Today was the qualifier for the SBMC 2009. It was a long day, more then 140 competitors was on the starting list. I had bib number 130. I was super nervous (like always) before my run but it was mostly because I didn't decide which line I was going to ski untill I came up to the start. Finally I decided to ski the middle line with a big drop in the end. I pulled myself together and skied the line as I wanted. And it was enough to put me on top. Stooked. It will be some long days to come so I might not be able to update untill the contest is over, so please check out the latest SBMC 2009 news on www.bigmountain.se Have it nicely! //Henrik

Right now I'm on my way to Riksgränsen for the annual big mountain comp. I feel a lot of pressure to do well since I didn't do so good on the Freeride World Tour 2009. It will be tough but I'm ready to fight for the title this year. I hear it's sunny and nice in Riksgränsen right now and I can't wait to go ski. I've been coming to Gränsen for the last 13 years and this is my 16th trip up here. It's alway a good time and a perfect way to finish of the season. Stay tuned for more info on the condition and how the comp is going. Later, Henrik

Quite the opposite worlds I've been in for the last couple of days. Going from the wilderness in Haines, Alaska, USA to downtown Paris, France. We're here for a photoshoot with PEAK PERFORMANCE. We took some pics this morning and then we had the rest of the day off so me and Seb Garhammer went for some sightseeing. We went up in the Eiffel Tower and had a look at the Louvre. We also walked around in some nice parks and this was the first time this year i saw green trees and heard the birds sing so it was nice. Not so warm here, about 15 degrees, but I definitely got some taste of summer now. Just three more weeks of skiing and then I will take a long brake. I think I 've been skiing a total of 132 days (give or take) out of 180 so far this season from okt through april. More news coming soon, //Henrik

We have had really good days up here in AK. Good weather and perfect snow, untill yesterday. It's been a lot of wind lately and it hammered the faces we would have liked to ski. We found a small zone that we could work and I finally got one or two tricks in. Today we couldn't find anything with good snow so we ended up doing straight lines. After Daron did a super sick one that was totally windpacked, 1000 feet vertical drop and about 50 degrees steep we wanted to do a speed line together. We found a good place to do it, 2000 feet high, between 40-50 degrees and smooth. We went up and we had to wait 30 min before everything was ready to go. I went of and Daron followed me and about midway down he passed and I followed him. When we had maximum speed we had to cross a old sluff track in the middle of the run. There was cold snow in that part of the run and I was just behind Daron. I couldn't see much and I had to focus on both him and my own line. When I saw him jump over the old slide track I new I had to do the same but I was lower doen the slope then he was which made mine outrun a little more tricky. After I did the jump I had to face a 50 meeter long mogul section and that just didn't work out when doing 120 km/h. I got punched in the backseat, high sided and started to tomahawk. Everyhting was firm and it was like a never ending crash. They think I did around 12 full rotations, loosing skis, poles and goggles. The g-force spinning around almost ripped my jacked of too. When I stoped I took a couple of secons to get my head together and try to feel if I was injured. My back and left arm was hurting but not so bad so I said on the radio that I was fine. I found one of my skis, it's a Rossignol race ski but it was broken in two places and the rear binding was ripped off. I didn't found the other ski but we found to rear bindings which means I ripped both bindings of. I have never ever broken a pair of Rossignol skis before, because they are so good but then again I have never crashed in that speed before either. It was by far the fastest crash I have ever done and the most tomahawks too. I'm happy I didn't hurt myself more. Tomorrow will be a downday for sure though, I don't think by back and neck are readdy to huck that soon.. //HEnrik

Well, at least a couple of hours. yesterday we got out in to the field at around 4pm. That was the first day we came out after sitting around for five days with bad weather. We didn't know what to expect with the snow, it had been pretty warm and some wind as well. We found a smaller zone to start of with. It was problebly the steepest and deepest snow I skied this season. Little sketchy but quite fun. Sluffed like crazy, which meens that the top layer, which is so light, slides down and forms a small avalanche. It's something that is verry common here in AK and it is something you have to think of when you plan your line. Today we skied only two lines in the morning. The snow wasn't so good and it was hard to ski. Around noon it was so cloudy that we desided to go home. Hopefully the weather will stay good for a few more days so we can start to ski harder and faster. It's really hard to sit around for a few days and then go up and deliver good riding right away. See you, Henrik

