Torstein Horgmo has quickly become one of the most progressive riders in snowboarding and has pushed boundaries every time he’s strapped himself to a board. Contest judges wait in sweaty anticipation when he approaches a newly built kicker and film premiere audiences exclaim praise in adoration of his seemingly impossible on screen feats of strength.

A native of Trondheim, Norway, Torstein has turned up in many discussions as the rider to watch. It was in 2004 that the at-the-time 16 year old made his first impact on snowboarding, winning the Burton European Open Junior Jam followed by the Air & Style Rookie Challenge in 2005. Shortly after, he barely missed the podium with his fourth place at the 2006 5Star Burton European Open. This pushed him even more to win his first ever TTR title just a week later by claiming the Slopestyle at the 5Star O’Neill Pro Freestyle in Avoriaz, France. That same season he got a personal invitation by Terje Haakonsen to ride at the legendary 6Star Oakley Arctic Challenge and finished in 10th. Not bad at all.

Closing in on the end of his 2006 season, an unfortunate back injury left Torstein unable to compete for the rest of the season. After months of recuperation and virtual shredding, the Norwegian powerhouse came back into the game with arms swinging, proving he was stronger and more determined than ever. It was from then on that Horgmo became known for absolutely destroying the scene down under. Dominance kicked off in 2007 with a Slopestyle title at the 5Star Abominable Snow Jam at Mt. Hood. He continued with top five finishes in the Slope and Pipe at the 4Star Garnier Fructis Australian Open and finally an intense and deserved Slopestyle title win at the 3Star Stylewars after his 150-foot Frontside 1080.

At the end of the 07/08 Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour season, Torstein finished as World No. 10, solidifying his inheritance of becoming one of snowboarding’s greats. The 2008/2009 season saw similar results down under with a second place finish at 2008’s Stylewars and a Title win at the 5Star Burton Australian Open. Amidst a beefy filming schedule, he managed to fit in an appearance at the 5Star Red Bull Snowscrapers in New York city and bagged a second place, finishing last season in World No. 15.

Aside from his impressive competitive career, Torstein is also making a name for himself among snowboarding film gurus and already has opening and ending parts in some of the best films of recent winters. Don’t believe us? Well, give these flicks a spin: Up in the Sky, DC Mtn Lab 1.5 and Standard Films’ Aesthetica and their newest entry, Black Winter. One viewing of each will not be enough to witness and experience the gargantuan awesomeness of the riding laid down by Norwegian board master Torstein Horgmo.

The 2009/2010 season of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour witnessed some great riding, as Horgmo has added a second place Slopestyle finish at the 5Star Burton NZO and a top ten finish at the 6Star Billabong Air & Style and a second place at the prestigious 6Star Oakley Arctic Challenge to his notable list of competitive accomplishments.

However, in 2009/10, Horgmo managed to not only shine on the Tour but also impressed at non-TTR events with a victory at the Winter Dew Tour in Mount Snow, USA and a second place finish at the Winter X-Games in Aspen, USA.

In summer 2010, while practicing in Norway, the DC and Oakley rider stomped the infamous triple cork for the first time ever. there is a lot to expect from Horgmo for the 2010/11 season so keep your eyes glued to this guy as you will not want to miss what he has in store for future winters. 

Check out Torstein's 09/10 TTR Rider Check Out video right here.

Interview (November 30th 2007, Munich, GER)

Where are you from and how long have you been riding?

I’m from Trondheim Norway, I’m  20 years old. Been riding for 8 years. It’s not getting any less fun than when I started!

What is the TTR, in your eyes, doing for snowboarding?

For myself I feel the TTR Tour is a good way for up and coming riders to show themselves, I guess it’s been pretty big in Europe, and that’s what I did, just starting out and signing up for some contests and ended up getting invited to most of them, I feel fortunate for that. That’s what the whole tour mean’s to me.

So this year, you’re off to a great start in the TTR Season. Tell us about that.

I’ve been riding a lot this summer, since I was chilling enough this past winter, I wanted to do a lot of riding this summer and fall. I went to Mt Hood, and Australia, and Norway and New Zealand. And did all different kinds of shooting. You can check that out in the DC video that’s coming out soon, or is it already out? It’s coming out soon. Haha. This is the first contest (Air & Style) so I’ve been kind of taking it easy right now just riding mellow and taking stuff slow and playing by ear. I went to Mt. Hood and I won a car and some cash a couple titles, the abominable snow jam. That was a good first experience for Mt. Hood I hadn’t been there before and that was fun as hell! And I went back home for a couple weeks and then I went first to Australia, for the Australian Open and got 2nd there in the slopestyle and fourth in the pipe, that was fun, then I went to falls creek for Stylewars and went home with that title as well. Didn’t really expect any of it but, it kind of happened. It’s been fun though shredding, I haven’t been shredding as much in the off season before so it’s been a good experience for sure.

