The Ståle Sandbech Interview

Signature Ståle style out in Saas Fee. Photo: Jeremy Thornburg

Ståle Sandbech is one of the most technically advanced riders to have ever stepped foot on a snowboard and consequently he surely must have one of the biggest trophy cabinets in snowboarding. Whilst many riders have a favourite type of terrain, Ståle is one of the few who has dominated in both Slopestyle, halfpipe and street which he cemented with the X-Games Real Snow bronze. Backcountry is next on the agenda and after watching the release of Rumble, it’s pretty obvious that Ståle has a lot of miles left on the clock. Here is the Ståle Sandbech interview.
Article by Tom Kingsnorth

Do you consider yourself to be naturally talented at snowboarding or is it something you have had to work hard for?
I would like to think I had a bit of both. I was pretty athletic naturally as a kid and could handle most sports, so I probably had some natural talent from that. But snowboarding was where I got 100% committed and put in all my energy to snowboard every damn day. So, for sure I put a lot of hours in, that you could call hard work I guess. But I loved it:) And still do!

You are a rider that can ride everything well, if you could only ride one type of terrain from now on what would you choose?
Ah shit, that’s too hard to answer. I like a mix of all types of riding, but you can't really beat a good powder day hey, Sooo...

Are you famous in Norway? Do you get news stories about you in the papers? If so, what is the best untrue story you have heard about yourself?
Haha, I don't know. Maybe a little famous, but just out of the danger zone from the gossip mags hehe. So can't really think of any untrue stories. They call me a snowboard veteran now a days though, which is pretty funny. Time flew by from being the youngest to the oldest on the national team.

You won silver in the Sochi Slopestyle, did that make a huge impact on your life and how did life change for you after that?
For sure it was a big accomplishment for me and added on to my career. But the biggest change was probably getting respect from grown-ups that thought I was just fucking around on a snowboard not doing anything with my life, to now being a "Respected" athlete haha. ( Not my parents, they were always supporting me and stoked. )

A few people said they thought you should have won gold, what are your thoughts on it and are you bitter you didn't get gold?
I was happy just landing a run and getting on the podium, so I was stoked and have been ever since. But for sure, it has crossed my mind a few times how things would be if I had got gold, especially when people bring it up.

ahhhhh! Photo: Oakley

There are a lot of really talented European riders but they only seem to get noticed when the American snowboard industry recognises them first. Do you think that is accurate? Do you think the European scene should be more of a voice in snowboarding?
Hard to say what it is, but there for sure is a bigger clique in the US. We just gotta build each other up and support snowboarding. We are Stronger together:)

A lot of riders only focus on the Olympics now where as you still ride most contests and you filmed for X-Games Real Snow, do you ever get burnt out on snowboarding?
I have been a few times, but that often comes from an injury and pain while still pushing. But for me it is the doing all aspects of snowboarding that keeps me from getting burnt out, there is always something fresh and new to keep it fun ;)

Talking about X-Games Real Snow, I think a few people were surprised to see you entering that, how did that opportunity come around, how did you find the process and would you do it again?
I Just felt that it was right that year, with covid making the whole season unpredictable about what was going to happen. Then I at least had something to focus on if everything got cancelled and with having Spenny around and after doing normal comps for so long, I thought it was a good time to try out something else. To be honest, the process was a rollercoaster and a tough one. It was such a bad snow year and with covid it was hard to travel to the snow. So, we got into it really late and had to make the best out of what we had and we were able to finish it the very last day we were supposed to drive to The Laax Open and I had to get back to normal comps. So, I landed my ender, went straight to the parking lot and then straight to Laax. For sure I would like to get redemption on that 3rd place and try get to first. It was so hectic though with snow conditions being sketchy this preseason, we took so much risk and it was desperate at times to finish this video. I think that I wouldn’t do another one unless it was more of a powder thing later in the season when the snowpack is good.

You have achieved a lot and still are under 30 years old, how long do you think you would like to compete for and do you have plans for after competing? Would you like to film or would you quit entirely?
I think there is a big chance of this season being my last contest season and graduating into more powder filming after the Olympics hehe. But that will just open more doors and time to go explore more sides of snowboarding. For sure I would like to compete if a natural selection spot ever opened up. But my focus will be to get creative and try make some proper video parts that I have always looked up to.

You spent a lot of your summer doing repairs and decorating your apartment, did you enjoy that process and could you see yourself doing more of that when you aren't riding?
For sure, I thought it was pretty fun. Using my creativity and hands to create something new and fresh. Painting the roof kind of sucked though haha.

What did you think of Natural Selection, how do you think you would have done if you had made it in and is that a focus for you for next year?
I thought it was super sick, I was actually in Jackson seeing it live so that was rad! And I’m not going to lie at the time I was scoping out lines and thinking of runs I would like to do down that course. Maybe one day :)

You can follow Ståle on his instagram here