11.02.2010

Reine Barkered, the Swedish outsider that took the FWT09 by storm might just a have a few surprises left up his sleeve…

Reine grew up in the Swedish town of Duved, just a few miles from Åre, so for him, skiing simply came naturally. He was an Alpine racer until the age of 16. He got back into the skiing scene when some friends of his convinced him to take part in the Swedish and Scandinavian Big Mountain Championships 2004. In the first comp, he crashed, then took 10th in the second comp. These comps became a tradition where he would meet up with his friends and just have fun. In 2005, he did a few photo and video shoots, but 2006 was his turning point: he won the Swedish comp and came in second in the Scandinavian comp.
Freeride World Tour 2010 Four locations around the world have been selected for the third edition of the Freeride World Tour. The planet's top freeride skiers and snowboarders will travel to Russia, USA, France and Switzerland to prove their skills on some of the world's most challenging faces. The Freeride World Tour has a prize purse of more than $200,000, the highest sum ever to be paid in ski or snowboard freeride contests.
NISSAN RUSSIAN ADVENTURE BY SWATCH SOCHI 2010 / D. DAHER
 PHOTOGRAPHER: D. DAHER
FREERIDE WORLD TOUR/ D.DAHER
 PHOTOGRAPHER: C. MARGOT
NISSAN XTREME VERBIER CH / C.MARGOT
 PHOTOGRAPHER: M. LANG-WILLAR
NISSAN XTREME - VERBIER / M. LANG-WILLAR
 PHOTOGRAPHER: D. CARLIER
NISSAN FREERIDE DE TIGNES / D. CARLIER
 EVENT: FREERIDE DE CHAMONIX-MONT-BLANC 2010, STYLE: LIFESTYLE Freeride World Tour 2010 Four locations around the world have been selected for the third edition of the Freeride World Tour. The planet's top freeride skiers and snowboarders will travel to Russia, USA, France and Switzerland to prove their skills on some of the world's most challenging faces. The Freeride World Tour has a prize purse of more than $200,000, the highest sum ever to be paid in ski or snowboard freeride contests.EVENT: NISSAN RUSSIAN ADVENTURE - SOCHI 2010, PARTNER: SWATCH, STYLE: LIFESTYLE
NISSAN FREERIDE DE CHAMONIX-MONT-BLANC 2010 / C.MARGOT

He then started competing nationally and internationally, notably in 2 Freeride World Qualifier events in 2008 which allowed him to take 4th in the FWQ Ranking.

2009 was his first year on the Freeride World Tour where he took second in the Freeride World Ranking. His main goal for this season is winning the Nissan Xtreme Verbier. Other than that, he just wants to stay focused, have fun and be safe.

Now for the other side of Reine… he is a self-proclaimed geek. “This is not a group of geeks, but I am one,” he says referring to the other riders sitting around, “though it comes in handy when they need help.” Granted most of them are in front of their computers while hanging out in the hotel, but their computers are no comparison to Reine’s, which weighs over 9 kilos. It has a special screen designed for gaming. Yes, he is a gamer and is currently playing a lot of ‘Call of Duty 4’.

Not only is he into games and computers, he actually went to IT Tech School before he left to ski instructor school where he got into the creative side of skiing. From there, he went on to do various interesting jobs from working as an industrial sheep slaughterer to unloading trucks at an H&M warehouse, which by the way he says is “the best job I had… it paid so much!” He also went from a temp position of four days to the accounting department of a bank thanks to his wit and skills. His dream job, of course after being a professional freerider, is to be a test driver for “Top Gear” and he will surely find a way to do just that.

He might have some wild tales to tell about his travels and jobs, but he is just a straight-forward kinda guy that tells you like it is. When asked what other riders may not know about his, he just shrugs and says “I talk a lot, so they know just about everything.” In other words, if you want to know something about Reine, just ask…
 

arrow icone Back to index