68
5. Cilka Sadar (SLO), Burton, 59.12
6. Sina Candrian (SUI), Burton, 56.92
7. Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas (NOR), Roxy, 41.52
8. Silje Norendal (NOR), Nike 6.0, 29.80

Results Men’s Slopestyle Finals

1. Aleksander Ostreng (NOR), Forum, 90.08
2. Roope Tonteri (FIN), Burton, 87.92
3. Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), Nike – Burton, 86.70
4. Ville Paumola (FIN), Quiksilver, 85.62
5. Seppe Smits (BEL), Burton, 85.46
6. Janne Korpi (FIN), Kissmark, 82.60
7. Sebastian Toutant (CAN), O’Neill, 82.10
8. Emil Ulsletten (NOR), Nitro, 81.88
9. Torgeir Bergrem (NOR), Volcom 79.40
10. Stale Sandbech (NOR), Oakley, 78.54
11. Sven Thorgren (SWE), Protest, 71.78
12. Nuutti Niemelä (FIN), Smith, 71.38
13. Eric Beauchemin (USA), DC Shoe CO USA, 68.96
14. Christian Haller (SUI), Burton, 67.08
15. Mark McMorris (CAN), Burton, 62.44
16. Brage Richenberg (NOR), Salomon, 76.62

Ben Kilner. All photos: Danny Burrows.

The finger clicking, window licking Onboard media caravan rolled into Laax yesterday and was greeted with spring-like bluebird, one of the best-looking slopestyle courses we’ve seen in a while, and a swarm of talented little huckers engaging their booster rockets to fight it out for a pop at today’s slopestyle finals. Check what happened…

We’d heard internet chat of this slopestyle setup and how it was particularly tasty, but rocking up in the real world its full glory was apparent. For the first time since the BEO pitched up and made Laax its home the course had been moved from its usual spot on the backside of the Crap Sogn Gion to the altogether more solarific frontside, and not only that the shapers had cooked up a corker of a run that deserves a breakdown. And, therefore, here it is…

A couple of rails at the top lead into an almost BMX-style rhythm section of two smaller jumps that are obviously intended to ensure some floaty style makes its way into the riders runs, as opposed to it being a full-on megacork fest. Then there’s a couple of manly-sized hoofers for the insanity that is now part and parcel of contemporary freestyle snowboarding finished off with a few berms leading into the MINI Creative Use of Space section that would take a while to describe, so here’s a picture…

The Mini CUoS end section has a host of options. Roope will frontflip off the car today. Believe.

No sooner had we pitched up than the girls’ gig began. As it was nuclear on the hill, speed was clearly an issue but the old speed tuck between the hits served the savvy females well. After leading the field at the recent WSC only to be pipped at the last minute by Spencer O’Brien’s monumental run, it was unsurprising that Jamie Anderson’s flawlessly smooth riding saw her qualify in first with 90.66 points. The girl’s so nectar she’s truly a joy to watch ride, and if trick lists are you thing then here’s how she made it count: backside lipslide on the rail, front 360 and backside 180 on the Step Up Step Down Combo, continuing with a switch backside 540 and frontside 720 on the kickers, finishing off on the MINI Creative Use of Space Obstacle with backside 50-50 on top of the wall and afrontside 360. Ctrl C, Ctrl V. Boom. Norwegian Kjersti Buaas qualified in second, followed by Swiss Isabel Derungs in 3rd.

Alek Østreng

There were many men and so had to be split into two heats. At first it seemed like the slush would hamper the riding level but the boys managed to push on through and as the afternoon wre on it quickened up. The first heat was arguably about Norway (and Alek Østreng in particular who scored .46 higher than Mark McMorris to qualify in the top spot) as they secured 4 of the 7 spots in the Final from this heat. Østreng, like Anderson, was coming of the back of a good WSC and continued to blow minds with his blend of phenomenal board control, style and tech. His run went a little something like this: a frontside Boardslide Nose Grab on the rail, switch front Rodeo 540 to Frontflip Nose Grab on the rhythm hits, frontside 1080 Indy and backside 1080 Mute on the boters and a 180 to 50-50 to Boardslide 270 out on the MINI feature.

