Rewind back to 2006 and Elias Elhardt was a rising ripper on the Euro shred scene.  He was coming up fast and ruling nearly every Swatch TTR  1 and 2Star junior rookie contest he entered.  Whilst balancing school commitments he was riding and competing as much as possible and even earned himself a ticket to The Arctic Challenge.  Then Bam! All of a sudden he was gone.  He disappeared without a trace.  Unfortunately Elias was struck down in his prime by a nasty lung inflammation which kept off the snow for over the year.

As is the trait of true champions, he didn’t let the illness get in the way of his dream of being a pro snowboarder.  Rather he used it as motivation to get out there and ride as much as possible and now he is back, well and truly ready to pick up where he left off.  He has definitely re-emerged with new hunger and confidence so sit up and take notice when Elias drops this season.


We have seen you at a few contests already this season.  What is your plan  for the year? more TTR contests?, filming?

For the rest of the season I plan to film with the Pirates Crew. I'm really looking forward to that as it will be my first year filming.  Besides that I'd like to ride at least two more TTR Contests. The Crans Montana Champs Open and the US Open.

You are a young rider on the rise.  How has TTR helped you come up on the scene?

The TTR Tour already helped me a lot a couple of years ago, when the Arctic Challenge was still the Final of the Tour. Through the Von Zipper Trails I got to ride the Billabong World Jr. Pro. Winning the Jr. Pro and so the "ticket to ride" gave me the opportunity to go to the Arctic Challenge.  I think this is a very good example of how the TTR works and how the upcoming riders get their chance.

A few years ago you were coming up on the Tour, but got struck down by sickness.  How did you get back into snowboarding? lots of training, practice?

Yes, that was defiantly a tough time.  I couldn't really ride for more than a year because I of a bad lungs inflammation.  I guess, what gave me the motivation and power to come back was simply the love for snowboarding. I rode a lot and everything else came by itself.

You came 6th at the O'Neill Evolution and 11th at the Burton Euro Open (some pretty damn good results).  Do you feel like you back on top of your snowboarding game?

It feels pretty good to be back on board, for sure! I'm also stoked to be back in the snowboard game and I feel like I might have some more room to progress.

Can you give me some information about you started snowboarding? Who influenced you? Where you started etc?

I started snowboarding with my friends, when I was 11. I did it besides skiing for a while, but the more I went riding, the more I found out how much fun it was and the less I went skiing. Some years later I didn't touch my skis anymore and completely fell in love with snowboarding.

When did you realize you could make it as a professional snowboarder?

When I was 15 years old, I won a couple of local contests. It was such a good time to travel around with my best friend Friedl and always go snowboarding with him. This was maybe the time, when I realised, that snowboarding is, what I want to do the most.

What are your goals as a rider?

I'd like to have a very good time on my snowboard and I want to see how far I can progress in this sport. Beside that I also want to a show the beauty of it, for example by filming for the Pirates.

Now your going up against White, Pearce, Matilla and others. Do you ever get nervous competing against well known big riders? if so, how do you deal with it?

I think I get nervous at contests in general.  The big names are not really making it worse.  I just want to try my best and I'm happy if I get the run down.

How does it feel to be one of the highest ranked Germans in the TTR rankings ?

Really, I didn't know that.  I'm happy about that.  But it doesn't mean that I'm the best German rider.  David Benedik is ahead of me, he just does not do many contests.

Anyone you would like to thank? shout outs?

I would like to thank my girlfriend, my family and friends for giving me a good time, when I'm at home and for giving me a good feeling when I'm on the road. I also would like to thank my sponsors Rossignol, Rip Curl and Deeluxe for making it all that possible for me, especially for giving me the opportunity to film this year!