In Due Time - Henrik Harlaut

04:54 min • 17/11/2016

Edit of Henrik Harlaut during and behind the scenes of Dew Tour 2014. Filmed by: Brady Perron

Athletes

Henrik Harlaut

Profile and significance

Henrik “E-Dollo” Harlaut is one of freeskiing’s defining figures, a Swedish original whose blend of contest dominance, film culture, and scene-building has shaped how park and street skiing look and feel. A two-time Olympian for Sweden and a multi-time medalist at the X Games, he holds the all-time records for Ski golds and total Ski medals at that event. His 2013 Big Air breakthrough—landing the first nose-butter triple cork 1620 on the Aspen stage—reset expectations for what creative, controlled progression could be. Beyond podiums, Harlaut helped lead a rider-first movement through the B&E era with Phil Casabon, co-hosting the B&E Invitational in France and elevating film parts and tours that centered style as substance.

Harlaut’s brand ecosystem mirrors that identity. He rides for Armada Skis and headlines his own street-savvy label, Harlaut Apparel, while long-running support from Monster Energy has kept cameras on his projects from Scandi parks to city rails. The result is a rare dual footprint—elite competitor and cultural steward—whose skiing reads clearly at full speed and whose projects continue to influence how freeski stories are told.

Competitive arc and key venues

Harlaut’s contest résumé traces the modern ladder. He announced himself to a global audience at Aspen’s Buttermilk, where his Big Air gold and that historic nose-butter triple 16 became part of freeski lore. In the years that followed he stacked Big Air and Slopestyle medals across Aspen and Europe, and even added the newer Knuckle Huck title to underline his versatility. On the Olympic stage he represented Sweden at Sochi 2014—finishing sixth in slopestyle—and returned at PyeongChang 2018, a testament to endurance in a field where the trick list never stops evolving.

Venue context explains why his runs travel so well. Buttermilk rewards multi-feature flow and composure under heavy cameras. Oslo’s and Norway’s stadium builds prize amplitude on single hits. Spring blocks at Sweden’s Kläppen refine rhythm and variety across dense rail sections and medium-to-large booters. Olympic courses—from Sochi’s expansive build to the sculpted lines at Korea’s Phoenix Park—demand immaculate takeoffs and exact landings. Across those settings, Harlaut’s hallmark has been readability: tricks that make sense at normal speed because the inputs are functional and on time.

How they ski: what to watch for

Harlaut skis with deliberate economy and musical timing. On rails, approaches square up early, the body stays stacked, and lock-ins look decisive rather than dramatic. Surface swaps resolve cleanly; presses have visible shape; exits protect speed for what’s next. On jumps, he manages spin speed with deep, stabilizing grabs—safety, tail, blunt—arriving early enough to calm the axis and keep the hips centered over the feet. Directional variety—forward and switch, left and right—appears without breaking cadence because every move serves the line instead of a checklist.

Two cues help you “read” a Harlaut lap in real time. First, spacing: he leaves room between tricks so each one sets angle and speed for the next, a habit that makes full runs feel like sentences rather than word salad. Second, grab discipline: hands find the ski early and stay long enough to influence rotation, not just decorate the frame. That approach explains why even his biggest spins look unhurried—and why editors can present his shots at normal speed without slow-motion rescue.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Results alone would place Harlaut among the greats; his cultural work cements it. With Phil Casabon he hosted the B&E Invitational at Les Arcs, a rider-designed jam that treated slopestyle as an open canvas and set a template for today’s style-first showcases. On film, he’s produced projects that framed progression as story, from the two-year deep dive “Salute” to the wider canon built with Inspired-era collaborators. The common thread is clarity: honest speed, early commitments, centered landings. That’s why his parts age well—you can see the trick math at 1x speed—and why younger riders can copy the mechanics without needing a mega-budget build.

Harlaut’s influence also shows in how brands and events talk about skiing. He helped normalize the idea that style is not garnish but technique—grab choice that stabilizes an axis, spacing that preserves momentum, and rail decisions that protect cadence. As new disciplines and formats appear, the standard he champions remains the same: make difficulty legible, so viewers feel it the first time and still find details on the tenth watch.

