Rene Hansen Senior Global Brand Director at Burton Snowboards
Rene is the man who runs the whole Burton Global Team show around the planet. He works to coordinate flights, agendas, itineraries, and deals with the chaos of one of the greatest teams on the earth; its not an easy task. From Tokyo with Mason Aguire and Kevin Pearce to Mammoth with Danny Davis, from Hemsedal with Nicolas Muller and back to Vermont. He is a busy guy but we got a caught to chat and see more what he does.
Dob: 01/17/71
Hometown: Rykkinn, Norway
Current location: Burlington, VT
Stance: wide
Angles: 15/-5
Gear: 23
Board: un..inc, Easy Livin' and EcoNico
Boots: Jeremy Jones
Bindings: Cartel
Goggles: Anon, Figments
Gloves: AK Mitt
Jacket: AK
Pants: AK
Hola how was your summer so far?
The summer has been solid. I got the pleasure of enjoying VT with the family and the best powder I have ridden in a long time, NZ experienced the best snow in years..
Your job is pretty stressful how do you cope?
When your job is your primary interest besides from your family and you have the pleasure to work with the best people in the industry and you have an understanding wife, its fairly easy. The challenge is more about finding a fair balance between the family and what most people call work.
How many days you shred per season?
It all depends on the year and what's at hand, but I log around 45 days.
What is your daily routine in Winter time?
I usually wake up at 5:20am to work out with my buddy and neighbor. Then I usually start to work around 7:30am over a quad latte, that's when I am in VT working out of the office. During the winter I try to start the day on snow as much as possible (not as much as I would like) and then I rather roll into work around 11am and work late. On the road it is dictated by the schedule, but the day never really starts later than 6am. Every day consists of a lot of coffee, which is probably my favorite fuel. Besides from that there are usually meetings internally or phone calls with agents, film crews, photographers, magazines, riders, event organizers, my crew, the PM's/BUD's internally etc, not to forget a couple of emails.
How do you see Burton in the next years?
Continue to be the brand that does the most for snowboarding, while maintaining our authenticity.
After no more Gigi Ruff on the global team who will be taking this empty spot?
I don't think Gigi's spot could ever be filled.
How is the economy situattion affecting Burton snowboards?
It makes us all evaluate decisions more thoroughly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
How much filming do you do per year?
I usually log around 150K miles a year.
As European do you eat fast food? Do you follow any type of diet?
I never eat fast food, but I am a sucker for candy. As far as diet, I keep it local and organic as much as I can.
Top six days of powder ever?
1. This year in NZ
2. Chile two years ago
3. Leech, Austria 6 years ago
4. Stowe, VT last year
5. The Niseko area in Japan during the Toyota Big Air
- The job has its perks. Powder in NZ.
What is you main base of work? Burton headquarters Vermont?
VT, Burton's headquarters
Top ten snowboarders ever why?
1. Nicolas Müller – his ability to read any terrain and make anything look interesting, not to forget how light he is on his feet (he floats) and his positive energy.
2. Gigi Rüf – creativity and style, there is only one Gigi.
3. Terje Håkonsen – best snowboarder in the world – no one can link turns like Terje.
4. Jamie Lynn – style
5. Peter Line – determination, progression and his humble confidence
6. Craig Kelly – his ability to evolve as a human being and a rider and how he didn't let his surroundings dictate how he lived his life and or ran his career.
7. Jeremy Jones – he is completely comfortable with himself and an amazing human being. He has progressed snowboarding for 10 years and pro's are still copying and looking to him for inspiration yearly when it comes to the urban element. Each year he brings new tricks or ways to utilize the terrain.
8. Johan Olofson – few riders have had the ability to go from dominating the HP scene to manhandling AK.
9. Jussi Oksanen – a gentle, good soul, with a lot of drive and passion. Few riders have had the ability to go from filming in the back country to being a threat at any slope competition over a period of 10 years.
10. Shaun White – a freak of nature, with an amazing ability to mentality tear the competition apart when it counts. I never met anyone more competitive than Shaun.
WHAT EVER COMES TO YOUR MIND
ROME? It is great to see another snowboard company succeed and they were a fresh breeze for a moment there, but they are another snowboard company that needs to evolve.
JASON BROWN? Creative and another personality that is missed
EURO SNOWBOARDS? It is what it is, but you can't take away that they have some of the best and most easily accessed mountains in the world. They continue to produce some of the best snowboarders we have been fortunate enough to see.
OBAMA? Change...in the best way possible. I wish him luck and as a father I am proud to have him run the country my son is from. It is also refreshing not to have to defend America when you are traveling abroad these days. It has been inspirational on all levels and I am looking forward to see how the story unfolds.
MALOLO? Another good day in the trees at Stowe
BURTON? A rider driven company that has made the best product for riders since 1977. Not to forget that they are the company that has done the most to grow snowboarding as a whole, while creating programs such as Chill, LTR, Academy and a new park concept called Stash. Burton has a soul of its own.
VERMONT? My second home. I will always call Norway home.
CALIFORNIA? Ok for a couple of days, but I am glad I don't need to live there.
During the time you are the team manager of Burton snowboards what riders impress you the most why?
I have had the pleasure to work and get to know some of the best riders and people during my time with Burton, which makes the task of mentioning a few unfair.
Dream destination?
Winter destination would be home (I like to hibernate when I can) or Leech in Austria or St Barth's to get a piece of the summer.
How many snowboards do you shred per season?
I usually ride one for the most part, this year I rode the un...by far the best board I have ridden with the new EST bindings. It pretty much works for any terrain. However, on one of those special powder days the Malolo comes out.
Best snowboard burton ever made? Why?
Un..inc, because of its ride and what it stood for.
You live full time in USA?
Yes
How you get your job as a Burton team manager?
I have been the team manager for 7+ years, and I got hired from Airwalk/Dragon/Nixon. My job started in Innsbruck as the European Team manager for Burton and evolved to Global Team manager and so on.
You prefer to work with americans or europeans? why?
Snowboarding isn't about nationality, it is about what you stand for, what you bring to the table and your ability to be a hardworking, good and respectful human being.
Do you get to shred with Jake every year?
It all depends on the year, but it doesn't happen as often as I would like. However, if you are lucky you will find him enjoying the Bruce Trail:-)
As a team manager do you think is good time to release a snowboard brand?
Markets are "interesting" these days to say the least and everyone is poorer, chaos creates opportunity. More importantly, in this economic environment, we need to treat every connection as a partnership so that we can get through this together, stronger than before. I try not to be naïve to the reality around us but at the same time, I am not going to allow myself to get paralyzed in front of the TV, it is what it is. We need to ride as much as possible to remember why we do what we do and continue to fuel snowboarding with creative and positive energy.
Pros and cons of your job?
What I appreciate here is that we work collaboratively and interdepartmentally on a global level and everyone brings a lot to the table. Not to forget the pleasure I find in facilitating others success and seeing riders/people reach their goals/potential. I am especially excited to work with Brad Kremer and the crew on next years movie. This will be the first time that all of our riders will be purely dedicated to the Burton movie, which is "about time." The most challenging part is letting someone go or seeing riders struggle with injuries. In a perfect world there would be a place for every rider at every stage in their career but it doesn't always work that way. So, you do what you can to learn from it and respect each level of this job, and more importantly the people in it. I do everything I can to get better at what I do and how I do it.
Thanks!