Local Teen Chases His Olympic Dream
Words by Don Toshach
Photo by Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated
Three summers ago, Dusty Henricksen worked at San Clemente’s own So Cal Surf Shop, earning some extra money while staying with his grandparents, Jimmy and Wendy Smith, who live in the city. Today at age 18, he is one of the most heralded young snowboarder in the world, having just placed second in the slopestyle event amongst 32 top pro snowboarders gathered for the 2020 Burton U.S. Open in Vail, Colorado.
In 2018 Henricksen, now residing with his family in Mammoth Lakes, was named to the U.S. Rookie Olympic Snowboarding Team, training at the Olympic facility in Park City, Utah. His grandparents, Rick and Julie who own Romans Construction in Big Bear, saw early in Dusty’s career, his potential to go far in snowboarding and helped to support Dusty’s dream. Henricksen also worked summers and made (along with his Grandma Wendy) duct tape wallets to raise money for his travels.
Henricksen has competed in many different snowboarding disciplines, but he prefers to compete in slopestyle, which is a downhill course combining varying terrains, rails, and jumps from which riders can perform spins and other mid-air tricks.
During the previous Winter 2020, Henricksen continued his winning streak on the world stage. In his first major event in January, he qualified 1st and placed 9th in slopestyle at the World Cup snowboarding event in Laax, Switzerland. Then, he followed it up a few days later by winning the slopestyle gold medal in the Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland. Upon returning to his home slope on Mammoth Mountain, Henricksen won his first World Cup event at the 2020 Land Rover Grand Prix.
While his father Marko stayed behind to work in Mammoth, Henricksen’s mother Jenny and brother Dillon (an up-and-coming snowboarder as well) accompanied Dusty to Vail for the 2020 Burton U.S. Open. A rookie amongst more seasoned Olympic pros, Henricksen was not the least intimidated, putting together a super-clean run and pulling off an “NBD” (Never Before Done) trick at a slopestyle event for his finale — a backside quad cork 1800 (which is four flips and five spins). He landed it without a hitch, and at the bottom of the hill, he was mobbed by his fellow competitors congratulating him as he moved from 4th place to the second spot. One announcer said he “shocked the world,” at the Burton U.S. Open. Henricksen also received the Burton Riders Choice Award and named the U.S. Open Rookie of the Year for 2020. Oh yeah, he also tied a bow around a spectacular season with a first-place finish at the Rev Tour slopestyle event in Park City, Utah in late February 2020.
Now in 2021, Dusty has racked up even more impressive accolades. If you watched the Winter X Games in Aspen in late January on ABC, you saw him score two gold medals in knucklehuck and slopestyle. He became the first American in 12 years to win a gold medal in slopestyle (the previous American gold medalist was the legendary Shaun White). Then Dusty was one of six top riders selected to create their own unique snowboarding video in the 2021 X Games Real Snow Video Competition. His video featured what is known as “street” as he performed tricks using his snowboard on rails, stairways and other common objects found on the street in any neighborhood. Henricksen garnered a 5th place in the World Championships in Aspen, then grabbed 7th against the best in the world in the 2021 World Cup Grand Prix. At the final World Cup of the season in Switzerland, he got another strong fifth place finish in slopestyle, setting himself up as the Number 2 ranked slopestyle competitor for a spot on the U.S. Team for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China.
Henricksen said recently, “My goal at the start this year was just to survive the crazy season and land on my feet.” Mission more than accomplished! With the help of his sponsors Monster Energy Drink, Salomon Snowboards, Oakley, and U.S. Snowboarding Team, Henricksen exploded onto the world snowboarding scene.
Dusty was born and raised in Big Bear, CA (where his grandparents Rick and Julie Romans live). His dad Marko was a snowboarding pioneer and one of the first snowboarding instructors in Southern California. Consequently, his parents taught Dusty to snowboard before he could even walk. By the age of three years, Dusty learned to ride at the local Bear Mountain Resorts and has been competing in USASA events since age five. He went on to win multiple national titles in freestyle and boarder cross. The family moved to Mammoth several years later to take advantage of more advanced training and opportunities with the Mammoth Snowboard Team. The sacrifices made have certainly paid off, and he is well-supported by his parents, both sets of grandparents and his extended family.
If you’re ever at Mammoth Mountain, look for Dusty living his dream shredding at the Unbound Terrain Park on his snowboard or skateboarding Brothers Skatepark with his buddies. And don’t be surprised if you see him at the San Clemente skatepark or surfing T-Street at sunset. If you’re interested in seeing any of his medal-winning snowboarding runs, you can search for Dusty Henricksen on YouTube or follow him @dustyhenricksen on Instagram.
