Henrik Windstedt: No Holding Back

FWT: How do you feel about the contest this past weekend in Chamonix / Courmayeur?

Henrik: I feel OK about last weekend, not super stoked, but glad to have the first contest behind me and to start getting ready for the next. There are a lot of unanswered questions before you do the first event: if you’re in good shape, how you’re skiing, how’s the judging, how the other riders are doing, etc. So I got all my questions answered and now it’s full throttle.

 

FWT: Based on what you learned last weekend, will you approach the Nissan Freeride Engadin St. Moritz by Swatch any differently?

Henrik: Yeah, I’ll give ‘er. Hahaha. Not hold back. I’ll ski as well as I can and see how far that takes me. Looking back on the Chamonix event I know I could have skied a lot better but I wasn’t really 100%.

 

FWT: You’re not injured are you?

Henrik: Well, I tweaked a rib or something two days before the event, and also the day after and also yesterday. So that’s kind of annoying. It’s nothing bad, it’s only muscles but if I land hard it’s going to feel like I’ve been shot. I didn’t feel it during the run in Courmayeur but it wasn’t the best preparation. But I definitely know I can ski a lot better and that’s what I’m going to do in St. Moritz.

 

FWT: In 2010 you were third overall behind Candide Thovex and Kaj Zackrissen, both of whom are not competing this season. Are you focusing on the overall Freeride World Champion title?

Henrik: Of course, that’s why I’m here.

 

FWT: What will it take to get there?

Henrik: It will take a lot this year. There are a lot of hungry guys here who are skiing well and it’s going to be tough with six contests. You’ll really have to ski well in all of them and hopefully win a couple and be on the podium of all of them to finish in the top three.

 

FWT: What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Henrik: I’d say my strengths are my skiing and my consistency. If you look back at the past three years of competition I’ve never finished below fifth on runs where I’ve skied well. Last year in four events I finished first, third, third and fourth. The year before I had two crashes and two podiums, and the year before I missed the podium two times when I crashed. So if I’m having a good run then normally I’m top five, which is a good thing to know. So normally I just need to keep it together. As far as weaknesses, I’d say it’s the pressure I put on myself.

 

FWT: How do you deal with it?

Henrik: I just try to talk myself out of it, relax, ski my line as planned and not really worry about the outcome. What’s good about the way things turned out in Chamonix is that I didn’t have a great run and I still finished fifth. Which means if I just push a little bit harder and do what I want then hopefully I’ll be on the podium.

 

FWT: Who will be your biggest competition?

Henrik: Aurélien [Ducroz] looked pretty pumped in Courmayeur. He didn’t have a great year last year and I think he wants his title back.

 

FWT: Two of your local Åre homeys, Reine Barkered and Erik Sunnerheim, finished ahead of you in the Chamonix event? What are your feelings on that? Is there a new generation of rippers that are a threat to your goal of Freeride World Champion?

Henrik: They’re for sure a threat but we’re a good team, the Swedes, and we’re going to help each other achieve our best. When you’re skiing in this competition, you’re not skiing against each other. It’s a matter of choosing a line and skiing it well and then it’s up to the judges to decide who’s the best. But we don’t have any opponents really. It’s just you and the mountain. I ski better under pressure and I ski better when I see others ski well so knowing that Reine and Erik are choosing good lines and skiing well is only going to help me.

 

FWT: Looking at the north face of the Corvatsch in Engadin St. Moritz it seems like another really steep face. Will there be an opportunity for any trickery this weekend?

Henrik: No, I don’t really think so, especially not on a face this long. I think it’s long enough and has enough options that if you just ski it well that will be enough. I don’t think you have to make it any more difficult by adding a trick. What I’ve heard is that the top is steeper than the bottom and you’ll be super tired coming into the bottom section so I don’t think throwing a trick in the bottom section will do you any good. I think we’ll see more tricks at the shorter venues like Kirkwood. But we’ll see, maybe more towards the end of the season we’ll see more cliffs or jumps where I can do tricks if I feel like I have to, but I think in St. Moritz that just skiing a really good line and sticking your jumps will be enough.

 

FWT: You also do a lot of filming. How do you balance your schedule?

Henrik: This year it’s extra tough to mix filming and competition. I’m filming with Matchstick Productions and also for Salomon Freeski TV and for Peak Performance. After St. Moritz I’ll shoot some stuff in Europe for the next two weeks if we can find good snow and I’m hoping to go back to Alaska in April again to get my segments done there since it’s mostly competitions right now.

 

FWT: What is your own favorite video part ever? What was your favorite video part of someone else from this year?

Henrik: Ummm … I don’t know … for freestyle I think my part in Ready Fire Aim by Poorboyz and also Not Another Ski Movie by Push Films, are my best backcountry freestyle segments. And then last year’s Matchstick The Way I See It, I was happy with that too. But then again, y’know you’re never happy with your own segments. You know you can always do better and you’re pretty harsh on yourself.

 

FWT: OK, here’s one for you … What does skiing mean to you?

Henrik: I want to say everything but then again I have a small family I think they mean everything to me now. But after my family skiing is everything. It’s my life. It’s what I’ve done since I was two years old and it’s what I hope to keep doing. And I would also say ‘fun’. Skiing is fun to me.

 

FWT: Do you ever get burned out?

Henrik: You do, for sure. It’s super tiring and you put a lot of stress on yourself, especially competing when you don’t want to and you don’t feel ready. Same with filming and taking photos. If it’s good conditions you have to get up at 7:00 and huck until you’re almost dead and that can be pretty hard and not, y’know, fun. But then you have these moments when you land good tricks or you ski good lines, you don’t feel cold or hungry and you just love it. You deal with it by knowing this is what you do, this is why you get paid. You get to do this four or five months of the year and the rest of the year you can just kind of relax and be with friends and family.

 

FWT: Dream session – Where? When? Who?

Henrik: Somewhere where there are trees, pillows, cliffs and deep pow with my closest friends that are good skiers too.

 

FWT: What’s important?

Henrik: Staying positive. Laughing.