Q&A: Shaun White

The Pro Snowboarder talks to WideWorld

A professional snowboarder since the age of 13, Shaun White has lived the dream of most slope-happy teenagers and made a fortune from his talents. Winning gongs from countless X Games, and even an Olympic Gold in 2006, he’s even turned designer for his own line of boarding gear.

How long does a pro need to train?

I don’t really train, whenever I go snowboarding it’s just a lot of fun. I don’t do it everyday, I’m on the road so much. To be honest it comes to me pretty easy. It’s helped me out a lot being able to learn new tricks and stuff pretty quickly.

Does being a natural means you don’t get hurt?

Yeah, I tend not to get injured. When I was about eleven I was skateboarding with this guy called Bob Bernquist  - who was a pro skater - and he was much older and bigger than me. I was only short and small and we were doing this routine and I crashed into him. I broke my hand and fractured my foot. It was quite bad.

Is there anything you wouldn’t try?

Just big jumps really, you can never really tell how fast you need to go. If you hit a 90ft jump you can’t see the landing and that’s just a scary thing.

What’s the one week of your career you remember best?

Well, there was this one year when I was 15 when I went to the X Games, and that’s a big deal. That X Games was when Tony Hawk landed his 900 and all sorts of crazy shit goes on there. I got two silver medals - that was just awesome. That whole year was just fantastic.

Do you have to do much strength training to board?

When I was 17 I had a knee injury, so I like to work out a little bit to keep it strong. I never really thought that I would get injured; I thought I was indestructible and I would do pretty much anything. But I am pretty relaxed - it’s a sport that if you get big and strong it will change the way you ride.

Do you keep all your boards?

Yeah! I have my own board that comes out every year so I always keep them. I think though my favourite signature thing is my snowboard boot. I’m the only rider to have my own boot, so that’s pretty special. Its cool because I got to do whatever I wanted, and as the boot did well I got to do my own clothing collection and I know exactly what I want. When you’re up on the mountain all the time, you think it would be cool if there was a pocket just ‘there’, and that’s what I get to do - create what I like.

Where do you get your ideas for designing?

My brother and I kind of do it together. He’s awesome at art and he draws up all the jackets, and I’m like, ‘Change this, change that’. I don’t want anything to go out there with my name on unless I have put a tonne of time in to it. We choose the fabrics, the cut, everything for the clothes.

To see what Shaun’s up to, visit www.shaunwhite.com