Geography that built the toolkit

Place is the skeleton of Harlaut’s skiing. He moved to Åre as a kid, and the resort’s varied pistes and night laps forged edge honesty and repetition; if you want to understand the base layer, start with the discipline that Scandinavia’s firm snow demands. Spring sections at Kläppen layered in rhythm on dense features, teaching him to protect speed through quick in-runs and short outruns. The annual pilgrimage to Aspen’s Buttermilk sharpened broadcast composure, while European city builds and invitational courses rewarded creativity and line design. Stitch those environments together and you get a toolkit that travels: patient takeoffs, functional grabs, tidy exits, and runs that hold their shape from first rail to last landing.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Harlaut’s kit is built for repeatability and feel. With Armada he’s long ridden park-capable platforms tuned for pop and predictable swing weight, a setup that rewards nose-butter entries and early-grab spins. Apparel through Harlaut Apparel leans into rider-led durability and movement on long filming days, while backing from Monster Energy helps turn ambitious concepts into finished films and event moments. For skiers borrowing from his playbook, the hardware lesson is category fit over hype: choose a symmetrical or near-symmetrical park ski, mount it so butters and presses feel natural without sacrificing takeoff stability, keep bases fast so cadence doesn’t depend on perfect weather, and tune edges to hold on steel yet soften contact points to avoid surprise bites on swaps.

There’s a process lesson, too. Build lines around momentum. Use the grab as a control input rather than decoration. Finish tricks early enough to ride away with speed and time. Those habits are why Harlaut’s biggest moments—whether a stadium jump in Aspen or a creative rail garden at a spring session—read cleanly on camera and hold up on rewatch.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Henrik Harlaut matters because he turned elite difficulty into a language anyone can follow and then used his platform to grow the culture around it. He has the X Games medal record to satisfy the stats crowd and a film-and-event legacy that continues to pull the sport toward rider agency and style with substance. The skiing itself is readable at full speed, the choices are intentional, and the execution holds up under the brightest lights. For viewers, that means segments and finals worth replaying; for developing riders, it’s a checklist you can practice on the next lap. Protect momentum, commit early, let the spot decide the move—and make it look good because the mechanics are honest. That’s the Harlaut blueprint, and it’s why his influence runs from Åre to Aspen and across every park where skiers learn to turn hard things into clear, compelling lines.

Brand overview and significance

Armada is widely recognized as skiing’s pioneering athlete-founded brand. Launched in 2002 by a crew of influential freeskiers and creatives, it set out to build equipment around how modern skiers actually ride—park, powder, streets, and big, natural terrain—rather than filtering innovation through traditional race heritage. The brand’s identity has remained anchored in rider input and film culture, with a product line that mirrors the creative, playful approach that reshaped freeskiing in the 2000s and beyond. In March 2017, Amer Sports acquired Armada, bringing the label into the same winter portfolio as other major ski manufacturers while preserving its athlete-led philosophy and distinct design language.

Armada operates from the Wasatch and the Alps, with day-to-day brand life connected to Park City Mountain in Utah and a European hub near Innsbruck. That cross-Atlantic footprint helps shape a catalog that feels at home in North American freeride zones and on the varied snowpacks and park scenes of the Tyrol. Culturally, Armada remains closely tied to athlete films, creative web series, and team projects—touchstones that communicate the skis’ intended feel as much as spec sheets do.

Product lines and key technologies

Armada’s lineup is organized by intent, not marketing buzzwords. The ARV/ARW family represents the brand’s all-mountain freestyle DNA; Declivity and Reliance (directional all-mountain) serve resort skiers who want confidence at speed and on edge; Locator targets fast-and-light touring; and signature freeride shapes such as the Whitewalker translate film-segment creativity to deep snow and mixed terrain. Within those families, Armada refines behavior with a set of in-house technologies that have become calling cards.

Two construction ideas stand out. First, rocker/camber profiles like AR Freestyle Rocker and EST Freeride Rocker blend long, forgiving rockered zones with positive camber underfoot to preserve edge hold. Second, base and sidewall details tune how the ski releases and smears: Smear Tech adds subtle 3D beveling in the tips and tails for drift, pivot, and catch-free butters, while AR75/AR100 sidewalls and tailored cores (including lightweight Caruba in touring models) balance mass reduction with damping and strength. Together these choices explain why Armada skis often feel both lively and composed—easy to pivot yet trustworthy when speed comes up or the snow gets choppy.

Ride feel: who it’s for (terrains & use-cases)

If you like your all-mountain laps to include side-hits, switch landings, and a bit of exploration off the groomer, Armada’s ARV/ARW models are designed for you. They’re energetic, smearable, and predictable in variable resort snow, with enough camber to carve cleanly back to the lift. Resort chargers who prioritize directional stability and precise edge feel will gravitate toward Declivity and Reliance: more metal and more length options yield a calmer ride on hardpack, while still keeping the Armada “surf” in soft conditions. For backcountry skiers who want to keep the uphill efficient without giving up fun on the way down, the Locator series blends low weight with real-snow suspension. And on storm days and film-project lines, signature freeride shapes like Whitewalker are aimed at powder, pillows, and wind-affected steeps where you want loose, pivotable tips, supportive platforms, and confident landings.

