But when he smoked the competition, won his seventh pro men’s title and exited before the awards ceremony, it became just another misty chapter in the legend of the Sprocking Cat. He added another by throwing down the highest air: 7.79 meters of amplitude at the World Snowboard Championship quarterpipe contest this spring. Terje’s story starts with early halfpipe domination, the revolutionary films Subjekt Haakonsen and Haakon Faktor and the world’s highest air at the 2007 Arctic Challenge. Add an appearance in the 2012 TGR film Further, and his career reads like an impressive Norwegian epic.

Aside from the style and flow that have become his riding signature, it’s his tireless commitment to the independent spirit of our sport that truly sets Terje apart. As evidence, Terje has internationally championed the snowboarding-by-snowboarders ethos through his words and his actions. When the IOC forced their way into the sport, Terje boycotted the Olympics and created the Arctic Challenge, which remains the pinnacle of rider-run alternatives. When jibbing was king, he took freeriding to a new level by helping design innovative powder sticks like the Fish and now Burton’s new Family Tree series. And when slopestyle became a subject of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Terje stepped forward to fight for rider rights by spearheading the 180 Olympic Charter. Yet, no matter where his presence lands, he will continue to represent the heart and soul of snowboarding. To witness the current expression of that soul, check out his flow in the new Burton movie, 13.

Age: 38

Home Town:
Stovner, Norway

Home Mountain:
Tryvann Winterpark, Norway