Heaven is a halfpipe
He started on a BMX bike in his mom’s backyard but on a skateboard, he became a champion.
He is a professional skateboarder.
He is nicknamed “The Danish Destroyer”.
His name is Rune Glifberg.
”When you finally get to your goal, it’s very rewarding”
Rune Glifberg
Born October 7th 1974 in Copenhagen Denmark
Professional skateboarder for 35 years
Built a career in California where he lived for 17 years.
Creates and designs skateboard parks under the name Glifberg + Lykke
Rune Glifberg has been on a roll for the past 35
years, and he is not about to stop. To this day, Rune is one of the best
skateboarders in the world, having competed in every X-Games since its
beginning in 1995, winning 12 X-Games medals, and two World Championships – to
name a few of his triumphs. Today, he has taken on a different kind of
profession designing and creating skateparks around the globe. He founded the
business, Glifberg + Lykke, with his architect friend and together they have
built a portfolio of innovative “Skateboarding Spaces” all over the world.
For 17 years, Rune lived the dream in California,
doing what he loved the most; skateboarding, competing, and making a name for
himself. But in 2012, he found his way back to his roots. Now, he has nested in
his hometown of Copenhagen in Denmark where he lives with his family.
Les Deux met the source of inspiration for a casual
conversation about the past, present and the future.
Rune Glifberg
On taking a chance in life
“When I first moved to California, I was kind of in the mindset that this would be cool to experience for a couple of years. I had no idea that it was going to be sort of a permanent thing, and that I would be there for 17 years. At that point, skateboarding was so important to me that it was all I wanted to do. I wasn’t really worried about what I left behind back in Copenhagen. I wanted to go out and venture out into the world and experience new things.”
On doing what you love
"Like skateboarding, once my interest for certain things has been sparked, I definitely get kind of obsessive about it. It might be just little things that doesn’t last for years and years. For example, it might be mastering some software on the computer, or maybe a specific object, or other creative things that I want to get into. Like getting into shooting photos or designing skateparks and all these other things. I definitely get obsessive with what I am doing at a particular time. That helps keep me motivated in that area too. Then it’s all that I think about."
On design and skateparks
“Our inspiration for skateparks or whatever projects. we are working on usually comes from the given situation. You must feed into what is happening around the project. What kind of project is it? Where is it? How are the people that are going to be using it? How are they going to use it? I think you can draw inspiration from a lot of different places. As far as skateboarding goes, I try to imagine in my head what some of my favourite skateboarders would appreciate in a project like this. How are they going to use the space that I am trying to create?”
On life lessons
"As you get older, you need something to ground you a little bit more. Something that is a bit more real as opposed to life in California. I think Copenhagen has a lot to offer in that sense. I think growing up in Copenhagen has been great for me, and I want my kids to share some of those experiences.”
