Heir Apparent: Oakley’s Norwegian Junior Phenom Stale Sandbech Grabs Slopestyle World Championship In New Zealand
They’re calling him Norwegian snowboarding royalty…an heir if you will.
Oakley’s Stale Sandbech, an emerging phenom in the sport, is beginning his rise to fame. The youngster, named by many of Norway’s top snowboarders as the “next big thing,” claimed the Junior World Championship in Slopestyle this last weekend at the FIS Snowboard World Cup in Snow Park, New Zealand.
His level of riding astonished judges at the event, pointing toward a bright future in the sport.
“It’s fantastic to see great conditions for the athletes although the wind is a bit challenging,” said Dean Gosper, an FIS Council member. "But it’s a spectacular setting and the event gives athletes an opportunity to perform at their best, helped by an amazing attention to detail by the organizers. Clearly the riding is at an elite level as it should be in a world championship.”
An early morning blizzard cleared to provide perfect conditions at Snow Park NZ for this historic event. The course consisted of a down rail to 25ft flat box or rail followed by three kickers ranging in size from 15ft to 70 ft, ending in a multi-feature of an up box with gap off, snow rainbow and tank bonk.
New Zealand’s Ben Comber of Christchurch scored the highest qualifying run of the day which included a gravity defying switch backside 9 off the 70ft kicker setting him in good stead as the only Kiwi going into the men’s finals. He continued his lead into the first run of the finals but by the second run everything changed.
Sandbech was saving his best ‘til last and took out the world championship with a decisive second run which started with a front board on followed by a frontside 5 into a cab 9, a back 10 finishing with a 270 out on the last box. A dazzling display that definitely highlighted his potential to help take the sport to new levels.
A huge congratz to Stale for continuing to represent on a global level!
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