Scroll Call: An End of Season Chat With LJ Henriquez
We sat down with LJ Henriquez, #BurtonTeam Rider to recap a killer season.
From spontaneous bangers to X Games podiums, LJ has been on an absolute tear this season. We caught up with him to talk Swatch Nines, landing dream tricks out of nowhere, and what it’s really like to ride in front of 20,000 screaming fans.
What was your favorite trip this season?
Definitely Swatch Nines. I grew up watching it on YouTube, so getting invited felt crazy—like the craziest feeling ever. The setup was insane—everywhere you looked was epic. They told us to “find the best line,” and I’m just like, what line? I’m just going big regardless.
Any tricks you were especially hyped on?
Yeah, I landed a back cork 8 onto the rail, plus a few others on that same feature. I hadn’t planned it—never even tried that trick before—it just happened that day. It’s just a creative setup. There were different ways you could hit it. You didn’t only have to hit it from the front. You could use the lip of the rail to jump to the right or to the left, and that thing was so much fun to do.
Literally whatever trick—it could be a normal street trick or a jump trick on it—whatever.
Another clip of yours that I was thinking about was that 360 double backflip knuckle huck thing you did—where did that come from?
Haha yeah. The cab five double small heel catch. Same thing as Nines—it just happened that day. I was doing some cab fives on the knuckle and I was like, I think I could get two around, and I tried and I got two around. So I was like, “I can dub out of that,” and everyone just looked at me like I was crazy, like, “What do you mean double out that?”
It made sense in my head.
It worked for the most part… until I went to open up and I was looking straight uphill and I was like, “Oh Lord.”
You got an invite to X Games this year…
Yeah, so I barely got the invite to X—like two or three days before. They were like, Okay, you’re in. I was like, Alright, let’s get it.
Get to practice. It’s going amazing.
Get to the comp. I’m just landing everything. Everything’s working. I’m not falling. I’m not falling.
Comp starts, I land all four runs. I’m in first place. And then the fifth run, I fall. Then Frank goes to first… but I’ll take a second.
But yeah, that got me the invite to the Street Style finals at X Games.
Heavy Metal in Boston looked insane — what was that like, riding in front of such a massive crowd?
Yeah, it was quite a lot more people than X Games that day. I had to turn my music off. I was getting sick trying to block everyone out, and I had to listen to everyone.
I would forget everyone was there, and then I’d look up and see thousands of people and just instantly freak out.
It was just the craziest thing ever to stomp your trick and look up and everyone was just screaming, yelling — and like, 10 of the 20,000 people there probably drunk out of their minds.
Tell me a little bit about that kink rail battle and just how it felt actually riding away from that.
Yeah, that was insane. I wanted to go sideways through it originally, and I hit the second kink maybe twice, and both times almost blew to my face. And it was like… just nah.
So I was trying to back 50. All of practice was not working — didn’t get a single one — and then in the calm, I go for it. First, I got halfway… another try, I land in the last stairset, and then I’m like, alright, this is the one.
I go back 50 and I’m like, “oh shit, I’m at the end — have to do something.”
So I back one out, and that was it.
I didn’t touch anything for the rest of the session.
How was it at your first Culture Shifters?
It was kind of just insane being able to go and watch everyone have a good time the whole time they were there.
Everyone was just stoked to be around each other, and even if it was their first time riding, they were just as hyped to ride as the people who have been riding their whole life.
Everyone was so stoked to be there, and everyone just wanted to be there as much as the next person.
Any standout moments?
It’s just crazy seeing people who’ve never snowboarded get so hyped — and it’s like, a year later, they’re still trying and stuff. It’s pretty dope.
There’s this guy, Kid Ulu. I used to watch his skate clips on Instagram and TikTok, and I saw him and was like, “I know who you are! Do you make the skate videos?!” He was like, “Yeah.”
And I was just watching him snowboard and watching him progress — and that’s insane to see. He was enjoying it so much. He got bodied and got back up, and I was just like, “Hell yeah.”
Who’s the most active in the TDI group chat?
Haha, definitely Irie. Or maybe Rob. I barely say anything — I just pop in and out. F*** Rob for saying it’s me.
Did you get to film much with the crew this year?
Not as much as I wanted. I was caught up in comps all season. Next year, I really want to focus on filming — I’m hungry to get a proper part out.
What’s one thing you always pack when hitting the road?
My stuffed animal — no question. It’s a wolf I got from Great Wolf Lodge when I was four or five. His name’s Haru. My uncle used to scare the sh** out of me at family functions by holding me outside the door and yelling “Haru!” for no reason, so the name stuck. I almost lost him on the way to Mammoth and had a full panic. I left him at a hotel in Winter Park, realized halfway there, and had to call my coach to save him.
That thing always comes with me.