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"\"&lt;p&gt;By Tom Hovde &lt;P&gt;Arild is kind of a macho guy, but he&amp;#8217;s still in touch with his &amp;#8220;feminine&amp;#8221; side. His passion is motocross, but when he snowboards, he always goes big with amazing style. Few can do Cab 720s like he can! He travels the whole world snowboarding, but nothing makes him as happy as riding his home mountain with his friends. In seventh grade he was voted the best-looking guy in school. He didn&amp;#8217;t bother to tell us at home, though, and he still doesn&amp;#8217;t tell us when he wins snowboard contests-a big frustration for our proud parents.&lt;P&gt;Arild is the kind of guy who buys crap from bums on the street because he feels sorry for them, and gets sad when someone terrorizes a cat. Sometimes I wake up to my brother serving me hot cheese sandwiches and chocolate milk in bed. The girls on the Norwegian snowboard team actually prefer Arild cutting and dyeing their hair instead of me. He loves dressing up-wigs and costumes to go to parties, et cetera-to make his friends or just himself laugh. Arild has always been an inspiration to me and has taught me a lot. It&amp;#8217;s great to have a brother like Arild!-Stine Brun Kjeldaas&lt;P&gt;Tell me about yourself. &lt;BR&gt;My full name is Arild Brun Kjeldaas, but I think it&amp;#8217;s better with just Arild Brun; no one can say my last name right, not even Norwegians. If you say my first name in English, it should sound a little like &amp;#8220;Arriel&amp;#8221; or something-not Harold! I was born and raised in Kongsberg, Norway, a small town one hour west of Oslo, on the second of June, 1977.&lt;P&gt;How did you start riding and get to where you are now? &lt;BR&gt;My hometown has a small, pretty cool ski resort, so I&amp;#8217;ve always skied. My cousin had a snowboard and I wanted to try someting new. And whoops, I was pro! Laughs After many years of hard work and stupid  contests.&lt;P&gt;Did you watch a lot of snowboard movies when you started riding, and did you learn anything from them? &lt;BR&gt;I watched them so many times, I remembered all the tricks in the back of my head. Road Kill was so damn good.&lt;P&gt;You finished elementary school, but after that you didn&amp;#8217;t have a big school career. How come you didn&amp;#8217;t continue like everybody else? &lt;BR&gt;I did continue, I had two days of EDB-computer management laughs. I really hated school more than anything. I had other things to do. My plan was to take one year off. That year I rode so much and I got pretty good. That was when Barry Q, a Norwegian snowboard store, called me and wanted to sponsor me. Since then I&amp;#8217;ve been too busy traveling around the world. I feel I&amp;#8217;ve learned way more traveling these years than I would&amp;#8217;ve learned at school, though. I&amp;#8217;d rather go to school when I&amp;#8217;m ready and give it 100 percent.&lt;P&gt;Have you had any big setbacks you&amp;#8217;d like to tell us about? &lt;BR&gt;I don&amp;#8217;t think I&amp;#8217;ve had any big setbacks. I lost my sponsor two years ago &amp;#8217;cause I didn&amp;#8217;t have the best results, but I tried to stay positive. I was without sponsors for a year, just freelancing and getting money for trips and photo shoots from different companies. I signed up with Ride the next year. I was really stoked getting on a strong American company.       I remember when Barry Q called to tell me they wanted to sponsor me with a free board. At the time I was riding with homemade clothes and mountain sneakers.  &lt;P&gt;What&amp;#8217;s it like to travel around with your sister Stine Brun Kjeldaas Olympic silver medalist in the halfpipe? &lt;BR&gt;When we were first riding in the World Cup, we had the same sponsor. We were together all the time. It was nice because we never fight-I don&amp;#8217;t know why. These days I just see her at the biggest contests. I don&amp;#8217;t compete much anymore, though. She&amp;#8217;s winning everything, and I&amp;#8217;m struggling to get to the finals.&lt;P&gt;How about friends, have they helped you in any way with your snowboarding? &lt;BR&gt;Hell yeah. We had this gang in my hometown called the KHSS, Kongsberg Hardcore S_rpe-S_rfersj Slush-Surfers. We were the shit, riding every day, day and night. Pushing each other all the time, we were kind of like The Daggers in Trashin&amp;#8217;, thaold skate movie. That was a good time. Those guys still ride, but it&amp;#8217;s not the same any more. KHSS forever!