Cold
Phetes by Aaren Sedway
snap
How did you start out with this
snowboarding ordeal?
Seven years ago, a bunch of
friends I skated with took me up
for my first time. It was freshman
year in high school. . If froze my ass
off riding in the back of a truck
the
whole way. I don't even
remember what mountain we
went to, but I do
I do remember hat-
ing it the first time. Then I just
kept going and going till it finally
ended
I up being
Who influences you the most?
My friends
iends mainly, but Don
Bostick especially.
fun.
How did you hook up with him?
I lived by him for about 5 years.
I met him while
while slapping curbs on
my skateboard up by this grocery
store. Then we started talking
and ended up knowing a bunch of
the same people. We hung out a
lot after that. I used to go over to
his house and skate his ramp.
Do you think skating feeds your
snowboarding?
Most definitely. Like, if there's a
trick I can't do on my skateboard,
I'll just go out and do it on my
snowboard. I'm definitely influ-
enced by skating 100%.
I heard you were a BMX champ.
I used to do tracks and dirt racing. I was at trials and
became the '88 World Champ and '88 National and
State Champ. I kind of stopped doing that, 'cause the orga-
nization started to focus on mountain bike races and quit
focusing on BMX, which was really disappointing. Everyone
I biked with sort of got bummed out about that and quit,
too. That's when I really started to skate.
What kind of snowboarding contests have you been in
this year?
Big air contests. And a whole lot of freeriding. I'm not
air
really into contests due to the whole judging process. I
have one word for contests: politics. Traveling's been great
this year, though. I went to Utah for a while, and it was
awesome. Good mountains, good pile, drinking a ton in Salt
Lake City. Then I went to the East Coast for 10 days on a
tour with Santa Cruz of all the shops in New England.
Canada has been great, too. I had a really good year.
Pretty much injury free. I hurt my stomach and wrist a bit,
but nothing major.
Who do you like to ride with?
The whole Santa Cruz team and pretty much anyone who
wants to have fun.
Are there any tricks you can't do that you'd like to?
Well...
ll... for the most part, I can't do a certain trick just
'cause I haven't really wanted to do it. I'm sure if I spent the
time learning it, I could handle it.
What's the weirdest thing that's ever happened to you
while snowboarding?
Nothing, really.
C'mon, something weird must have happened at least once.
Not really, I swear. But I've had some pretty fuckin'
scary moments.
Like?
Well, I jumped some cliffs and got buried at Donner. We
were filming, and I went too fast and too far and landed
upside down. My friends had to come and dig me out.
What do you look forward to this coming season aside
from avoiding catastrophes?
A lot more powder, and a lot more traveling. I'd like to go
to Alaska to go heliboarding, and
also see the world. And, definitely
avoid getting a serious injury or
caught in some disaster.
What do you think you'll be doing
20 years from now?
Let's see, I'll be 41 years old....
hopefully own a house and have a
job where I'll be able to travel and
be outside as often as possible,
something maybe in the snow-
I'd like to be a
boarding
industry. I'd to be a
team manager for a snowboarding,
skateboarding, or BMX company. I
hope I won't be stuck behind a
поре
desk too much. I'll probably stick
around Northern California. I have
a great network of friends and peo-
ple I grew up with here. I pretty
much
much live day by day, which paves
the road for the future anyway.
don't really like to plan too far.
ahead into the future, because I
don't want to bum myself out if
something doesn't work out.
Who do want to thank?
Brett Sigur and eve
at NHS,
everyone
Todd and the guys at
Counterculture, Rich Van Every,
Scott Sismith, Boards in Motion,
my family, friends, and the Bosticks.
-Michi
Shawn Sterken is currently a resident of
Truckee, CA, where he boards as often as
humanly possible. But lately he's been traveling all
over the US and Canada, which makes him a hard
guy to get a hold of. When he's not out riding, you
can find him skating ramps or BMXing his brains out.
I finally caught up with him at home right before he took
off for another Canadian boarding venture. He's accomplished
quite a bit in his 21 years and has lived to tell about it.
Shawn Sterken
So, you grew up around Auburn?
I grew up around Sacto and Auburn, kind of all over that area.
Why is it that so many pro snowboarders and skaters come from
that area? It's obvious about the snowboarders being so close to
Tahoe, but skaters?
It's in the water.
From far left:
Bionic crail blasters are but
one of this snow soldier's many.
secret weapons.
There
is no
lens wide enough to
capture the magnitude of this
towering torquer.
No bindings allowed at the Yuba
City skatepark.
This is a photo of Shawn
Sterken. Study it closely.