Johan Olofsson
Encyclopedia
Johan Olofsson is a snowboarder from Gällivare
, Sweden
, known for being one of the first riders to take freestyle tricks more commonly performed in man-made terrain parks into the big mountain freeriding
environments of Alaska
. Originally coming from a freestyle background, when Olofsson arrived on the Alaskan snowboarding scene he quickly adapted his spin tricks and jibs to the backcountry environment. Olofsson rapidly gained attention and respect from the freeriding community when he started doing these tricks off natural features such as windlips and cliff
s in the midst of terrifyingly steep lines in the Alaskan ranges.
In the Standard Films
movie TB5 (his first part in a major snowboard release), he was filmed in Alaska attacking a line with such ferocity that he stunned the snowboarding world and instantly gained legendary status. From the top of the line to foot of the descent, on a slope of over 40 degrees, he travelled over 3000 vertical feet in a mere 35 seconds, averaging over 80 km/h, a feat which got him into the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records and the Snowboarding Hall of Fame. He featured in two films Snowriders 2 (1997) and Freeriders (1998).
Olofsson spent his entire snowboarding career (some eight years) with Burton as his primary sponsor. After a series of injuries between 2001 and 2004 he was dropped by Burton and has been without a sponsor ever since. He announced his retirement from professional snowboarding in 2005 and went on to work on a project building a snowpark at Dundret in Gällivare
(Sweden) in 2007, called Thunderpark.
He moved on from Thunderpark, and went pro for The North Face. He features in Teton Gravity Research
's 2010 movie Deeper.
Just recently, Venture Snowboards from Silverton, CO, has brought him on board as a product tester to aid product design and development of their boards. He rode one of their Storm-R splitboards during the filming of the Deeper.
Gällivare
Gällivare is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 8,480 inhabitants in 2005. The town was founded in the 17th century...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, known for being one of the first riders to take freestyle tricks more commonly performed in man-made terrain parks into the big mountain freeriding
Freeriding
Freeriding is a discipline of snowboarding.The term "Freeriding" was coined when early snowboarders chose to break away from what they considered to be the restrictive confines of traditional ski culture and competition. The original concept of freeriding was that there was no set course, goals or...
environments of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. Originally coming from a freestyle background, when Olofsson arrived on the Alaskan snowboarding scene he quickly adapted his spin tricks and jibs to the backcountry environment. Olofsson rapidly gained attention and respect from the freeriding community when he started doing these tricks off natural features such as windlips and cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
s in the midst of terrifyingly steep lines in the Alaskan ranges.
In the Standard Films
Standard Films
Standard Films was started in 1991 and is a snowboard film company started by brothers Mike and Dave Hatchett. As of 2009 they have produced a snowboarding film every year....
movie TB5 (his first part in a major snowboard release), he was filmed in Alaska attacking a line with such ferocity that he stunned the snowboarding world and instantly gained legendary status. From the top of the line to foot of the descent, on a slope of over 40 degrees, he travelled over 3000 vertical feet in a mere 35 seconds, averaging over 80 km/h, a feat which got him into the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records and the Snowboarding Hall of Fame. He featured in two films Snowriders 2 (1997) and Freeriders (1998).
Olofsson spent his entire snowboarding career (some eight years) with Burton as his primary sponsor. After a series of injuries between 2001 and 2004 he was dropped by Burton and has been without a sponsor ever since. He announced his retirement from professional snowboarding in 2005 and went on to work on a project building a snowpark at Dundret in Gällivare
Gällivare
Gällivare is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 8,480 inhabitants in 2005. The town was founded in the 17th century...
(Sweden) in 2007, called Thunderpark.
He moved on from Thunderpark, and went pro for The North Face. He features in Teton Gravity Research
Teton Gravity Research
Teton Gravity Research is an extreme sport production company based in Teton Village, Wyoming. They have been producing skiing, snowboarding and surfing films since 1996 and are best known for films like Tangerine Dream and Anomaly. The films focus on world-class athletes skiing, snowboarding,...
's 2010 movie Deeper.
Just recently, Venture Snowboards from Silverton, CO, has brought him on board as a product tester to aid product design and development of their boards. He rode one of their Storm-R splitboards during the filming of the Deeper.