Explain what being a professional Snowboarder consists of in the current season. What will you be doing?

If I don’t get injured, this week I’ll be doing the Air & Style, and the following week flying to Tokyo for the X-Trail Jam. And maybe go straight to the east of Canada to do some filming of just street rails. Then for Christmas I’ll go back home for family. In January I’ll be out in Colorado for a couple contests then go straight to Tahoe and start filming. Hopefully that goes will with no injuries maybe a couple more contests, maybe that’s about it for the season. I’ll try and get as much done as possible and have as much fun as I can, going to a lot of new places and gaining some experience.

How can you explain the addictiveness of snowboarding and what that feeling means to you?

If you’ve ever strapped in for the first time and you get that first feeling of standing up and making it down the hill. I still get that feeling a lot and that’s why I keep doing it. It drives you, that whole rush. I wouldn’t replace it with anything else. It’s just….you gotta figure it out for yourself….you know what I’m talking about. If you’ve done it before…taking a pow turn and having a good day on the hill with your friends that’s why I keep doing it. It’s just…I dunno…it drives me crazy if I don’t do it I guess. I sit there at home and I can’t stop thinking about it.

What’s your favourite rush? Is it hitting a kicker? Slashing pow? Standing on the podium?

I don’t have an answer for that. You can’t compare it. Winning a contest and getting that kind of experience and that kind of “rush” is totally different than a good day on the hill with your friends and a few perfect pow turns. It’s just little things that keep you going. Those days on the hill with your friends, you have a bunch of smaller experiences that build up and keep you going. That’s one part of it. And if you do well in a contest it stokes you out so much you want to go do it again! You need to go all out on all fronts.

Is there a downside in your lifestyle and to professional snowboarding?

Well if you get hurt, I don’t have that steady job at home and I see all my friends going to work, and living that kind of life, and I sit there and feel kind of useless and can’t do shit. That’s definitely a down side and if you’re sitting there in one spot for too long and not getting to do anything good, cause of the weather, you’re stuck. What I try and do is change location…. That’s a downside - if you get stuck.

What do you like to do outside of snowboarding?

If I’m not snowboarding I like to go skateboarding. I wouldn’t consider myself I good skateboarder but I can at least have fun with it especially with friends. Whatever I do I try to do it with people I know because it just makes it a lot better. I’m not much of a golfer but I hit up the driving range a few times every now and then. And Xbox… I’m pretty good at Xbox. Hahaha. I played a lot of Xbox while my back was injured haha. I sure enjoy playing it.

Apart from the tour, do you concentrate on filming? Explain the process of trying to make a good film part.

You just have to think a lot of what you want to do and what kind of tricks you want to get on film. When you have a session with your friends and you’re filming and trying to get a good trick, and you know what you did to get it, and then you see the final product and you see yourself in that video you get to say to yourself “hey, I did that! That was me!” You feel like it’s an accomplishment to get a full video part of your tricks for others to see. It’s a good feeling and that’s what keeps me hungry for it. I want to get bigger and better tricks and cooler video parts and what not you know? And you’re out there the process is you travel, you go with the film crew, you get out there and you set up and do what you want to do and it ends up on film and that’s a good feeling for sure! When you see the final product and you know where you’ve been and how you did it. It’s all good. I like that.

What would it mean to you to win the TTR World Snowboard Tour?

I dunno I guess I’ll have to find out! I know what it feels like to win a contest and it’s an awesome feeling and I guess winning the TTR Tour is not going to be less of a feeling. It would for sure be crazy. This tour thing is getting more and more popular and here you have all these crazy riders and top dogs from all over the world coming here and it’s getting bigger and bigger. If you win the TTR tour you’re not good at just one thing, you’re an overall sick rider and I give my props and hands down to whoever wins the tour for sure. Props to that guy!

Any words of wisdom?

Go as fast you can, close your eyes, and hope for the best!

Shout outs! Who would you like to thank?

Everybody who helped me get back on my feet after my injury my family my friends, my sponsors – they all know who they are - thanks a lot! And thanks to you guys.