A trip to Canada for boarding

Wrap around to Nohanded 50/50 Casper at Rotary Skatepark, Vancouver Island.

I had a great time in Vancouver, Canada first week of April. Went there for snowboarding with Kevin Harris but of course I brought my skateboard and we had a great session at Rotary skatepark on Vancouver island. The session became sort of a demo for the local kids.

Snowboarding in the powder at 7th Heaven at Blackcomb Whistler was awesome! Unfortunately I fell in the slopes at Washington Mountain the last day, and is now back in Sweden recovering.

Going back for the World Round-up in Vancouer in may and will most likely bring my snowboard again for a summer like session at Blackcomb Whistler. Hope I have healed until then...

Snowboard session at Manning with Kevin Harris.

The World round up in Canada!

My plane tickets are booked for the 2012 World Freestyle Round-Up that will take place inside a venue on the Cloverdale Fair Grounds in Vancouver, Canada. Over 77.000 people attended the annual Fair last year!

I am looking forward to this event a lot! Several freestylers say it's the best surface they have ever skated on, and there will be several shows with freestyle demos and contests in these three categories:

• Best Routine
• Best Trick
• 360 Spin Off

All events are using a Battle format with several skaters competing as a group and each going one by one performing a routine. A good MC will make sure it will be a good and exciting flow.

The judging is unique, by combining the scores from five judges with the scores from the riders and also the audience.

A big thank you to Kevin Harris, Kai Dunkel and Monty Little! This event will help put freestyle skateboarding back where it belongs and move the level of competition up a notch or two. As the organizers say: "We envision something new and unique to give freestyle a chance to be back in TV, back in major magazines, and back in the forefront of the sports world".

But most of all, it will be a fun packed event!

Switch Triple 180 Railflip To Cross Foot and some more stationary stuff

The Switch Triple 180 Railflip To Cross Foot is a trick I learned in the early 1980's. In 1986 it was published as a Trick Tip in an English skateboard and BMX magazine. It was shot at Farnborough in England during a contest. I was in England in 1986 for 3 months, staying at legendary freestyler Shane Rouse's place, in Sandhurst. When I went to England I was a bit burned out on freestyle, but when I got there I got motivated again and skated at Southbanks almost everyday.

How to always feel like a winner

Getting the 1st place trophy at the World Championships 2012 from my very longtime friend Per Welinder.

I have been competing for about 30 years. I have won several Swedish Championships, Swedish Cups, European Championships and a European Cup, a few pro contests and in 2000 I tied for 1st with Kevin Harris in the World Championships in San Fransisco (a small contest that did not have a status until on site when the organisers saw who were competing...) I also have had five second places in the World Championships, and a few third places.

I have been thinking sometimes that it would be fun to once get a World Championships title that is not a tie and that the contest is rather big. Not important to get, but fun. Let me explain a bit more: For me a contest is an opportunity to test my mind-body coordination during the very special circumstances a contest is, with probably a different surface I usually practice on, maybe a different area size, maybe time zone differences, a different climate, friends watching and judges checking every detail and scoring. It is also an opportunity to try my very best and see if I can get into the zone, a peak experience, feeling bliss and relaxation when skating. If I get into the zone, that makes me feel like a winner from within, it does not matter where I place as I feel I have done my best and had fun. I could place last and feel like a winner.

Rampljuset 2011

Last year me and my BMX collegue was on the kids talentshow Rampljuset. We were first a bit hesitant as the stage was only to be 5 x 5 meters, but eventually we agreed to do it. This year they asked us again, but this time to separate the two of us so we would compete against each other. We were once again a bit hesitant, but as the show was so fun and they took so well care of us, we did it again. Here is my first round, that was filmed in may 2011.

World Championships 2011, how it all got started

No. No way! I tried to get out of it, I really tried not to organize the World Championships. I have organized contests before and know how much work it takes. No way! But sometimes no is not an option...

Me and Kevin Harris was booked for a demo in Malmö 2010 at the Ultra Bowl. I had done a demo there in 2009 and they liked it and asked if I could get Rodney Mullen there for 2010 to do a demo. I tried to pull some strings, but knew it was hopeless, Rodney simply don't do demos any longer. So I suggested Kevin Harris, another true freestyle legend, and they loved the idea, so they flew him over. Kevin has been a friend of mine for many years, and this was the first time he visited me. Before we went down to Malmö we did some sightseeing in my area, and when we were in Stockholm and skated this concrete area at Medborgarplatsen he told me this is the best place ever to skate freestyle, both the location and the surface, and told me to hold a contest here, to host the World Championships in Sweden 2011. I said "No way"… but he promised to back me up, to help me. And suddenly the rumor spread that I was organizing the World Championships and everyone told me the World Championships should be in Sweden 2011.

The Coca-Cola trick

I got asked to do a show and "questions & answers" at a conference last Tuesday at Arlanda Airport, Stockholm. Not the usual kind of shows I do, but it indeed sounded fun so I agreed to do it. It was also a "questions & answers", to motivate and inspire those attending the conference.

As I like to be on stage I looked forward to this, and with my new unexpexcted World Championships title the organizers were thrilled.

I was told the floor looked like asphalt and when I got to the conference center it indeed looked black. But it was slick marble, so slick it was even hard to walk on. I stepped on my board, did a walkover to feel the floor and my board slipped and I landed on my back. Embarrasing... I knew by now this was going to be a challenge.

I asked the organizers of the conference if we could put a thin layer of Coca-Cola to make it less slippery. They called in the cleaning guy that did not really understand what we were talking about. Mopping the floor with Coca-Cola was unheard to him. I could do this myself, but they seemed to have made up their mind the cleaning guy would do it. So I went and did my 20 minute of warming up with Hatha Yoga and Dynamic stretching and then was ready to warm up on the floor.

This Coca-Cola trick is also something some dancers do when the floor is slippery. And now the floor was much better. But after awhile I got into some problems... my soles got sticky and it was hard to even get up on the rail, as my feet got stuck to the griptape...

I cleaned my shoes and did my show and it went fine. Only one miss in my routine. Then up on the stage for "questions & answers" and "motivation talk". It was great fun!