Ever wondered what’s going on inside the head of a big mountain freeskier? What thoughts are spinning around when it’s time to take on a new challenge?
As a dad to one, I know that I do.
So I sat down during Christmas and had a serious talk with my son, Christopher Henning. Here is the outcome of that father and son deep talk.
Christopher, you have been skiing your whole life, Can you tell our readers how it all started?
– It all started in Åre. My family built a house right by the lift when I was five. I used to skip preschool and go skiing on my own instead.
To challenge myself, I skied randomly deep into the woods. To get lost on purpose. And then, when I got lost, I cried to myself for a little while before I put myself together and started to find a way home.
I still remember the euphoric feeling when succeeded
Then I joined my older siblings, Stephanie and Alexander, for ski training in the local ski club. Åre S.L.K
In my younger age we only trained GS and Super-G. Later, at nine or ten, we started with slalom as well.
I loved training and competing in the downhill disciplines. Being the youngest out of three siblings, I was allowed to train with them as well.
But you stopped ski racing already at the age of fourteen, how come?
-When I was thirteen, I crashed during a Super-G training, ended up on crutches for two months and then that season was spoiled. In December, upcoming winter, I broke my ankle in a ridiculous accident.
What happened?
I was at Lokalen* sitting on the side of the trampoline when a guy landed on my foot, broke my ankle. Kept my foot in plaster for two months.
That winter, I only did one downhill race. Those accidents, together with a couple of concussions, made me stop ski racing. Instead, I played a lot of football**.
*Lokalen, a famous youth club in Åre. Skateboard ramp, trampoline etc. **Soccer
You moved to Östersund to attend the football high school there
– In high school, during a football training session, I accidentally steeped on the ball, gaining one more concussion. It was a hard time for me. The headache was constant, and I could only manage 15 minutes at the time in the classroom.
The many concussions made me tired, and I slept seventeen hours a day. Missing out school. I quit the football high school in Östersund and moved back to Åre.
I got a spot at the national ski high school for ski cross
It sounds odd, but I needed to be in a familiar environment, and many of my friends were already in that school.
Due to my historical ski racing achievements in my youth years, I got a spot in ski cross. And I really missed skiing and racing at that time. I took what was offered me.
You were a student at the national ski high school in Järpen, Ski cross. You went in the same class as your close friend David Mobärg*. Turning seventeen, the doctors told you that you had to quit ski racing due to many concussions, your skiing was doomed. Knowing you, skiing was then a big part of your life and person. How did you react to that verdict?
*David Mobärg won the 2024 ski cross world cup
Christopher’s last appearance as a ski racer was in 2017. Here he is at the Swedish ski cross championship together with his brother Alexander on a training run before the race Photo: Private
-it was quite obvious that my health condition was bad
I could hardly get out of my bed. I realized skiing was over. Doctors letting me know that I needed to get used to this condition as it might be constant. Focus at that time was only to regain function over a normal life.
A couple of years later, you came back to the slopes, as a freeskier, how was that even possible?
– One morning in the summer of 2020, I woke up all stiff in my body, with a burning ache.
I was then appointed to a chiropractor. When she started to crack my body up, she noticed that my neck was all skew. She asked me about it and I explained it happened when I stepped on the football four years ago.
She asked if I was x-rayed during the medical exam at that time.
I answered her yes, but the doctor did not find anything. They said it was just a stretching in the neck and yet another concussion. She ordered out the x-rays from the hospital and found a crack on my neck bone.
My neck was broken
It turned out that my neck was broken four years ago and had healed wrongly. She put me on rehab for the neck and all the pain and headache was gone. For the first day in four years, I was without pain. She literally gave me my life back.
I remember that, we got our son back that summer thanks to her. So with all pain gone, you decided to go back skiing once again?
-Well, I ordered some new ski gear and took a job in Åre over the winter.
Decided to make at least 100 ski days in a row. This was the winter of Corona, so I got laid off from work. Skistar still operated the lifts, and there was a lot of skiing to regain from my earlier loss.
Did you make 100 days in a row?
-Yes, it was fun being able to ski again for real. The following winter I hanged out with Edvin and Erik*, and we skied every day.
I realized I still could do the tricks they did, and my skiing was solid still.
*Edvin Olsson & Erik Engdahl
Skiing is in my DNA
During the off-season, I worked a lot to collect enough money to go to Verbier 2022. Unfortunately, that winter was a disappointment in terms of snow in the alps, so it did not come out the way I expected.