&lt;P&gt;When you&amp;#8217;re out traveling, do you long to get back home? &lt;BR&gt;It&amp;#8217;s always good to get back home. Sometimes I&amp;#8217;d like to stay longer, and other times I want to lay down and die. I was in the U.S. for one-and-a-half months once, and when I got back home I checked my receipts. I had 60 dollars in hotel bills-that&amp;#8217;s one night in a hotel. I thought back and figured out I&amp;#8217;d slept on 28 different couches and in nine different beds! That&amp;#8217;s when it&amp;#8217;s really good to get back home to my own bed and my mother&amp;#8217;s food.&lt;P&gt;Do you have any favorite place to ride? &lt;BR&gt; If it snows a lot, which it never does when I&amp;#8217;m around, Europe is the best. Pat Abramson took me to Mt. Baker last season. That place was sick: three feet of fresh, three days in a row. And I really like good park riding. I believe that&amp;#8217;s how you become a good rider, just ride fast and hard. Kongsberg, my home mountain, is where I learn new stuff. There&amp;#8217;s never any photographers or media around, so I can just ride and chill with my friends.&lt;P&gt;Are you into handrails and jibbing? &lt;BR&gt;Jibbing is super fun, but if it snows four feet one night, I&amp;#8217;d rather go to the mountains than to the city to find rails. Americans are way better on rails than Euros. In the U.S., all ski resorts have some kind of rail. I&amp;#8217;ve never seen a rail at a European ski resort. But when it comes to big-ass mountain riding, I think Euros have the advantage.&lt;P&gt;What about snowboard tricks: anything you like or dislike? &lt;BR&gt;Big and clean is da bomb. I&amp;#8217;d rather see a big backside 180 than a semi-big corked 900. A lot of beginners start flipping and spinning right after they&amp;#8217;ve learned to turn. I&amp;#8217;ve seen riders who can do backside rodeo 720s and all kinds of flips, but they have no chance to do a smooth frontside 360. You should learn to walk before you run. A good rider is someone who masters the three Ps: powder, park, and pipe.&lt;P&gt;Do you have any idols? &lt;BR&gt;When I started riding I had a lot of idols: Craig Kelly, Jeff Brushie, Jason Ford, Terje Haakonsen, Noah Salasnek, and some others. There are a lot of sick riders out there. I try to stick to my own thing. If you always try to copy other riders, you&amp;#8217;ll never have your own riding style. And who will care if you look just like everybody else?&lt;P&gt;Snowboarding is similar to skateboarding, but do you think it&amp;#8217;s easier to become a pro in snowboarding than skating? &lt;BR&gt;Everyone knows that. I have a lot of respect for skaters.&lt;P&gt;Do you ever look at snowboarding as work? &lt;BR&gt;Sometimes I do. Like when my sponsor wants me to go to a place I know is shitty, but I have to go for some reason. And when I&amp;#8217;m at a photo shoot and don&amp;#8217;t feel like riding at all-like when we need shoots for an ad and we&amp;#8217;re shooting this sketchy, icy kicker with a flat-ass landing. I&amp;#8217;m wet, cold, and tired, but have to do a sick trick. But 99 percent of the time I ride, it&amp;#8217;s just pure pleasure!&lt;P&gt;Do you think you&amp;#8217;ll work in the snowboard industry when you stop riding? &lt;BR&gt;I have no plans yet. Time will tell!&lt;P&gt;What do you think about all the ski companies who have started making snowboards? &lt;BR&gt;I think ski companies have a lot of technology that could be good for snowboarding. Some small snowboard companies make boards that are really bad. I wouldn&amp;#8217;t ride for them if I got one-million dollars. Okay, maybe a million, but nothing less &amp;#8230; Okay, maybe a little bit less.&lt;P&gt;When you started snowboarding, you were using a too-long and heavy board, homemade clothes, and mountain sneakers. What do you think when you see kids today with all-new super-light boards, boots with air soles, and high-tech clothes? Do you think they&amp;#8217;re spoiled? &lt;BR&gt;Some of them, yes. I don&amp;#8217;t care, though. If they need to have the coolest stuff to go riding, let them buy it. &lt;P&gt;I&amp;#8217;ve heard something about &amp;#8220;Team Brutallica.