How I got started

Rob Kingwill is a life long shredder. Rob grew up in riding Rendezvous Mountain, otherwise known as Jackson Hole. Jackson is quite the proving grounds, the terrain is insane and the other riders there are so good; it takes a lot to get to the top of that heap! After high school Rob went to school at Montana State University in Bozeman. I would refer to it as the University of Bridger Bowl but Rob managed to graduate with honors and moved right into the snowboard circuit. In the late 90s and early part of this millennium he consistently placed in the top 10 of the Grand Prixs, X Games, Triple Crowns and other such contests. Rob was often seen on the podium and even beat Terje at the 1998 US Open to take the title. An injury set him back a little in the 02-03 season. He came back with much less of an emphasis on the contest circuit. He took a top ten in a Grand Prix tour this year, reaching his goal of thowing FS 10`s in a contest, but Jackson Hole had such an epic year, he kind of gave up on the contests to freeride. When I rode with him in early April, he said the last pipe he rode was in January. Tough life. So lets see what is up with him, post contest fury. (borrowed from snowboardrevolution.com)

Name: Rob Kingwill, Kinger

Sponsors:  Avalon7, Arbor, The North Face, Smith, Giro, Grenade, Jackson Hole, World Boards Shop, Bluebird, Skullcandy

Years Riding: As long as Shaun White has been alive...

Home:Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Stance: Regular, 18, -9, 22 inches centered

Set Up (angles):

Websites:www.avalonseven.com, www.myspace.com/avalon7, www.myspace.com/avalonseven

Goals for the Future

I am going to continue to ride in the Grand Prix Halfpipe series, return to the Banked Slalom, and film my ass off with Avalon7, TGR and Big Bang in Jackson Hole.

Do you train? What does your schedule look like?

What were you up this past 05/06 season? I started out coaching at the Camp of Champions, then Windells, then I went straight to New Zealand to train pipe in Snowpark, which what amazing. After that I went to Chile for the first World Cup of the year, where I got ripped off by the judges but still got 4th. Antti Autti offered to give me his 3rd place prize money because he was so bummed on the judging (thanks buddy), but that is how contests go, you win some and lose some. After that I went back to JH, riding the sick early season pow we had at Grand Targhee. Next I went to Breckenridge for the Grand Prix, and made finals but crashed twice in finals. Home to ride pow in JH, then off to Mt Bachelor for the third GP, then to Breck to train, then to New Jersey for GP finals, which was sooo fun because of the insane crowd we had. I landed some of the best runs of my life there, dialing in my FS 1080s the night before the contest and throwing them down the next day. I was so stoked! The second contest got postponed because of wind, instead of doing a chill night contest we had to ride ice death at 7 am the next morning, and start competing by 8am! Some of the other guys just cruised it, doing straight airs, but I decided I came out to throw down, and I did- FS air, BS 900, FS 1080, cab 720, FS 900, method. Best back to back run of my life. I got 11th, but I didn`t care because I stepped it up for myself and not the judges. After that feeling of doing what I came to do, I really didn`t need to do another pipe contest for a while, so I went home to try and become what I always wanted to become- a class A freerider. That story goes on and on, but having the opportunity to stay home and ride my favorite mountain in the world for 2 months was one of the greatest things I have ever done. Somewhere in there I found time to go to the Legendary Mt Baker Banked and get 3rd (I want to win that one sooo bad!), and place first in the Canis Lupis Banked Slalom at the Canyons and first at the Dicks Ditch Banked Slalom in Jackson. I rode everyday this spring, shooting when it was sunny and just exploring the endless backcountry around Jackson. Life is good. Now I am back at Camp of Champions and the park is the best I have every seen, and the cycle begins again!

US Open Halfpipe Champion, Overall US Grand Prix Champion, World Championships Bronze Medalist, Goodwill Games Bronze Medalist, X-games Bronze Medalist, Gravity Games Silver Medalist, Legendary Baker Banked Bronze Medalist, 7 World Cup wins, 20+ podiums, 2 Niketown Billboards, 3 consecutive Warren Miller films, Bud Lite commercial aired during the Olympics, a cameo in Zoolander, and has become a virtual fixture on RSN through his Quickhits series