For me, as a dad, your new ski carrier as a freeskier came as some surprise when it took off in 2023. Out of nowhere, you made some iconic marks on our home mountain Åre, tell me abut that winter.
-After the summer 2022 I decided to give skiing a last chance.
I formalized some goals for the winter and went back to the gym for the first time since I was sixteen. During the autumn I worked as a carpenter in Åre.
Every day, I woke up at 4.00am, went to the gym before work. After the work was over for the day, I went to Jumpyard to work on my jumping skills and tricks.
I was back on an elite training diet
As the winter came, I resigned from my job as a carpenter to concentrate on skiing. One of the goals was to win the Red Bull home run.
To achieve that, I knew I had to be fast at the start. Every morning that winter, I went to the top of the gondola, where the start for the race was going to take place.
I ran intervals in my skiboots.
Due to the committed training, I was strong, both in my legs and torso. Skiing was developing the way I wanted. The snow conditions weren’t the best at the beginning.
At the end of January a heavy snow dump changed the conditions overnight. Erik and I were at the top of a famous narrow line called “Örnnästet”. I asked Erik if he thought it was possible to land a 360 down the cliff that defines the line.
He was doubtful, meaning it’s a narrow landing in the lift line. No freeskier ever tried. You have to be very fast and precise to pull that off.
As I came down the treeline approaching the cliff, I gave it a go. The thing is that this line passes just under the chairlift to Hummeln and I heard people shouting and cheering after my landing. I did not know at the time who it was that had witnessed my stunt.
It became the talk of the day in SoMe in the Åre ski community, where rumors were spreed and questions asked.
Who was the daredevil that pulled this trick of?
It turned out that in the chair above sat Bubbis and Emrik*
*John “Bubbis” Crawford-Currie co-founder of Stellar and Emrik Jansson Ski photographer.
–Erik and I kept riding together the whole winter, and pushed each other forward.
How did you come up with the idea of backflipping “Högsta högsta”* No one even managed to land a straight cliff jump properly from that spot before in the history?
– One morning in March when it dumped 40cm overnight, we went to the east ravine to ski a drop called “Högsta”. That’s a cliff I’m familiar with, and I pulled off a backflip.
Further up in the east ravine is the highest point called “Högsta högsta”. That day I checked it out again and decided that it was doable.
It had to be done at some point
When I spoke to the older generation freeskier, their advice was like “the idea is just stupid”. In the morning the next day, when my gang and I were sitting in the first gondola up, I felt good.
My body was awake and my head as well.
I could visualize myself doing it. I said to everyone in the gondola I’m going for Högsta högsta.
You can all go ahead and take position on the sideline. I checked the takeoff and realized it was bigger than in my mind. No time to back off.
Fortunately, just as I prepared to go, “Monkan”* arrived on the scene. He told me that I needed to double the length before takeoff to gain more speed. The feeling standing up there is that you are going to fly 300 meters.
*Adam “Monkan” Moraeus, a legendary mountain goat from Åre
10 meters from the takeoff you don’t see the landing. All you see is the hotel Fjällgården 1500 meters down the valley. After soaking in Monkans advise. It felt good, let’s go. And then I took off.
The acceleration in the air was something I never felt before
Once in the air, time stopped. That was the feeling in my head. In the same time, my body accelerated towards the landing 30+ vertical meters down. When my rotation was almost done, and I saw the landing.
I straitened my legs and prepared for the impact. The landing was hard as expected, but I stomped it perfectly and was skiing down the ravine, screaming out my exaltation.
Check out the video when Christopher Henning stomps the landing at Högsta högsta. Sounds up for best experience.
Following that stunt up with the “Salto immortal”* who came up with that idea?
– Doing a backflip out of the biggest cliff in Åre, there was no challenge left there. Except, there is a cornice at the mountain Mullfjället west of Åre. No one had ever skied it.
Thing is that I have been looking at this cornice since I was little
My uncle owns a cottage not far from there, overlocking that mountain. I thought it should be doable. In March, after I concurred Högsta högsta. That thought started to grow serious.
There was a lot of snow, perfect conditions and the mountainside was untouched. I turned to Erik and suggested we should explore the possibility to leave our marks there. He thought I was joking, no one has ever skied that cornice he said.
Adding, it’s a serious big cornice. I sent a text message to David Kantermo* asking for his opinion.
*David Kantermo, mountain goat and team leader at Stellar
He wrote back, if anyone can do it, it’s you. You seem to have legs strong enough to manage that landing. I also checked with Sverre Liliequist* about it.
