SR: You for sure have some of the best style out there today, how do you go from being little kid in Sweden to where you are now?
HM: I guess a lot of the big pros and snowboard scene happened in Sweden when I started snowboarding; like Ingemars big air and all that. Since then I have just following like every move of Ingemar, Terje, Jamie Lynn and dudes like that, you know.

SR: You go with what you like?
HM: Yea, I have a feeling in my body, if it feels good then I hope it looks good too. That’s what I go from, my own feeling

SR: Now you have a reached a point maybe where people are looking up to you, are you happy with your success?
HM: Well, I don’t feel that way. I can see my self as a kid and see like Ingemar and all the kids that looked up to them but I don’t think they [guys like Ingemar] would see it that way, because I don’t see it right now. I still look up to a lot of people, for their riding at least but I can’t see anyone looking up to me.

SR: Are you glad to be a pro Snowboarder versus say, working at Ikea, or whatever they do in Sweden?
HM: (laughter) Yea, I am glad to be doing what I am doing for sure. It’s fun to be able to do something you love so much

SR: Who are you influence besides the guys you already said?
HM: Anyone can influence me. I could see some random kid do a cool thing and I may want to do it my way. So influences now are spread out all over but in the beginning; Jamie, Terje, Ingemar and those guys

SR: Who do like to ride with?
HM: I like to ride with Jakob (Wilhelmson) a bunch with his good style and control; control is real important to me on a snowboard. When someone is one with a snowboard so to speak, that’s when I enjoy watching a person riding

SR: What has the 07/08 brought you:
HM: It started out terrible – I broke my back

SR: In Italy? You broke your back!
HM: Yea, and it could have pretty much ended it right there but a month later I was doing 720’s off kickers and shit, so..then it turned good again. We started filming for our project actionhorsefilms.com so it’s being going well now

SR: How do you come back from a broken back in a month, eating sashimi?
HM: (laughter) Yea, well what do you do. First of all you are at the hospital for a quite a while and then you…I don’t know relax I guess, that is the only way you can heal. Eat healthy, you don’t drink alcohol and you are fine

SR: When did that happen?
HM: 1st of December

- Super smooth, solid and in control

SR: When did you come to USA
HM: Middle of January with the Actionhorse crew

SR: Where all did you go this winter so all the kids can no where a pro snowboarder spends his time
HM: Pretty much started off with some rails in Sweden after breaking my back. Rails are probably not the best thing to do. (laughter) After about two weeks I came over to the US to do the powder thing, riding riding kickers and stuff. You try to squeeze in some park stuff which I never really did this year.

SR: You just ride and fim then?
HM: I only entered one contest this year and that was the Travis Rice thing (Natural Selection) but I had the flu so it did not really work out for me

SR: So you are not really a contest rider?
HM: Well, some people say I am a contest rider but I would rather just film. I guess contests are fun too. It depends on how you feel, after breaking your back you don’t really want to deal with that scene. You just want to ride as much as possible with your friends

- Hampus riding through the flu at a deep Day: 1 of the Natural Selection in Jackson Hole Wyoming. If you missed the report & video from the Natural Selection click HERE (Andrew Miller Photo)

SR: What’s the deal with Actionhorse films
HM: Yea, Actionhorse films is me, Jakob and Per-Hampus Stålhandske (filmmaker). We just always wanted to do a video together. This year we collected some money and it’s just us cruising the world and filming the people we look at as our friends. The people we wanna film with. It’s so much more than just filming your regular video part because you are so much more stoked when someone else stomps their tricks too. You feel like the movie coming together and you really work hard to make it come together.

SR: Your riding seems skateboard influenced, can you tell us about that connection to snowboarding?
HM: Yea, I started skating before snowboarding, that’s pretty much why I started snowboarding because people told me I couldn’t skateboard and ski so I hopped on the board. People say I skate like a snowboarder which is not a good thing from the skateboarders point of view (laughter) I just like to cruise and have a good feeling, do something that feels rad

SR: What do you mainly skate?
HM: I used to skate a lot of street when I was younger but as I snowboard more I don’t really have time to learn all the flip tricks. So I am just cruising pools and mini ramps, lot’s of transition

SR: Where do you spend most of your time while in the US?
HM: I got a house in Utah

SR: You like it in Utah, more than Mammoth
HM: Oh yea, way more than Mammoth (laughter) couldn’t stand Mammoth

- One fine day in Lake Tahoe - far from Sweden

SR: You have more notoriety in the US or Europe
HM: Probably Europe because that is where it all started but I have not been in Europe for quite a while so people probably wonder where I am at

SR: People recognize you at airports? Girls at Disco? People ask you for autographs?
HM: It happens sometimes but I try to stay under cover

SR: What are you duties as a pro snowboarder? Do they say you have to do such and such or you are fired?
HM: (laughter) My sponsors are really good like that, they ask me like one thing to do and a contest every year. Other than than I just do what I do.

SR: Sick anything else you wanna ad
HM: Just thank everyone who has helped me out

- Hampus and Louie Vito taking a break from the O-matic session at Northstar.

To see why George Crosland and the O-matic team (including Hampus) were at Northstar at Tahoe just click below to read the story and look at tons of photos.

- Just click above!