Team presence, competitions, and reputation

Armada’s reputation rides on the shoulders of its athletes as much as its skis. Over the years, names like Henrik Harlaut, Phil Casabon, and Sammy Carlson have defined the brand’s look and feel—style-first skiing that still handles real-mountain speed and impact. That visibility spans major events like the X Games and high-profile film releases, reinforcing Armada’s role as a tastemaker for park, street, and backcountry-freestyle aesthetics. The roster’s breadth—from urban icons to big-mountain specialists—helps keep the catalog honest: new designs trace back to specific needs revealed in segments, contests, and long-day resort laps.

Geography and hubs (heritage, testing, venues)

Armada’s U.S. presence is tied to the Wasatch—easy access to long season mileage, park laps, and storm cycles near Park City Mountain and the Cottonwood canyons. In the Alps, the scene around Innsbruck gives the team fast access to varied venues like Axamer Lizum and the Golden Roof Park, useful for repeatable park testing and quick condition changes. Historic filming staples like Mammoth Mountain continue to influence sizing, rocker lines, and the playful-but-capable feel that many skiers now expect from all-mountain freestyle shapes.

Construction, durability, and sustainability

Armada pairs wood cores and fiberglass/carbon laminates with sidewall constructions that vary by intent. All-mountain freestyle models use thicker edges and reinforcement underfoot to handle rails and landing zones; directional models lean into torsional stiffness and damping for edge fidelity; touring models deploy Caruba cores, strategic rubber/titanal binding mats, and lighter edges to keep mass down without making the ride nervous. On the softgoods side, the brand publishes “Honest Social Responsibility” notes outlining material choices in apparel and gear. For hardgoods, a two-year warranty applies to skis and most equipment, a standard that signals baseline confidence in materials and build. While any ski can be damaged by rails, rocks, or improper mounts, Armada’s construction playbook is tuned for the mix of freestyle creativity and resort mileage its audience demands.

How to choose within the lineup

Start with where and how you ski most. If your days blend carving with side-hits, trees, and the occasional lap through the park, look to the all-mountain freestyle family with waist widths in the upper-80s to mid-90s for a balanced daily driver. If you spend more time at speed on firm snow, directional all-mountain models with metal reinforcement and slightly longer radii will feel calmer and more confidence-inspiring on edge. If you tour, match Locator widths to your snowpack and objectives: narrower for long approaches and mixed conditions; wider for soft-snow zones and mid-winter storm cycles. Powder-first skiers who still like to trick and slash should consider signature freeride shapes with loose, rockered tips/tails and sturdy platforms underfoot. Size for your intent: freestyle-oriented riders often pick slightly shorter for maneuverability; directional and touring skiers typically size to nose/forehead or longer for stability and float.

Why riders care

Armada matters because it helped define what “modern” skiing feels like—and continues to translate that feel into products that make sense for real resort laps, backcountry tours, and deep days. The brand still reads like a dialogue between athletes and engineers: skis that pivot and smear when you want, yet bite and track when you need; graphics and shapes that look the part in a park edit but stand up to chunder at 3 p.m. Whether you arrive through contest clips, a team movie, or a storm cycle backcountry mission, the through-line is the same: creative expression backed by functional engineering. That combination keeps the label relevant to skiers who value both style and substance, from first chair corduroy to last-light pillow stacks—and it’s why Armada has a lasting footprint across freeski culture as well as everyday resort skiing.

Brand overview and significance

Inspired Media Concepts is a skier-run film imprint founded in 2010 by pro skier Tanner Hall and filmmaker Eric Iberg in Park City, Utah. The mission was simple and radical for the time: put style-forward freeskiing at the center of the story and take it directly to the people. Through rider-led movies, web shows, an online channel, and a grassroots demo tour, Inspired helped define the look and feel of a crucial decade in park, street, and creative all-mountain skiing. The label’s official store and brand history live at Inspired Media, while its fingerprints remain all over modern edits and event culture.

Inspired mattered because it shifted who held the camera—and why. Projects such as “The Education of Style” (Tanner Hall, Phil Casabon, Henrik Harlaut; directed by Eric Iberg) and “BE Inspired” (Harlaut & Casabon) set a new baseline for flow, trick selection, and music, and the B&E web show carried that energy between film drops. Off-screen, the crew piled into vans for the Inspired Demo Tour, meeting fans at small hills and proving that world-class skiing could show up anywhere. For skiers who came of age in the 2010s, the brand’s logo was synonymous with creativity, community, and progression.