If men’s heat one was tough, heat 2 was Tyson. This was stacked with big names ready to take it to Boomtown and, after having a mellow first run Peetu Piiroinen did that sisu thing, turned his Boombox to 11 and posted the highest score of the day to qualify first. Cab 5 to back rodeo on the whoops, cab 10 to switch back 10 on the big jumps and some boarslides on the Mini feature sealed the deal ahead of Janne Korpi in 2nd and Eric Beuchemin in 3rd.

It’s slopestyle finals today, so we’re about to head up with less layers and more sunscreeen than yesterday to witness the sickness. If you can’t make it, tune in to watch the BEO Slopestyle finals live.

Women’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals Results

1. Jamie Anderson (USA), Billabong, 90.66
2. Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas (NOR), Roxy, 82.18
3. Isabel Derungs (SUI), Ride, 79.44
4. Spencer O’Brien (CAN), Nike, 77.34
5. Sina Candrian (SUI), Burton, 70.80
6. Enni Rukajärvi (FIN), Burton, 69.48
7. Silje Norendal (NOR), Nike 6.0, 69.38
8. Cilka Sadar (SLO), Burton, 66.42

Men’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals Results Heat 1 & qualified for Finals

1. Aleksander Ostreng (NOR), Forum, 84.36
2. Mark McMorris (CAN), Burton, 83.90
3. Stale Sandbech (NOR), Oakley, 82.96
4. Torgeir Bergrem (NOR), Volcom, 82.28
5. Emil Ulsletten (NOR), Nitro, 80.56
6. Jamie Nicholls (GBR), Nike, 77.04
7. Christian Haller (SUI), Burton, 76.72

Men’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals Results Heat 2 & qualified for Finals

1. Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), Nike – Burton, 87.74
2. Janne Korpi (FIN), Kissmark, 86.32
3. Eric Beauchemin (USA), DC Shoe Co USA, 85.42
4. Roope Tonteri (FIN), Burton, 84.12
5. Ville Paumola (FIN), Quiksilver, 82.22
6. Sebastien Toutant (CAN), O’Neill, 80.56
7. Nuutti Niemelä (FIN), Smith, 80.12
8. Seppe Smits (BEL), Burton, 79.70
9. Sven Thorgren (SWE), Protest, 77.98

We know you’re not reading this as you’ll just have seen the words “Sexual” “Snowboarding” and “Helgasons” and immediately clicked play.

The boys ended up making their debut movie, arousingly titled Sexual Snowboarding, a little longer than they planned so they’re dropping this first full part with homies Fredu Sirvio, Jonas Carlson, Jonte Lindhe, Felix Engström, Aleks Ostereng, Benny Wetscher and Kevin Griffin getting it done.

Then, tomorrow, you’ll get 20-odd minutes of Halldor, Eiki, Gulli and a couple others in your face, with the awesome montage of fans clips tossed in for good measure. We watched it today – it’s wild, it’s verging on sexual, it is good. Then, unless we’ve gone full retard and misunderstood the three amigos, there’s gonna be another part to drop. Here’s the chat from the horse’s mouths:

The movie is split up in three parts. With the long edits dropping Wednesday. When we started making the movie the plan was to make something that was between 15 and 20 minutes long, so it would be perfect to watch while putting on your boots before going riding. When we were done making the film we had almost 30 minutes.

We don’t want to give away more info than Sexual Snowboarding follows Halldor, Eiki and Gulli around the world and that it’s edited more after trips than into full parts.”

Here is a list of riders who is in the movie:
Maybe you, If you sent in footy to us for the open part
Halldor Helgason
Eiki Helgason
Gulli Gudmundsson
Gjermund Braaten
Ethan Morgan
Fredu Sirvio
Risto Ruokola
Leo Crawford
Jonte Lindhe
Felix Engström
Kareem El Rafie
Jonas Carlson
Nils Arvidsson
Aleks Ostereng
Benny Wetscher
Kevin Griffin