Kareem El Rafie Online Interview

Today we have had a nice talk with Kareem El Rafie – yes, the Sweden rails killer you saw in “That” and “They Came From” just to name a few, and definitively one of the most representative rider of the Nordic shred gotha. Well, sit down and enjoy this super nice exclusive itw!

Hi Kareem! Stoked to have you on Candiesmagazine! Drop in: age, years of riding, and hometown

27 years, been riding for 13 years, Stockholm

Sponsors and hook ups:
Endeavour, Colour wear, Thirtytwo, Spy, Fl-clothing, Ethnies, Blue Tomato, Väsjöbacken

I guess everyone already knows the story behind your switch from Forum in favor of Endeavor Snowboard, so I hope you don’t mind if I skip this one. My question is far more complex: do you think that nowadays snowboarding is still “riders\riding driven” or it’s up to business and managers focused on following the latest trends and pushing the profits of their big corporations?

Unfortunately the trends im seeing and the where the industry is going are becoming more and more like you said, commercialized and corporate driven. It seems like the industry is heading further and further from the roots and the real soul of snowboarding.

Can you still remind the first time you rode your board? How did you realize that it was going to turn out into a career?

Like it was yesterday. Won’t ever forget the feeling I had and the rush I got from boarding and I knew I was hooked for life. I guess I realized it was turning into a career when I started reciving money to go board.

You’re also running your own business with Frontline (check out the official website! www.flsnow.com). How was this project born? and what’s your aim\purpose with this brand?

It started of just as any friend crew like the other. We started printing out own t-shirts for fun and giving them away to our riders and selling them to friends.

Read full story at http://www.candiesmagazine.com