Product lines and key technologies

Inspired doesn’t manufacture skis; its “products” are film and culture. The portfolio spans feature-length movies, short films, web shows, and a traveling demo tour. On the long-form side, “The Education of Style” became required viewing for anyone who cares about line choice and body language on rails and jumps, while “BE Inspired” condensed two seasons of Harlaut and Casabon into a statement piece that still plays in coaching sessions and shop basements. Online, the B&E Show and other Inspired TV series kept the feed moving with road segments, street trips, contest windows, and behind-the-scenes cuts. The apparel arm extended the movement into hoodies, beanies, and limited drops distributed through the brand’s own store at Inspired Media.

If there is a “tech” story, it’s editorial and format: consistent color and pacing that lets style breathe, music supervision that feels hand-picked rather than generic, and athlete-led shot lists that favor flow over stunt reels. The Inspired Demo Tour added live format innovation—athletes skiing with locals at night-lit parks and small community areas—turning spectators into participants.

Ride feel: who it’s for (terrains & use-cases)

Translate “ride feel” to viewing and influence. Inspired’s work speaks directly to park and all-mountain-freestyle skiers who care about how skiing looks as much as what’s landed. Rail technicality, hip and wind-lip play, and smooth jump speed reads are the throughline. If your winter is rope-tow laps, rail gardens, and side-hits, the films feel like home—and if you’re a directional skier, the lessons still apply: pressure management, timing, and confident, low-impact landings carry over to trees and chop. Coaches and teams often use Inspired-era segments as pacing and trick-selection references; street crews borrow the rhythm and spot creativity; weekend riders watch for line ideas they can try the next day.

Team presence, competitions, and reputation

The roster reads like a style hall of fame: Henrik Harlaut, Phil Casabon, and Tanner Hall at the core, with a rotating cast in web shows and tour stops. While podiums were never the point, the overlap with X Games and major events kept the imprint in the conversation; Harlaut and Casabon’s contest windows and filming blocks informed one another, and the demo tour became a North American folk legend—dozens of resorts in a few short months, meeting kids in lift lines and parking lots instead of VIP rooms. That approach built a reputation for authenticity that still carries weight when riders and editors talk about “feel.” For contest context, see the official hub at X Games.

Geography and hubs (heritage, testing, venues)

Park City served as the operational springboard, with year-round laps and nearby training venues feeding quick-turn content (resort info at Park City Mountain). The demo tour stitched together the Northeast, Midwest, and Canadian small-hill network—places where rope tows and night sessions produce enormous volume. In Europe, the crew’s orbit touched the French Alps—with showcases like the B&E Invitational in Les Arcs (resort: Les Arcs)—and the Pyrenees, where night parks such as Grandvalira’s Peretol sector became reliable filming and session venues (parks overview: Grandvalira).

Construction, durability, and sustainability

For a media label, “construction” is about production systems and how they manage risk without killing spontaneity. Inspired’s hallmark was small, nimble crews who could move fast, keep riders warm and safe, and still capture clean angles. That meant redundant batteries for cold nights, spot checks for in-run speed and knuckle visibility, and clear roles between filmer, spotter, and athlete when shooting urban features or crowded parks. The sustainability piece is cultural more than chemical: by promoting durable, repeatable skill building—spots you can session, lines you can refine—the films encourage progression that doesn’t rely on megabudgets or disposable setups, and the apparel side focused on limited, long-wear pieces rather than seasonal churn.

How to choose within the lineup

If you’re new to Inspired, start with the tentpoles. Watch “The Education of Style” to understand the movement’s foundations, then hit “BE Inspired” for the fully matured Harlaut–Casabon chemistry (we host a reference page at BE Inspired). Next dip into the B&E Show era for the travel and day-to-day cadence that drove the demo tour. Coaches and motivated riders can build a study path: pick one segment, list three transferable details (takeoff speed, body position on rails, landing absorption), and bring them to your local park session. If you’re mapping places to film or ride, aim for venues with repetition and lights—the exact environments where these projects were born.

Why riders care

Riders care because Inspired turned skiing into a conversation between athletes and the community—and did it without diluting the fun. The films still teach style without lectures; the tour proved that small hills and night parks can incubate world-class talent; and the brand’s DIY-but-polished approach is the template many crews use today. Whether you first saw the logo in a shop premiere or at a parking-lot meet-and-greet, the message stuck: skiing can be creative, inclusive, and serious about progression—all at once.

In Due Time - Henrik Harlaut

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Henrik Harlaut

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