Issue 47 Aurora Magazine April 2022

focus
laughs when she recounts their prominent topic of conversation.
“The friends talk about how the snow is where they are and Henry, well, he talks about
how the snow isn’t.”
Deb laughs again when she recalls the competition confusion caused by her son’s
country of origin.
“When officials announced him over the PA system they’d call him ‘Henri from Austria’.
They just couldn’t fathom that he came from Australia let alone from a place that’s
3,500 km away from the nearest snow. The confusion was hilarious. Of course, every
time we said Denmark people instantly thought of Scandinavia.”
But Deb is certainly not smiling when she talks about the extreme nature of what her
son does. It’s more of a grimace that crosses her face.
“When I first agreed to help him follow his dream I didn’t fully appreciate how extreme
that dream was. At the first comp in France, he looked like a tiny ant against the
backdrop of the massive mountain. I was so nervous and scared; I just wanted him to
be alive at the end of it. It’s not a controlled environment like at the Olympics and I saw
plenty of bodies, with boards attached, cartwheeling down the mountain. They call it
tomahawking; people get hurt, bones get broken.”
Henry prefers not to think about those things. He does get nervous before he rides but
not scared and at the moment he has just one thing in mind.
“I’m purely focussed on getting to the World Champs in Austria next year,” Henry says.
“And I’ll have to wash a lot of dishes at the local tavern to make that happen.”
Where this current round of competitions will lead Henry is yet to be seen and you’d
have to say that, podium or not, this kid from the country is already a winner. He’s
followed his snowboarding passion and reached a level of achievement that totally
defies his snowless circumstances.
detail oil on canvas 94x94cm Nell Symonds
Anything beyond today is purely icing on a mountain of cake.
BELOW: Collecting his third place trophy in La Rosiere, France in January 2022
RIGHT: Henry’s number one supporter is his mum, Deb.
original fine artworks
by west australian artists
york house 133 lower york street albany
www.blushretail.com
䄀 瘀 愀 椀 氀 愀 戀 氀 攀 愀 琀 琀 栀 攀 ǻ 渀 攀 猀 琀 挀 愀 昀 猀 Ⰰ 最 爀 漀 挀 攀 爀 礀 猀 琀 漀 爀 攀 猀 Ⰰ 漀 爀 漀 渀 氀 椀 渀 攀
㐀 ㈀㈀ 㜀 㔀 㠀 㔀
猀 琀 愀 猀 栀 挀 漀 û 攀 攀 ⸀ 挀 漀 洀 ⸀ 愀 甀
LOVE LOCAL
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