We haven't been doing much during this time. Some long drives in to town for some sightseein, watching movies and I've actually been trying to do some training too, going to a gym and running. Fred has been playing around with his new toy too - the new RED camera! Pretty sick one.. This place is supose to be the Bald Eagle Capital with more than 4000 bald eagles during high season. Now it's a lot less but still you see them when you drive up and down the road. Today we got not more then 20 meters from one and the size of it is amazing. Specially when it took of from the tree it was sitting in. Check out the photos... They call for sun tomorrow, so we're hoping we can get out there.. //Henrik

This is our third day in Haines, Alaska and it’s also the third day with sun! Right now we are waiting to go up for an afternoon session. We had a killer morning, all of us got two or three lines each. Big spine lines with a lot of sluff. The third line we skied was about 4300 feet vertical. But I guess they will cut out the bottom half, it’s hard to keep the momentum up for that long. Overall I’m super happy I finaly made it up here to Alaska. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for such a long time but never had the right timing for it. When I was younger and more into freestyle skiing I got offered to come up here for free a couple of times but never took the opportunity. Now when I really want to go here it’s so hard to get everything together with budget, crew etc. Finaly here though, it couldn’t been better. Good crew with a lot of experience in this terrain. The riders are me, Chris Davenport and Daron Rahlves. Filmers – Fred Arne Wergeland, Dan Campbell and Dustin Lindgren. Still photographer is coming in tomorrow, Hank de Vre. More news coming up soon, Henrik

Not so good weather in the morning so we filled in all the paper works and did the beacon test which is mandatory to fly here in Haines. I think I was pretty fast, 2.15 min something to digg up another beacon. The whole crew was ready to go and we got out there. We looked around for a while to get the feeling of what was out there. The terrain just looked amazing, lines everywhereWe did a long warm up run and the filmed two three lines each before we had to go look for a possible heli crash. And that was exactly what we found! We came over this ridge and saw a heli laying down on the glacier in two pieces. People was moving around and we soon heard that it was only the pilot inside the heli during the crash. Apperently he didn’t see the snow due to flat light and when he turned around his tail rotor hit the snow and he crashed. Not so hard, the pilot just had some small back pain but the heli was a totally wreck, broken in to two-three pieces and looked like hell. The whole situation felt really sureal, heli crashes is something you only see on TV. Luckely this time, nobody got hurt.

So, a not so happy ending after all. Since the first comp day 2009 in Sochi, when my skis came off, I've been trying to catch up in the FWT ranking. From 25th to 6th to 3rd to 4th to finaly after a crash in Verbier ending up 5th in the total ranking. Being a stubborn competitor I can't say I'm satisfied with that. Even if the run we did on Bec de Rosses, in Verbier is some 700 vertical meters, super steep and exposed it all came down to one landing for me. I jumped a 15 meter high cliff in the middle of the face but landed in someones tracks and couldn't take the impact good enough. I had a bad fall but luckely I came up on my feet just before the next cliff. It is small margins in this sport which there is really no room for but I'm super happy that I didn't get any injuries. Henrik

They call for a lot of wind tomorrow so the race is posponed untill sunday. They have a max of wind to fly with the rescue helicopter so it's a no go but the wind should drop on sunday. Safety first! Anyways, it's good to have a day off tomorrow, I need to take my focus away from the mountain for a day before my head goes crazy... //HW

This mountain is huge! And frightening too. I've scoped out a line on the skiers right side which I think fits my riding style - fast and not too tricky. It's not the best snow year on this mountain but we will find a way down thru the rocks. Tomorrow we might be able to go up on the sides of the face to get a better view so that feels a little better. It's supose to be a lot of wind in the next days so chanses are big that we will compete on sunday instead of saturday. Stay tuned Henrik

On my way up to scope a line, hopefully a good one, on the scary "Bec de Rosses". I have never ridden this face before and I'm pretty nervous. More info about the conditions later. //Henrik

My second run in Russian Adventure was far more satisfactory than the first. Coming out on top I still ended up 14 in the total ranking, though. However, seeing Sverre Liliequist standing on top of the podium after both days was comforting. Congratulations! The rumor says there's extremely good snow conditions in the Alps. Will probably have to change my plans a bit. Practice makes perfect - next FWT stop is in Squaw Valley on Feb 27-Mar 5.

The weather conditions made the snow a bit unsafe today and the second round has been postponed until tomorrow, Saturday. Keep an eye on www.freerideworldtour.com for updates.

Aurelien Ducroz pulled off a great run and leads the Russian Adventure after day one. I'm a bit behind in the results list -after falling in my run! If the weather stays good I have a chance to improve my position tomorrow in the second round.