&amp;#8221; What&amp;#8217;s that? &lt;BR&gt;Sorry, that&amp;#8217;s classified information. All I can say is it&amp;#8217;s for world domination, and don&amp;#8217;t trust Christian Thoresen when he&amp;#8217;s drinking.&lt;P&gt;You and Christian often dress up in full heavy-metal rocker outfits with long black hair, spikes, old metal-band patches, and the whole deal-it&amp;#8217;s just a joke, right? &lt;BR&gt;No, it&amp;#8217;s actually how we are.&lt;P&gt;You have a lot of hobbies. Can you tell me about some of them? &lt;BR&gt;I like to do things when I&amp;#8217;m at home that are totally different than snowboarding. I have a lot of small hobbies like golf, squash, paintball-there&amp;#8217;s nothing like shooting your best friends, black and white photography, work on my Web site home.online.no\\/~vkjel\\/, skydiving, surfing, and motocross. I think motocross is very similar to snowboarding and has helped my riding, but MX is way more hardcore. You know when you&amp;#8217;re going to hit a big gap or a tabletop for the first time and it&amp;#8217;s kind of sketchy? Before I was doing MX, I was so scared, but now I don&amp;#8217;t care, I just go for it-more than before, anyway.&lt;P&gt;I hear you love animals. &lt;BR&gt;I&amp;#8217;ve had pets almost my whole life. Animals have the same rights to live on this planet as humans. We&amp;#8217;re the plague to this planet. I don&amp;#8217;t have any problem eating meat, though. If animals were ruling the earth, I&amp;#8217;m sure humans would be on the menu: I&amp;#8217;ll have six human nuggets, one well-done tit, and a fried baby butt to go laughs.My cat died not too long ago. She was thirteen years old and I loved her. R.I.P. Malla. P.S. If you have a cat and want some more pets, don&amp;#8217;t get mice.&lt;P&gt;Your sister says you&amp;#8217;re a really impatient person and hate to wait. &lt;BR&gt;Yeah, I can&amp;#8217;t sit around doing nothing-it drives me crazy. And liftlines &amp;#8230; ahhhh, I can&amp;#8217;t stand them. I normally try to snake. Some people get so pissed off, normally men aged 35 to 55 and women aged 40 to 50, so I try to stay away from people who fit that category-snaker-haters laughs.&lt;P&gt;She also thinks you&amp;#8217;re spoiled and super chill: what do you think about that? &lt;BR&gt;Phssss. I take everything pretty easy. My mother and father have always let me make my own decisions and always supported me no matter what those decisions were. I think I&amp;#8217;ve learned to be more independent that way.&lt;P&gt;Last words? &lt;BR&gt;I&amp;#8217;d really like to thank Ride for putting me on the team, and Brushie and Shanti for helping me get there. My mother and father for pretty much everything. Stine for being the best sister. Tone for just being the best. Thanks to all my friends back in Kongsberg, The KHSS, Mr. Knowles for getting me started, and Greta for where I am today. Thank you, Jesus, Buddah, Allah, and all the guys at Vallhalla for making the Earth with mountains, snow, and gravity. And last but not least, thanks to TransWorld for putting me in their magazine so I can become a rock star and earn lots of money. Peace.&lt;P&gt;Pull Quotes&lt;BR&gt;A good rider is someone who masters the three Ps: powder, park, and pipe.&lt;P&gt;Stats&lt;BR&gt;Name: Arild Brun Kjeldaas&lt;BR&gt;Born: June 2, 1977&lt;BR&gt;From: Kongsberg, Norway&lt;BR&gt;Years riding: Ten&lt;BR&gt;Local mountain: Kongsberg&lt;BR&gt;Likes: Good food, good drink, beaches, tons of snow, nice people&lt;BR&gt;Hates: Snowless winters, stupid people, waiting, and some rules that should not be&lt;BR&gt;Stance: Pow 52 cm, park 54 cm&lt;BR&gt;Sponsors: Ride, Northwave, some local sponsors&lt;BR&gt;Worst injury: Broken arm with metal plate and seven screws&lt;BR&gt;Hobbies: Motocross, golf, paintball, squash, surfing, snowboarding, computer&lt;BR&gt; Days riding in a year: I have no idea. &lt;BR&gt;Movie parts: Some small movies, and a small part in Standard&amp;#8217;s new movie&lt;BR&gt;  First snowboard: Burton Free Six&lt;BR&gt;Favorite trick: Backside 180&lt;BR&gt;Food: Indian&lt;BR&gt;Actor: The guy in Gladiator, I&amp;#8217;m really bad with names. &lt;BR&gt;Movie: Alien 1 and 2, Fl\\u00dcklypa Grand Prix (Norwegian Movie), Predator&lt;BR&gt; Music: Metallica, Satyricon, The Cure&lt;BR&gt; Snowboarders: Damian Sanders, Craig Kelly&lt;BR&gt;Skateboarders: Rune Glifberg&lt;BR&gt;don&amp;#8217;t trust Christian Thoresen when he&amp;#8217;s drinking.