Norwegian snowboarder Fridtjof Tischendorf wore a heavy backpack during his semifinal slopestyle runs at the 2018 Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships on Wednesday, March 7. Tischendorf qualified for the Friday, March 9 final in sixth position and refused to reveal the contents of the pack.
VAIL — Norwegian snowboarder Fridtjof “Fridge Street” Tischendorf is a mysterious individual, and not just because he has somehow found a way to rewind a 360 back to 180 in midair.
On Wednesday, March 7, Tischendorf made finals in the Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships while wearing a heavy pack on his back.
“Stop trying to deflect the question,” Jackson responded.
There’s not a lot of riders who would want their weight altered while flying off a 65-foot jump.
Tischendorf, however, said he always rides with the pack. Tischendorf allowed Jackson to hold the pack, and Jackson confirmed it was indeed loaded up with something.
The 2018 Burton U.S. Open slopestyle finals, scheduled for Friday, March 9, are likely to be the most prestigious event the 20-year-old Tischendorf has ever appeared in.
Known as “Fridge Street” in the snowboarding world, many were introduced to Tischendorf by his Norwegian countryman, snowboarding legend Stale Sandbech, who also made finals on Wednesday.
Sandbech featured Fridge Street on Instagram, and on Wednesday, Sandbech confirmed that the young rider always wears a pack.
Sandbech said there’s only one situation where Tischendorf can be seen competing without a pack.
Sandbech said Fridge Street has been fun to watch progress over the last few years.
Tischendorf said among his most difficult tricks is a simple backside 180, where he first rotates all the way to 360 before stopping his momentum in midair and somehow rotating back in the other direction.
The trick, known as a rewind, is a relatively new development in the snowboarding world. It appears to defy the laws of physics, where an object in motion is supposed to stay in motion.
In Wednesday’s semifinals, second-place finisher Marcus Kleveland came close to landing a 720-degree spin with a rewind back to a 540. Kleveland washed out on the landing, but not before drawing some serious applause from Tischendorf.
Tischendorf said in recent years he’s enjoyed watching snowboarders Halldor Helgason and Vlad Khadarin perform backside 540s that rewind back to 360.
Catch Tischendorf in the slopestyle finals, scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday.