Norway is renowned for producing world-class riders on the Swatch TTR World Tour and Lisa Wiik is one of their brightest stars. Top Scandinavian Halfpipe riders like Stine Brun Kjeldaas and Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas have greatly influenced Lisa who is also a member of the Norwegian National Team and is a 2002 and 2010 Olympian.  She has a strong gymnastics history that is certainly evident when you see her boosting massive Mctwists with style and grace.

Hailing from Norway’s third largest city, Trondheim, Lisa began riding in 1996 when she borrowed her brother’s snowboard during his lunch breaks.  She progressed quickly and was one of the first riders competing when the TTR tour kicked off.  In 2005 she began riding for what is arguably one of the strongest female teams out there – Roxy.  With Roxy as her sponsor her progression and profile skyrocketed and she was consistently posting good results and making her way to the top.
The 2007/2008 TTR season saw her compete on every major competition on the Tour with Top 10 finishes at the 6Star BEO, 5Star World Superpipe Championships, the 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam as well as podiums on home turf at the 3Star Norwegian Championships. She finished 2008 as World No. 11 but was clearly hungry for more.

2008/2009 was definitely Lisa’s best competitive season to date with a Top ten finish in nearly every contest she entered. Wiik grabbed her first at the 2009 Burton European Open Slopestyle. She pulled another podium at the 5Star Burton Canadian Open, a ninth at the 6Star Burton US Open and finished her season with an impressive third place in the Slopestyle at the season ending 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam. After all that hard work, Lisa secured her spot as World No. 2, sitting just below the legendary Kelly Clark.

The 2009/10 season provides Wiik with another opportunity to take the world by storm. The season has so far turned to be just what she was hoping for with Top 10 finishes in almost every contest she entered since the Southern Hemisphere season. Although Lisa is one of the most successful slopestyle riders, her main focus this season is on halfpipe riding to get some practice in before the Olympic Games in Vancouver. Nevertheless, she posted her best results of the season at slopstyle contests such as the 5Star Burton Canadian Open where she placed 2nd pushing her in the lead of the Swatch TTR world ranking list.Lisa then went on to compete at the Olympic Games in Vancouver where she finished in 19th position. After only a short break she had gathered ba ck her strength to compete at the last two 6Star events of the 09/11 Tour, the Burton US Open and the Roxy Chicken Jam. With a fifth place in the US Open slopestyle format and another fifth in the halfpipe of the Chicken Jam, Lisa only barely missed the prestigious TTR Top 3 for women and finished the season in World No. 4. 

Her focus and determination are sure ingredients to continuous placement in the TTR Top 5 and we can definitely expect Lisa Wiik, with her wicked style and fun attitude to be a worthy contestant in becoming the TTR World Champion in the future.

Interview Date: Mid 2009

You have been doing really well this season. You are in your best form ever.  Did you train differently this year?



Well, I have struggled with a quite bad knee injury for the last couple of seasons and now when I’m not hurt I just feel really comfortable with my riding. I also feel that my experience as a pro rider for 8 years have helped me to be more solid and stable. I do not feel nervous before contests anymore. Of course I feel some adrenalin pumping, but this only makes me more focused. I do go to the gym a lot and I want to ride as much as possible. It is just a good and fun feeling riding these days. Maybe I have my mind more into it. I do visualize and use mental training a lot.  It is fun to see that all I’ve learned trough out my years of riding and the work and time I’ve spent riding finally pays off!

What is your plan for the rest of the season?



I like contests so I will for sure do more of the Swatch TTR 6 stars events, which is so much fun. The setting and the whole feeling at the TTR comps I’ve been to have been great. TTR have made competitions more fun. I also want to Qualify for the Olympics, which means I am doing some of the FIS events as well. In between all this I need to find time to just ride around on my own having fun without stressing around to all the comps. 



What has been your favorite contest moment ever and why?



Burton European Open 2009 for sure! Because that was my first big win in a big contest. I enjoyed the course and had so much fun all week. No stress, sunny, just fun riding...I felt comfortable on the course.  It is strange to say but I had a really good feeling about that contest throughout the week. 



How does being a member of the Roxy team help you improve? You guys all seem pretty tight.  Do you push each other?



Oh yeah. They are the best crew ever. Just to have a whole team of nice girls behind your back believing in you, coaching you and cheering for you cannot be replaced with anything. I am really proud to be a part of Roxy, which not only push the team, but push the sport too with organizing their own 6 star events (chicken jams) only for girls.

I mean, we are girls traveling together and competing against each other, you would maybe expect some bitching around. But seriously, it is not like that at all- we push each other and are truly happy when someone in our team wins or does good.  Stine my team manager is so talented and has so much experience from her own pro career to share with us. She is a good resource for the Roxy team.



What do you do when you are not snowboarding?



You mean during summer then?  I like to wakeboard! I just love cable parks, it is like snowboarding with jumps, rails and even a ”lift”.  It’s just hard to keep my eyes on the rope. I keep forgetting that I am holding the handle. 
Oh yes, I almost forgot, I’m actually studying full time to be a physio back in Trondheim Norway.