Justin Hebbel Interview, Issue 16.4

Mikey LeBlanc sits Hebbel down and lights his fuse. Peep the data on this East Coast transplant turned SLC rail wrecker - just don't call him Destroyer.

M: Check, check, check ... Hello SNOWBOARDER Magazine readers, this is the Justin Hebbel interview.
J: What's up? This is Justin.

M: I notice that your arms are crossed and you kinda look nervous. Why?
J: I am gripped. I don't like to be asked questions - especially serious ones.

M: So snowboarding is serious?
J: No. Snowboarding is fun.

M: I want to start out by asking you your full name?
J: My full name is Justin Caldwell Hebbel.

M: When and where were you born?
J: January 11th, 1980 in Baltimore, MD.

M: What started you on the road to shredding?
J: Some friends back home got into it and it seemed hella fun. All I was doing before that was drinking so I started riding my senior year of high school.

M: Where did you go snowboarding?
J: We went to Roundtop, PA. The vertical is probably four or five hundred feet. It was icy as shit. I broke my tailbone the first year there. It was all good, I guess.

M: You left home after you graduated high school and moved to Salt Lake. Was that for college or snowboarding?
J: I was going to leave anyways and come out here for snowboarding, but my dad told me he would pay for college when I came out here. I went to college and now I am almost done.

M: Now that you're almost done with college, do you think it is a hoax or a good way to learn stuff?
J: I have learned a lot more snowboarding and meeting people than I have in college. But college is good because it has given me opportunities I wouldn't have had otherwise.

M: Did your parents know that you were still snowboarding out here?
J: My dad knew I was snowboarding, I just don't think he knew I was doing it everyday. My grades were good though, so he was stoked but they started to drop when the snow fell.

M: When did you think you could make it as a pro snowboarder?
J: I guess this year. I am hard on myself. I have had sponsors for two or three years now but it seems like everybody in Salt Lake is sponsored. Things started to change when my video parts came out and I got photos in the magazines. Last year I had a part in Gen-Pop and I was pretty pumped on that. You are never really stoked at the end of the year though because you always want better stuff. Like I hate my new part.

M: Why aren't you happy with it?
J: This year I have a part in Livin' Proof by Finger On Da Trigger. I am not happy with it because I am always thinking ahead. I don't see myself ever being happy with my video part. If I am ever happy with my part then I'd be scared that I have stopped progressing.

M: Last season you got the call to shoot with Mack Dawg and that would have been a big step for you. Why did you stick with Finger On Da Trigger?
J: I guess it was to give those dudes one more year of filming. They have helped me a lot so I felt I owed it to them. I don't think I backtracked at all. This year turned out real good for me. Next year I am doing something different that I can't talk about yet though.

M: In your Livin' Proof part you have a 30-stair switch backside lipslide that is probably the longest one ever done. You also have a 29-stair switch frontside boardslide. Those are pretty progressive tricks. What do you think could make your part better next year?
J: Just getting more tech on longer rails. There are so many things to do and so many variations. I think it is crazy when people say that jibbing can't go anywhere else.

M: Does it ever occur to you that you do some crazy shit?
J: When I try to explain it to people they think I am nuts. I think it is gnarly when I am sitting there shaking on the drop-in ramp. Often after a trick I think, "Oh, that turned out easy." I don't remember it sometimes, like how I did it, and I think I may have gotten lucky.

M: Do you have any rituals before trying a trick?
J: I just visualize my trick and try to commit. If you don't commit you will get broke. If I am not feeling 100 percent than I don't do it. So I definitely know when I am on point and when I am not.

M: How important to you is style on tricks?
J: Style is the most important thing. Who cares if you waddled your way down a rail and got lucky. My definition of style is Marc Frank.

M: What is the difference between a frontside 180 to fakie nosepress and a frontside 160 to overturned noseslide?
J: I guess being sick to being whack, what looks good and what doesn't. The first trick looks sweet and the other doesn't look so good in my eyes. I guess it is where I am from and what I liked to see in snowboarding from the people I admired. I like things either straight on or not at all.

M: Do you ever do contests?
J: Not really. I do the Red Bull Heavy Metal and that event is pretty fun. I don't thrive off of other people doing something in front of me and having to beat them. I am not a very competitive person. You hear that other people do something and you think, "Man, I have to step up," but I definitely don't want to go to the same rail as someone else and do the same trick.

M: How does it feel to be breaking out of the am ranks to semi-pro status? Is it kinda like your birthday?
J: It feels good. Pro, semi-pro, am, for me it doesn't matter so much because they are just titles some team manager gives you. That was a dick thing to say.

M: What are the perils you encountered as an am?
J: I guess it is really hard to get photos as an am. And getting respect. People kinda disregard you and don't really care what you are doing - that kinda sucks. There are so many young dudes that rip and don't get the respect they should.

M: Do you think it is worth walking around saying, "Man, I deserve this or that"?
J: I think that is lame. For the most part you should be humble. If things are meant to be, they will happen.

M: How long do you want to be a pro snowboarder for?
J: I want to do this as long as I'm happy. If I am not happy, I am done. There are so many people who don't seem stoked who keep sticking around. Maybe they like the lifestyle and can't get out of it. Maybe they just like the money. For the most part, when that happens you should just give it up.

M: Do you think sometimes ams are getting held down by pros who aren't as good?
J: I have heard about that but I have never been involved in it. A lot of times it sucks as an am because there are dudes who are super good and people who are older milking their spot and keeping the am from moving up. There are dudes not really doing anything, soaking stuff up. I got lucky because I had a lot of people helping me out. I had Ethan, Cole, Marco and you watching my back.

M: Who is coming up?
J: The main people I see coming up are Darrell Mathes and Jon Kooley. I love riding with both of those dudes. They have super good attitudes and they are both gnarly. Darrell kills the rails and jumps and Kooley is probably the gnarliest rail dude I know. Then there is this young kid, Justin Benny, who is 16. People will be seeing him for years to come.

M: If you died today what do you think will be said at your funeral?
J: I would hope that it was real stuff and wasn't fake. A lot of times people seem to be overly honest or overly fake at funerals. I like to think that they would say I was a nice guy, but I think people would talk about my laugh. Then people would probably say that I was a smart-ass or maybe even a dick. That is what I'd like people to say, I guess. If I died today I wouldn't be bummed because right now I am having the time of my life.