Hjalte Halberg Interview, I first met Hjalte about three years ago on a trip to the South West of England, In search of the Miraculous had just come out and Polar was still a twinkle in Pontus’ eye.
I remember being shocked by his consistency and we watched in awe as he charged at everything he came across. Nothing has changed, even with a bad foot it was as impressive as ever to see him power around Stockwell at last weeks stop off on the Surf ‘N’ Turf tour. We caught up with him as the jam was winding down to see where he is at…
Yes Hjalte! How are you on this last day of the tour?
Bit tired, really tired actually and my foot is fucked, i’ve been skating on a semi tweaked foot. I haven’t been able to do any flip tricks this whole trip and it really needs rest but i’m going to Paris tomorrow. It’s going to be chilled though, all the Polar boys in Paris. It’s going to be mellow, just skating, it’s going to be good.
Has it been an eye opener travelling through different parts of the UK?
We did it last year too but in the North, to Manchester and all the Cities there and I’ve been here with you too so it wasn’t really that new for me. A lot of the guys really liked it a lot, some weird small places. Lots of really different Cities, all of them are so different. Bath, so rich and then the next City was super poor, it’s really going up and down which is sick. I feel like I know England quite well now, I’ve been here a lot.
Flight at Stockwell unimpeded by a bad foot
What has the reaction been like, were you overwhelmed by the amount of love for Polar?
Yeah, it’s really crazy! It isn’t that crazy here but in the small Cities they love it, signing autographs and shit. More than anywhere we’ve been, kids everywhere and they are really hyped all of them. It’s really funny because Pontus said that when we get to London the kids don’t even want stickers and stuff they’ll just look at us all cool and it’s so true. As soon as we came to Slam, I didn’t sign one autograph and when I tried to give stickers away they were all ‘no i’m good, i’m good’ At other places we signed loads of autographs and gave away tons of stickers.
Has anyone surprised you on this trip?
Aaron has been fucking insane but I knew he was. I’ve been with him in New York and he’s so fucking good, getting four clips a day easy which is crazy but I know the whole team really good now so i know how everyone skates. The kids, Oski and David kill it every day, you could just sit and drink beers and they would fly around and everyone loved them, hang time, yaaaggghhh!
Did life change when you turned pro or is your schedule the same?
I don’t have to work now which is good In that way it has changed, I think I skate more, I’m not sure if it’s better or worse. I kind of like having a job because then you are really psyched on skating. Hopefully I will get some work in the Winter, each Winter I try and work if i’m not going somewhere warm. I have to do something completely different or I get fed up with skating because its hard sometimes not having things to wake up to. I’m slowly learning it.
What’s on the cards after this?
Well i’m going to Paris for six days and then I have five days in Copenhagen and then I go on a Nike SB Scandinavian trip. Now Karsten Kleppen is on so we are going on a camping tour for ten days. It’s going to be really cool I think. After that I think I’m going to Turkey with Pontus and it just continues.
You’re not going to break out the boat anytime soon?
It’s been sold, it’s a tourist whale ship in Greenland now but it would be so sick to go on it and check some whales.
Where is the best place skateboarding has taken you do you think?
Barcelona is really fun, I hate filming there but for skating it’s really good. San Francisco is really good. If you want to get footage Barcelona is wack, New York is wack. Here is really good for getting footage, it’s rough and a lot of rain but there are so many small weird things. I really like this City and I wish we had more time. Especially here if you go with Sam (Ashley) he knows all the spots in every corner, there are so many crusty weird things that have never been touched. So London and Paris is really fucking good too. Noone goes to Paris anymore. You remember the Lordz video? Everyone went to Paris then and nobody goes there any more.
I’ve just started watching the TV show The Bridge are there any of your spots in it to look out for?
Actually the Police station in the show in Copenhagen, there is a really good spot there but you don’t see it. You just see the hall inside but outside that building is a really cool spot.
What can we expect from you and Polar this coming year?
Hopefully a video. It’s supposed to be coming but I don’t know. Last thing I heard was Spring but he changes his mind every second. I’m also working on an interview for Transworld magazine which is going to drop with a little video part. That’s all I can say for now but there is so much shit in the works right now it’s crazy.
Photography – Maksim Kalanep
Interview – Jacob Sawyer