Weathered from a weekend of racing, riding and partying at Mikkel Bang’s Bang Slalom, Ben Ferguson and I drive south from Hemsedal, Norway. In the back seat is Isak, a lofty character with an icy pair of metallic fronts covering his teeth. Isak’s heading back to his job in Oslo working with troubled inner-city youth. 

Isak and Mikkel have been friends their whole lives. At 16 years old, Mikkel told an interviewer he’d rather ride with Isak than anyone else. By that time Mikkel was already a globetrotting member of snowboarding’s elite. He was winning contests, doing photoshoots, taking endless international flights and running wild with a youthful crew from Tokyo to Zurich, Wanaka to Government Camp. It would have been easy to get caught up in podiums, video parts and contracts—Mikkel won the US Open Slopestyle in 2010 and podiumed at X Games and Air & Style, among other competitive achievements—yet he’s remained humble and passionate about strapping in as much as humanly possible…

Subscribe for access to this article plus the entire archive of The Snowboarder’s Journal content—and receive 10% off of The Snowboarder’s Journal products.

ABOVE Mikkel at home in Hemsedal, Norway. May, 2018. Photo: Aaron Blatt