TO WATCH
White Hot
An extreme sports wunderkind has a slew of new tricks BY ALISON CLARE STEINGOLD
A
t the modest home near Chateau Marmont where Olympian Shaun White resides, there will never be enough mantles for even a “bestof” his awards in both snowboarding and skate: two Olympic golds (2006, 2010), five-peat gold in the X Games, summer and winter Dew Cups and five Espys. After all, the 25-year-old has been sponsored by Burton since age seven, the same age when he was discovered at the skate park by Tony Hawk (pro in both sports by 16). He has had plenty of years to rack up the trophies. Since scoring a historic perfect 100 on his “victory” lap in the SuperPipe at February’s X Games in Aspen, the Carlsbad native has relished time spent in L.A. off the slopes. A portable ramp White purchased last year should prove invaluable as he segues to skateboarding season and preps for the upcoming X Games Los Angeles at the Staples Center/ Nokia Live this June 28. “I have to learn something brand-new in a short period to beat what they’ve [his competitors] been working on all winter,” he says. Back in Hollywood, he also makes space for side interests, like cutting his acting teeth in last summer’s Justin Timberlake/Woody Harrelson/ Mila Kunis flick Friends with Benefits, and posing for a dapper campaign with high-style British retailer Mr. Porter. (The sartorial hook is not surprising; he sat front-row at men’s fashion week in Milan, and he’s been designing gear for five years now.) This spring, as he continues to work with his brother Jesse on new projects, we’ll see his latest in Burton outerwear; housewares for Target; just-launched Shaun White Supply Co. hard goods; and his goggles and Holbrook glasses for SoCal-based Oakley. Bloomberg Businessweek’s second “most powerful athlete of 2011”—White is only behind quarterback Peyton Manning—can also lay claim to his own flavor of Stride chewing gum, Whitemint: “We literally sat in a room, and tested, like, 10 different flavors, writing down our thoughts about the gum. I’m super involved in everything I do.” That’s a different skillset from his famed Double McTwist 1260 trick, but no matter what he chooses to do, you can be sure White’s not going anywhere but up. •
FROM TOP White wears his Shaun White Signature Series Holbrook for Oakley. At the 2012 X Games, Aspen. Shredding in L.A. Shaun White Supply Co. Park Complete Blue Skull, $70, shaunwhitesupplyco. com. White, in Acne shirt, Orlebar Brown tee, Maison Martin Margiela trousers and Rivieras shoes, mrporter.com.
PORTRAIT: ANDREW WHITTON PHOTOGRAPHY. SKATEBOARDING: GABRIEL L’HEUREUX. SNOWBOARDING: PETE DEMOS/ESPN IMAGES. WHITE (SEATED): MATT IRWIN/COURTESY OF MR. PORTER
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