Snow Big Deal

Two days before his 18th birthday, Dusty Henricksen provided himself with an additional reason for celebration. On Jan. 31 he won the men’s snowboard slopestyle final at the X Games, becoming the first U.S. Rider to win the event since Shaun White in 2009. “I was super shocked,” says Henricksen, whose performance reinforces his status as a medal threat at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. “It was weird because the contest went so fast, and no one really got to watch each other’s runs until afterward. And so when I was handed the medal I was just so surprised. It was crazy.”

Author:
Ben Pickman

EASY RIDER
The Mammoth Lakes, Calif., native has been snowboarding since he was two. (His father, Marko, was a snowboard supervisor at Mammoth Mountain.) Henricksen is one of the sport’s budding stars, but he hasn’t always focused on the competitive aspect: “At the beginning, I was just always having a blast, messing around with all my friends on the mountain. It’s such a fun thing to do with your homies, instead of just sitting inside.” — EASY RIDER: The Mammoth Lakes, Calif., native has been snowboarding since he was two. (His father, Marko, was a snowboard supervisor at Mammoth Mountain.) Henricksen is one of the sport’s budding stars, but he hasn’t always focused on the competitive aspect: “At the beginning, I was just always having a blast, messing around with all my friends on the mountain. It’s such a fun thing to do with your homies, instead of just sitting inside.”
Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated

PURE BLISS
Henricksen spends a lot of time on the mountain, so it’s a good thing he’s comfortable in those environs. “It’s just nice up there,” he says. “It just feels like heaven.” — PURE BLISS: Henricksen spends a lot of time on the mountain, so it’s a good thing he’s comfortable in those environs. “It’s just nice up there,” he says. “It just feels like heaven.”
Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated

ULTIMATE HIGH
For Henricksen, nothing compares to “when you’re riding away at the bottom of your run, just having the feeling of accomplishment that you did something exactly how you wanted. It’s just a cool, perfect feeling when it all works out.” — ULTIMATE HIGH: For Henricksen, nothing compares to “when you’re riding away at the bottom of your run, just having the feeling of accomplishment that you did something exactly how you wanted. It’s just a cool, perfect feeling when it all works out.”
Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated

GOLDEN DREAMS
“I would definitely love to make it to the Olympics,” says Henricksen, the silver medalist in slopestyle at the 2020 U.S. Open. “That’s goal No. 1—just to try and make it there would be amazing. But who knows what’s going to happen? It’d be a super cool personal accomplishment to make it there.” — GOLDEN DREAMS: “I would definitely love to make it to the Olympics,” says Henricksen, the silver medalist in slopestyle at the 2020 U.S. Open. “That’s goal No. 1—just to try and make it there would be amazing. But who knows what’s going to happen? It’d be a super cool personal accomplishment to make it there.”
Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated

March 2021