When asked what his ultimate goal in snowboarding is, Norway’s Gjermund Braaten doesn’t even hesitate. “I want to learn as many tricks as possible,” says the 20-year old pro rider. And from the looks of his riding, he’s chasing that goal down at a furious pace. Over the past few seasons, Gjermund—pronounced Yermun—has been playing hard to stay one step ahead of the competition in the flippy, twirly world of of pro slopestyle competition.  He began the season with a victory in Switzerland at the prestigious Freestyle.CH event. Edging out the stacked rider field with a squeaky clean double-cork 12, he seemed poised for another strong season on the contest tour. As fate would have it though, he went down hard in a contest practice session in December and was sidelined with a shoulder injury. But fast-forward two months to the 2011 Oakley Arctic Challenge and the young Viking was back in the battle. Long winters spent riding homemade backyard parks around his rural town of Torpo in Norway combined with three years of study and training at a snowboard school in nearby Geilo, have made Gjermund into a shredding machine.  Just three weeks after his return from injury, the kid stomped all four double-cork tens in one session, then proceeded to learn the elusive Cab 12 double. And that was last week—by now, who knows what he’s learned …