Kaj Zackrisson

Höj! I am Kaj founder and owner of Kask together with Sverre.

I am happy skier that is travelling the world looking for the best snow possible. Its a dream come thrue for me to live this life. When I was seven years old I decided to be a skier, since then most of my choices in life has been to fulfil this dream.

I grew up skiing and learned to ski in my wonderful hometown Rättvik which is located in the heart of Dalarna/Sweden.
I travelled all over Sweden with my family to ski on all small and big mountains. It was a lot of competitions but I did a lot of freeride. I was always finding the nice treeruns and jumps for daffys and back scratchers.

After years of doing competitions I started to get curios of skiing in some other ways. The spring of 98 me and Sverre went to Riksgränsen to try out the Scandinavian bigmountain comp. It was superfun, jump around on cliffs and make nice turns in the corn, we loved it.
It was what I've been doing all my life after and before the racing training, play around on my skis.
I was for sure hooked and since then I have been competing filming and shooting photos around the globe.

Check out our Swedish posse movies and enjoy the ride!

Update
Winter is full on I have just had two weeks in Californien skiing in squaw and mammoth. Now I am heading for ispo trade show for a couple of days then I'll go to russia for a freeridewolrdtour.com event. I will do all the 5 stops and see how my comp skills are :-)In febraury I am looking forward to film with MSP and Salomon.I wish you all a happy snowy winter.

My partners is and click on them to find them on the Web
Salomon
Swedish Posse
Swatch
Hemavan Tärnaby
hestragloves
SAAB


Inteview & FactsA : First, can you tell us some classical details about you : age, where you were born, where you live, years of skiing, and name of all your sponsors.Kaj Zackrisson :Born 1973 in march I grew up in a small town called Rättvik in central part of Sweden, it’s a lot of forest, lakes and rolling hills.Now I live in three homes in summer and fall I live in Oslo Norway with my girlfriend and I still have a place in Rättvik I love to go home to my roots. In the winter I live in Chamonix, its wonderful to have such mountains just outside the door. I started skiing when I was 3 so that makes 31 years of skiing Sponsors: SALOMON SAAB SWATCH KASK POC HEMAVAN & TÄRNABY TELE2 A : How did you start skiing ? KZ :My mother has been skiing all her life and was in the national team in the 60’s so she has taught me how to ski. She taught me how to ski very playful so that’s why I still love to ski every day. A : Tell us about the place where you grew up in Sweden. Was it a ski-resort ? Was it easy to go skiing ?KZ :It’s a small town but all the sport arenas is really close to the town. It was very easy to get to around even as a small kid on the bike or just walking. The skihill is super small. 500 meters long and vertical meters is almost a hundred meters. A : How did you start your ski carreer ? Wich discipline did you practice first ?KZ :Freeride of course for the first years but then I started in the skiclub and I did racing in all disciplines. A : How did you become pro skier ? Was it something you were dreaming of, or did it just happened without ever thinking about it ?KZ :I decided to become a pro skier when I was 7 years old, so since then my life has been focused on skiing. A : Then, why did you chose freeriding more than alpine or freestyle skiing ?KZ :I did alpine skiing until I was 22 but I was always playing around in the powder or in the trees. A : For somebody who doesn’t know ski, how could you describe freeriding in short words ?KZ :It s a wonderful sport, you get so many sensations. In one run you can get so many feelings, happy scared surprised satisfied. The mountain environment is astonishing as well so that makes life beautiful to be right there. A : In your opinion, what makes a good freerider ?KZ :The rider who is out there having a good time with his friends in the mountains. A : In big mountains riding, what is the part of fear and what is the part of control ? Wich one is the most important ?KZ :I have a big respect for the mountains and often for the lines I choose, often when I’ve chosen a line I have a feeling of respect/fear for what I am going to do. This feeling makes me on the top of the game and I get very focused and I get control in my skiing.Without respect its easier to make big mistakes. A : Is freeriding a more dangerous sport than the average ?KZ :Not physically but sometimes of course its dangerous with avalanches. A : What pleasure do you receive from the practice of your sport ?KZ :For me skiing is the source of life. A : What kind of relationship do you have with mountain ? Is it just a playground that allows you to practice your sport, or do you feel something more than that ?KZ :The mountains is something very special I think. I am feeling very privileged to be able to make my sport in the mountains. They offer a new side of themselves every day, it’s exciting. A : How would you compare the Alps and the Scandinavian mountains ? Is it a different way to ride ? Is the approach different ?KZ :I always approach in the same way. Humble with respect is my approach to understand the conditions at the moment since they change in all mountains from day to day. You never know how it is out there.Then of course it is a little bit different everywhere that’s why its so wonderful to travel all around to try out new mountains. A : What is the part of your job you prefer the most : making freeride contests, shooting photos for magazines, shooting for ski movies ?... (and explain why).KZ :The most fun part is to shoot for ski movies I think. Because then you ski big lines where no one ever skied before. You choose the line with binoculars and then you ski it like you visualized it, super cool feeling. Takes years of experience to be satisfied. A : Where will you spend your next winter ? Where will you live and do you plan any trip ? What will be your goals for this season ?KZ :I live in Chamonix during winter so when I am not travelling a ski with my friends there. My big goal will be to go to Alaska and film this spring. Then I will try to follow up my good results in the Verbier Xtreme and bigmountain pro. A : On the everyday life, what force do you get from your relationship to the mountain, and from your activity of freerider ?KZ : As a sportsman and a freerider I make some sports activity every day all year around. This gives me a good feeling and keeps me on the happy track in life.As a freerider I push myself and try to improve every day that is of course helping me out when I am working at my beanie company, Kask. A : What do you think you would be doing today if you wouldn’t have been a professional skier ?KZ :It’s never been any doubts, skiing was the only goal. A : What do you prefer the most in your actual life ?KZ :Activity, making sports also begin with new sports and try to improve in them. I just tried out downhill biking it an awesome sport. A : A special word to finish the interview ?KZ :When I am not skiing or making sports I work with my beanie company Kask. Me and my friend Sverre Liliequist started Kask in 2001. The first year we had two models of handmade beanies, since then we doubled our line every year and this year we are launching a helmet. It feels great and we are having a lot of fun running a small business.Check it out on www.kaskofsweden.com