&lt;P&gt;You and Christian often dress up in full heavy-metal rocker outfits with long black hair, spikes, old metal-band patches, and the whole deal-it&amp;#8217;s just a joke, right? &lt;BR&gt;No, it&amp;#8217;s actually how we are.&lt;P&gt;You have a lot of hobbies. Can you tell me about some of them? &lt;BR&gt;I like to do things when I&amp;#8217;m at home that are totally different than snowboarding. I have a lot of small hobbies like golf, squash, paintball-there&amp;#8217;s nothing like shooting your best friends, black and white photography, work on my Web site home.online.no\\/~vkjel\\/, skydiving, surfing, and motocross. I think motocross is very similar to snowboarding and has helped my riding, but MX is way more hardcore. You know when you&amp;#8217;re going to hit a big gap or a tabletop for the first time and it&amp;#8217;s kind of sketchy? Before I was doing MX, I was so scared, but now I don&amp;#8217;t care, I just go for it-more than before, anyway.&lt;P&gt;I hear you love animals. &lt;BR&gt;I&amp;#8217;ve had pets almost my whole life. Animals have the same rights to live on this planet as humans. We&amp;#8217;re the plague to this planet. I don&amp;#8217;t have any problem eating meat, though. If animals were ruling the earth, I&amp;#8217;m sure humans would be on the menu: I&amp;#8217;ll have six human nuggets, one well-done tit, and a fried baby butt to go laughs.My cat died not too long ago. She was thirteen years old and I loved her. R.I.P. Malla. P.S. If you have a cat and want some more pets, don&amp;#8217;t get mice.&lt;P&gt;Your sister says you&amp;#8217;re a really impatient person and hate to wait. &lt;BR&gt;Yeah, I can&amp;#8217;t sit around doing nothing-it drives me crazy. And liftlines &amp;#8230; ahhhh, I can&amp;#8217;t stand them. I normally try to snake. Some people get so pissed off, normally men aged 35 to 55 and women aged 40 to 50, so I try to stay away from people who fit that category-snaker-haters laughs.&lt;P&gt;She also thinks you&amp;#8217;re spoiled and super chill: what do you think about that? &lt;BR&gt;Phssss. I take everything pretty easy. My mother and father have always let me make my own decisions and always supported me no matter what those decisions were. I think I&amp;#8217;ve learned to be more independent that way.&lt;P&gt;Last words? &lt;BR&gt;I&amp;#8217;d really like to thank Ride for putting me on the team, and Brushie and Shanti for helping me get there. My mother and father for pretty much everything. Stine for being the best sister. Tone for just being the best. Thanks to all my friends back in Kongsberg, The KHSS, Mr. Knowles for getting me started, and Greta for where I am today. Thank you, Jesus, Buddah, Allah, and all the guys at Vallhalla for making the Earth with mountains, snow, and gravity. And last but not least, thanks to TransWorld for putting me in their magazine so I can become a rock star and earn lots of money. Peace.&lt;P&gt;Pull Quotes&lt;BR&gt;A good rider is someone who masters the three Ps: powder, park, and pipe.&lt;P&gt;Stats&lt;BR&gt;Name: Arild Brun Kjeldaas&lt;BR&gt;Born: June 2, 1977&lt;BR&gt;From: Kongsberg, Norway&lt;BR&gt;Years riding: Ten&lt;BR&gt;Local mountain: Kongsberg&lt;BR&gt;Likes: Good food, good drink, beaches, tons of snow, nice people&lt;BR&gt;Hates: Snowless winters, stupid people, waiting, and some rules that should not be&lt;BR&gt;Stance: Pow 52 cm, park 54 cm&lt;BR&gt;Sponsors: Ride, Northwave, some local sponsors&lt;BR&gt;Worst injury: Broken arm with metal plate and seven screws&lt;BR&gt;Hobbies: Motocross, golf, paintball, squash, surfing, snowboarding, computer&lt;BR&gt; Days riding in a year: I have no idea. &lt;BR&gt;Movie parts: Some small movies, and a small part in Standard&amp;#8217;s new movie&lt;BR&gt;  First snowboard: Burton Free Six&lt;BR&gt;Favorite trick: Backside 180&lt;BR&gt;Food: Indian&lt;BR&gt;Actor: The guy in Gladiator, I&amp;#8217;m really bad with names. &lt;BR&gt;Movie: Alien 1 and 2, Fl\\u00dcklypa Grand Prix (Norwegian Movie), Predator&lt;BR&gt; Music: Metallica, Satyricon, The Cure&lt;BR&gt; Snowboarders: Damian Sanders, Craig Kelly&lt;BR&gt;Skateboarders: Rune Glifberg&lt;BR&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://snowboarding.transworld.net/photos/features-146-arild-brun-kjeldaas/>