*Sverre is a legendary big mountain freeskier
He replied that he had thought about it back in the days, but it never happened. Sverre was up in the area hiking and sent me a closeup picture of the cornice telling me it looked beautiful. I sat with Erik and Måns* at the afterski convincing them to go.
*Måns Källstrand
I wrote to David Kantermo that we are on to this, and he wrote back that he will be there documenting it. Due to circumstances, there was a four-day delay from that afterski until D-Day.
That was four long days waiting
When I have decided, I want it done. Anyway, as the day came, we went up there and checked the takeoff and landing from the side.
We could not walk on the cornice for the risk of it breaking, taking us in the fall.
David stood on top throwing snowballs down the line so that we could get an idea of how far we would expect to fly.
Måns who had decided to make a straight jump did go first.
I was aiming for a backflip and was second. Erik, who hadn’t decided yet what to do, was third.
The takeoff is on a down slope so you don’t see the landing from the starting point. It took Måns about 30 seconds to show up in our view after his start. But he managed it, he survived.
My turn.
I took up more speed than Måns as I was going to flip it. The in run was steeper than I have imagined, so there was no kick at all for take off.
I had to tuck in a little to be able to rotate, but I was fine, I continued to the next feature “kyrkan” (the church) and pulled off another backflip and finished the run with a 360 at the bottom.
All in all, it was a perfect run
Yes I know, I was there and saw the show with my own eyes. Thank you for the invitation. Another show was the Red Bull Homrun. It was your first appearance in that event. You told me earlier that this was your main goal that winter to win this, and you did.
-Yes that went as planned, but it was a close call in more than one way.
Tell me what happened
-The day before the race there was the annual happening “Stormkröket”.
What’s that?
-it’s a gathering on the mountain. We came together all freeskier’s and season staff, to build jumps and have a party.
This year it was held on “Kalsongklippan” on top of the ladies downhill course. The kick of the jump was a bit tricky and I decided to go for a double. I over-rotated and landed badly, sprained my foot.
The day after, on the race day. I tried to ski the course in the morning but couldn’t turn properly, too much pain for that. Later in the afternoon I took some painkillers that helped a bit.
I decided to go for it. Seamed like a good decision afterwords as I came out as a winner.
Red Bull Homerun is a six-minute Chinese downhill with 500 participants
I stood on top of the last slope watching. You came in as second, about 10 seconds behind the leader with 50 seconds left to go. You did not look like the winner there.
-It was a comfortable lead halfway. But I made a stupid decision on the transportation road from La Gondola. I tried to rest my legs and did not tuck in properly, but someone else did.
He overtook me in a much higher speed, I did not have a chance to repair that on the transportation road and the gap between us grew.
Coming in to the last slope, I noticed that he was far ahead, but he looked tired. Struggling with the moguls, turning too much. I took my last chance and let my skis down the fall line. Me coming in hot on his left side, overtook him at the finish line.
Watch the finish of the 2023 Red Bull Homerun in the video above
Injuries are a part of the sport, and you had your share throughout the years. Tell us about it.
-I have broken most of the bones in my body over the years.
I’m counted for seventeen concussions
But many of them might have been false alarm as it turned out to be a broken neck causing my headache. I’m right now recovering from my latest injury that happened just a few weeks ago on the premier day in Åre. I ran off the slope and in to a tree braking two ribs in my back.
Tell me how did that happened
–After two runs down the main slope Gästrappet, the slope was already getting carved to pieces. I and my gang, aiming for the third run of the day, decided on the lift it was time to check out the other slope, Lundsrappet.
It was open only halfway. Plans were to take the upper part of Gästrappet and then turn right on the transportation road through the tunnels and cut in to Lundsrappet.
I took up speed to be in the lead, reaching the first tunnel. Flatten out my skis, worked well at the beginning, but coming out of the first tunnel my left ski catches the edge. Turning me around and threw me off the slope.
In that speed, there was not much to do other than tuck in trying to protect my head waiting for impact.
How did that work out?
– It could have been much worse. I smacked in to a tree with my back. My back protection took most of the impact. But I broke two ribs.
That is how 99% of my injuries happen
When I’m relaxed and playing around or tired without focus. It’s difficult to accept that you get injured for such easy mistakes. But you have to accept the fact when the adrenaline goes out of the system and pain strikes you. It never happens when I’m concentrated.
Lesson learned?
-I will choose my battles more carefully and calculate the risks. When to go for it and when not. I’m done with stupid mistakes that happen when I’m just fooling around.
I know when I have a good feeling, and it’s time to push the limits. And when it’s time to step back down.
After your iconic breakthrough as a big mountain free skier 2023 I know you got several offers from sponsors. How come you choose Rossignol and Stellar?
