When most people think of Australia they probably think of surfing, kangaroos and people who say “cheers mate” at the end of their conversations, not skiing. However, one of skiings biggest superstars is from the “land down under”.

Russ Henshaw hails from Jindabyne, Australia and is currently one of the hottest skiers out there. Henshaw has landed on the podium in many big airs and consistently lays down slopestyle runs that are sexier than intro to Baywatch.

Russ recently sat down with us and talked about everything from being an Aussie to Mattttt Daaaammmmoooon. Check it out.



What is the best part about being Australian? Most people don’t exactly relate skiing to Australia.

I guess the best part about being Aussie is the country we live in. Its awesome, everything about the place is amazing. I am always super stoked to fly home from my trips around the world.

Oh and the skiing in Australia is actually pretty good, nobody realizes that though. 

What else have you been up to recently besides winning contests, skiing and just being an overall good guy? Any vacations or fun adventures?  

Before I came to New Zealand I wad spending a lot of time at home trampolining. They have just built a new tramp centre in Jindabyne and its amazing.

As far as vacations go I am trying to squeeze in a trip to Queensland (top of Australia) for a break at the beach. We will see how that goes though (laughs).

What are your other hobbies/ interest besides skiing?

I really enjoy skateboarding and trampolining. I have been doing both since I was a little kid

To put it modestly you have quite the trophy case and many podium finishes. Is there one victory that sticks out over the others?

Yeah Im stoked on all the results I have achieved over the years. I’d say the one I was the most happy with was my first international result. I placed 2nd at the US open Slopestyle in 2007. That is when I knew I wanted to keep doing what I was doing. 



Congrats on recently taking the top spot at the NZ Open. What is it like knowing that in order to compete today you have to throw two doubles into one run?

Thanks a lot. I guess I knew back to back doubles would come into play at some stage. Throughout this past northern hemisphere winter people were doing two doubles in one run, but none were natural and unnatural. I figured If I wanted to place I had to do something different and so I started doing the unnatural dub.

Do you think the NZ Open was a good preview of how crazy this competition season is going to be? What do you think about the future of skiing?

Yeah the NZ Open is always a good preview of things to come. I feel like NZ Open is just the start of crazy things to come this season. I’m not looking forward to seeing how crazy the X Games will be haha.

What are your plans for next winter?

Yeah well my northern Hemisphere winter starts next month (September) with the city big airs. Then after they wrap up, I guess I will be heading over to Breck to train and do the Dew Tours and X Games. It is shaping up to be a busy year thats for sure. 

Photo: Camilla Stoddart

In your eyes, who is the most influential skier today? Why?

I would say Bobby Brown. The kid is amazing, he won 2 gold medals and Im not sure he even realizes it (laughs). All he thinks about is skiing and getting better at skiing. He influences me to be the best I can on ski’s and to try my hardest at all times. 

Lastly, and the most important question is… if you could a movie star for a day. Who would you be? Why?

Maaaaattttt Daaaammmooon. That’s the only person I could think of right now, and the only reason I could think of him was because of Team America (laughs).

Any shout outs?

I’d first like to thank my Girlfriend Laura for putting up with all the travel I do followed by my parents. Then I’d like to thanks my sponsors Red Bull, Volkl, Volkl Performace Wear, Marker,  Dalbello, Adidas, Leki and Thredbo.

For more on Russ check out russhenshaw.com.

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