Torstein+Horgmo

    Torstein Horgmo was born on February 18, 1987, in Trondheim, Norway. He is a professional snowboarder who competes in events such as big air and slopestyle. Torstein started snowboarding in 1999 at the age of 12. His career kicked off when he signed by the DC snowboarding team when he was 18 years old. DC signed him to the amateur snowboarding team; the pros at this time were some of the best riders in the world (Travis Rice, Todd Richards, Travis Parker and Eddy Wall to name a few of them). He started competing in the Swatch TTR World Tour in the 2007 season, placing four times out of six events. After riding with Travis Rice and Todd Richards, Torstein’s freestyle trick arsenal started to pile up with learning a trick such as a 1080 which was very difficult at the time. In the 2009 season Torstein made a name for himself by winning Winter X Game Best Trick by defeating his fellow Team mate Travis Rice while still be considered an amateur. Torstein trained over the summer and it showed. In the 2009 winter season Torstein beat Shawn White in the Dew Tour Slopestyle Competition. Shawn, the previous season, won the Dew Tour Slopestyle competition. Torstein yet again placed on the podium in the 2009 and 2010 winter X games big air. He took second place and was defeated both times by team mate Travis Rice, who now is one of the biggest names in snowboarding along with Shawn White. In the 2010 season Torstein learned how to spin a switch 1260 which landed him a spot on the pro DC snowboarding team. This winter season (2011), at the age of 23 Torstein is showing the world of snowboarding why he deserves to be crowned the best in the sport. To kick the season off with summer riding in Norway, Torstein attempted the first ever triple cork to be landed on film off of a 100 ft jump which he landed on his first attempt. Throughout the 3 stop Dew Tour event Torstein placed all 3 times and was named the Dew Tour Slopestyle Champion. While filming in the back country for DC’s new film “The Storming”, Torstein fell and broke 4 ribs. This happened 3 weeks before the winter X games. Since landing the first ever triple cork on film, Torstein had a lot to prove of himself in the X games big air competition. He continued riding and training with his broken ribs for this event. At the Winter X games big air event Torstein attempted the triple cork twice. The first time he fell but the second time around he stomped the landing and showed the world of snowboarding that it’s a sport that is always evolving. Up to this date the progression in snowboarding is increasing at a rapid rate. Just a few years ago the thought of a 1080 was insane but now the field of riders has progressed so much that landing such things as a 1080, 1260, and double corked variations of those spins are necessary to place in an event. Torstein plays a major part in this ever growing field of riders and the progression of the sport. ** Neo-Analytic Aspects of Personality: Alfred Adler **  Alfred describes two complexes in his Neo Analytic approach. One is the Inferiority complex which is normal feelings of incompetence which makes an individual feel like it is impossible to achieve goals. Torstein has shown some signs of the inferior complex in the past. On his web site, Torstein.net, in one of his videos he goes on about not striving to become the best snowboarder out there but just trying whatever tricks he thinks of at the time and trying to land them. He does care if he fails at doing a trick or not because if he falls or lands a trick that could be the difference between winning and losing. The Inferiority complex is something that all snowboarders deal with because when trying to do a spin or flip in the air the last thing they want to do is fall but falling is involved in the sport. The other complex that Alfred talks about is the superiority complex. The superiority complex is an exaggerated arrogance that an individual develops in order to overcome an inferiority complex. When dealing with broken ribs like Torstein did in Winter X games 2011, he didn’t want to try his triple cork in competition because the jumps weren’t nearly the size he needed them to be for him to pull off the trick. When he fell on the first attempt, he was obviously in pain and didn’t look like he was going to try it again. Since he has a strong mentality he went for it again and made history in Winter X games at 23. Torstein shows an aggression drive which Alfred describes as “an individual is driven to lash out against inability to achieve or master something.” Torstein demonstrates this drive every time he snowboards, he tries to do the best run he thinks is possible and in doing so he manages to win time after time. Torstein also demonstrates the Occupational, Societal and Love tasks that Alfred talks about. Torstein loves snowboarding so much he has made it his job and in doing so he gets paid to do what he loves every day. He is flown to different parts of the globe year round to snowboard and is brought to Olympic training facilities to learn new tricks as his “job”, some desk job huh? Torstein demonstrates the societal and love tasks also threw many different ways. Torstein has his own website and blog spot which he dedicates to snowboarding and basically anything he takes a picture of and videotaped. He also has two Facebook pages, one for his friends and family and the other as his athlete page. He has over 23,000 fans on his athlete page and close to 5000 friends on his Facebook page. In a video, Torstein shows his how to care for the one that you love, in this case her name is Nicole and she’s Torstein’s partner and money maker. ([]) ** Torstein and the Big Five ** In chapter 8 of our book we discussed the contemporary trait approach which describes five traits that a human being can show. The five are: Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness. Torstein’s personality is high in Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Openness. Extroversion is the trait that people tend to be energetic, enthusiastic, dominant, sociable, and talkative. Torstein displays all of these traits every time he is on TV or in a video. Torstein shows agreeableness through all the friends and people he has meet throughout his years of snowboarding. I have personally talk to him before and he is very kind and tries to be as friendly as possible, even though he uses sarcasm here and there. He displays Openness in his style of snowboarding. If you have never seen this kid ride a snowboard before I suggest you watch some of his videos. He is one of the most energetic snowboarders to watch. Torstein doesn’t display Conscientiousness or Neuroticism because in the sport of snowboarding you can’t be cautious or nervous because if you are you will fall and seriously hurt yourself. ** Discussion ** Torstein Horgmo is one of the top snowboarders and he shows it though all the things that he has accomplished so far in his career. Torstein displays Alfred Adler’s Neo Analytic aspects of personality every time he snowboards. He tries to do the best he can do and in doing so he has proven to be the best in the sport. He displays three out of the five big traits that a person who does his job would need. He is very energetic, sociable, friendly, and artistic in his way of snowboarding and life. In the upcoming winter Olympics they are hoping to add two new sports Slopestyle and Big air for both skiing and snowboarding. Torstein competes in both so hopefully when watching the Winter Olympics in 2014 you’ll remember what I have discussed and actually get to see him do his thing live on TV. ** Links ** Here are some YouTube links to check out what I’ve talked about. [] [] [] [] ** References ** Friedman, H.S. & Schustack, M.W. (2009). //Personality // (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson Higher Torstein.net [] []
 * Torstein Horgmo **
 * Biography **