-I’ve been skiing Rossignol my whole life, I feel safe skiing on them.
The name Sender speaks for itself
When you ski fast and push hard, you can rely on them. They stand up for everything I’m up to. So It was an easy choice for me.
To choose Stellar was much depending on their team. Several of my friends and skiing buddies are in that team. David Kantermo is unbelievable as at team leader, he is always up for new ideas and cheering as a person.
It’s a local brand from Åre and the items themselves look good, and the function are also great. Wearing Stellar makes me feel comfortable, which is important when you do the things I do on the mountain.
Now at 25 you are in the making of a carrier as a big mountain power freeskier. I say Power as I find your skiing a bit different from most other freeskier I’ve seen. Tell us what changed, how come you are skiing more and harder than ever?
-I’m not a jibber, I’m schooled as an alpine ski racer.
Most other freeskier are coming in from the park or from the moguls. They come with another technical background than me. Power skiing is my style.
I felt lost when I was not allowed to ski, When I met this chiropractor in 2020, and she found out about my broken neck, everything changed.
The doom over to many concussions was gone, and I was healed.
Being able to ski again made me feel as my normal me once again. Skiing fast and furious jumping big cliffs resets the balance in my brain.
I guess the love of skiing fast and high started in my early ages when I was allowed to train downhill with my older siblings. Going down the race prepared downhill slope in Åre at full throttle at the age of twelve builds character.
Are you an adrenaline junkie?
-You might put it that way. I love the kick that comes out of skiing fast and jumping high.
Tell me abut your plans for this winter, they seem to change from week to week?
-It’s difficult to plan a whole winter in advance. Everything costs money, and I’m dependent on sponsors for support.
Then my skiing buddies need to be involved. I can have a plan but everyone else needs to be in on it. There is always a bit of a compromise. We are going to relocate to Italy and Champoluc in January.
That will be the base for my gang. One big plan is to do a movie, skiing the Balkans. During the winter I will travel to where the good snow is.
Filming and develop as a skier.
Try to find some new terrain with big long lines. Then I will follow Edvin and Cody* to some of the Freeride World Tour events.
*Edvin Olsson & Cody Bramwell
Are you going to compete yourself?
-I’m going to watch some of the Freeride World Tour events to learn. If there is time, I might do some lower ranked races.
I’m aiming for the Nordic Championship in Riksgränsen in May.
It’s a difficult event where you have to do three good runs in a row. Fail in one and you are gone. In my long plan, I can see myself in the Olympics 2030 when big mountain freeskiing will debut.
To execute that plan, I will focus more on the competitions from 2026 and forward to see how that works out. I’m confident that I have the capacity to reach that goal. I have the skiing in me, and I do the tricks they do on the tour.
I can drop big for sure
It’s a childhood dream to take part in the Olympics and this is my chance. In the end, it’s not all up to me. Freeride World Tour is now a part of F.I.S. There will eventually be a national team involved, and they will probably have a say who will start or not.
How did you come up with the idea of skiing mountains and jumping cliffs risking your life?
-There is a big rush involved, being the first doing it. If I haven’t done anything spectacular for a while, I get kind of low. Abstinence.
It’s a way of resetting the brain,
when you do the stunts I do, you need to find a peace within. Here and now. All other thoughts like job, future, money, stuff like that disappears.
At that moment, you have to do everything right, there is no room for other thoughts. When you’re out of focus, that’s when the accidents happen.
Adrenaline afterwords is a bonus. It’s like taking an ice bath and staying there for a minute or two. you need to focus on your breading and the task.
As your dad, do I need to worry?
-No, I don’t think so.
I would never do anything I don’t think I can handle. I’m not willing to take the risk if I don’t feel comfortable inside, I got this. I wouldn’t do that. For example; Högsta i Högsta. I visualized that jump a thousand times before executing that one. I even dream about doing it. when I’m ready in my mind, then I’m ready to do it.
OK, so the double backflip out of the cable-car station in Åre, how long before did you plan that?
-That’s a trick I can manage since before. I’ve been training doubles on repeat at Jumpyard. I did six jumps on stage before pulling off the double. Other things take longer planning like the Högsta högsta.
Talking about your backflip in Högsta högsta, you have set a new standard. Are the youngsters coming up now going to do that as a morning routine?
-I don’t think so, it would surprise me. That’s not a jump you just do. Some will try for sure. Standing up there makes you dizzied. It is double the size of any other cliff on the mountain.
Are you going to double it?
-Well, there is a plan...
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