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Monday
Aug162010

Interview

DateMonday, August 16, 2010 at 07:28AM

Here is an Interview I did with powderhound. What do you guys think ;)

Pro skier and Powderhound blogger Luke Kneller caught up with Australia's own freeride hero, Russ Henshaw just prior to his win at the NZ Open...

When people think of Australia they think of Steve Irwin, of a land where kangaroos are the only means of transportation, a land were our women are sheilas and our men are blokes. The last thing they think of is snow, let alone enough to have ski resorts. So how is it that one of the best freeride skiers in the world comes from this mythical place?

Meet Russell Henshaw. The wonder from down under who is taking the world of freeride skiing by storm. Russ was born in Sydney but moved to Jindabyne after his family realised his love for skiing at the age of 14. He first began racing with the Thredbo Ski Race Club but after a few years of the stupidly early starts his mind began to wonder and his urge to fly and grind in the terrain parks rose. He decided to put away the lycra suit and race skis and pick up a pair of twin-tips and some baggy clothes. I caught up with Russ at the Action Sports Training centre in Jindabyne were he was busy practicing his new tricks...

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So how is it that you got into freeride skiing? Did anyone push or convince you to change over from racing?

I always jumped, even when I raced. I kind of got bored of racing and decided park was more fun, so that’s how I decided to switch over.

When did you start competiting in the freeride scene?

When I was 12 I started doing some local competitions around Thredbo and Perisher and then when I was 15 I did my first season overseas winning my first open event, The Austrian Open Slopestyle and Halfpipe.

Did you just wake up one morning and realise that you were good at the sport and could make a living out of it?

Nope I have worked really hard to get where I am. I am lucky it has all worked out.

How do you go about learning new tricks?

Usually I'll try them on tramp first. Jindabyne now has an amazing Action Sports training facility at Sport and Rec run by the legendary Andrea Berchtold. It’s perfect for learning new tricks as it has numerous in-built trampolines, a tumbling floor, bungies, harnesses, you name it! So when I’m not skiing in Australia, I’ll be there. From there I just go take that to the snow. 

So what does the future hold for you? Where do you want to be in say five years?

In five years I still want to be doing what I’m doing right now. Maybe after that I'll start doing something else but right now all that’s on my mind is skiing.

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Just after writing this Russ won the NZ Open slopestyle event. He was the first ever skier to successfully land a double cork into an unnatural double cork in competition! This is a prime example of the amount of skill that Russ possesses.

Russ's next big event is the second annual Toyota One Hit Wonder, he will be jumping and training on the kicker before leaving to europe for the Big air cuircut

Luke Kneller

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