Hjalte Halberg is a father, a brand owner, and a skateboarder from Copenhagen, Denmark. Coming up in an underrecognized Northern European skate scene, Hjalte earned global recognition for his skill with appearances in more than a decade of videos with Swedish skateboarder Pontus Alv’s company Polar Skateboards. He first achieved professional status with Polar in the early 2010s, and remained a staple of the team until announcing his departure at the beginning of 2024. Shortly after leaving Polar, Halberg joined Antonio Durao in becoming the first two professionals on Emilio Culian’s newly formed Hardbody Skateboards brand, based out of New York City. He’s also one of the brains behind Dancer, his company co-founded with two other friends in Copenhagen in 2020.
Full feature in Issue 12, Living Proof Magazine. Join the Living Proof Patreon for monthly magazines, books and full episodes of Living Proof Radio.
How did your life change after having kids and how do you balance being a pro and a father?
Wow, that’s a big question. Everything changed when I had kids. My whole view of the world and everything around me changed. The way you look at time is so different. Sometimes I ask myself what I was doing with all that time before I had kids. I wasn’t doing much, I was just out on the streets all day, hanging out, skating random stuff. I really miss that, just being out without a plan and no specific tricks or spots to film at. I still try to do that, but I’ve become more productive and professional after having kids. I feel like I get the same things done on my skateboard, but with an extra life next to it, with two kids and a wife.
I really have to plan everything now. A lot less traveling. It has forced me to look way more into the local scene and spots, and I like that a lot. I’ve lurked for more spots the last three years than ever before in my life. I used to be that lazy guy at the plaza. I still am, but a little less, hehehe.
I lost the spark, and the more I thought about it, the more fresh energy Hardbody gave me.
-Hjalte Halberg
Why do you cry on airplanes?
Hahahaha, I don’t know, man. There is just something melancholic about leaving a place. When you are on the way somewhere, you open up your mind or something. Music and film on airplanes just hit way harder. I love crying on airplanes though.
Why did you name your company Dancer?
Skating is like a dance. It’s not just about being good. It’s also about swag, style, and having fun. It’s about freeing your mind, letting the ground move your body.
Can you describe how you think Instagram changed skateboarding, more specifically, what it was like growing up skating in Copenhagen pre-internet, and then how social media cooked the industry?
First of all, it used to be almost impossible to make a living off skateboarding in Europe. If it’s the internet or a stronger board brand culture, it’s hard to say. Probably a mix. But I really don’t think Instagram is doing skateboarding a favor.
I was thinking the other day how we all used to post all these fun, easy tricks when we were out skating on Instagram, but that’s kinda what I want to see in a skate video now. I don’t care about the hardest-looking tricks, I want what looks good and flows naturally. So I’m really trying to save some fun, flowy tricks for real videos and not care about Instagram.
I also get really burnt out on people who just post skate clips of themselves all day. You lose interest in them, and when their skate part finally drops you don’t really get excited. It’s a hard balance. But most of my favorite skaters either don’t have Instagram or don’t really post any skating. Less is more. For real.
I try not to worry about it, but it is not easy.
If you could ask yourself one question, what would it be and what’s your answer?
A lot of people ask me: How come you still love skating so much and still try to do it as much as you can?Because I mostly don’t go skating with a plan or a certain outcome. I honestly still skate to enjoy myself and fool around. Maybe even more to forget about myself and others. As cheesy as it may sound.
What made you decide to leave Polar and join Hardbody, a NYC skate team with only one other pro rider?
I was on Polar for more than 10 years and it was epic. Being that close with Pontus and Polar for that many years was a great journey. I learned so much about building up a brand and just skateboard branding in general. But as the brand grew bigger and bigger, I lost the spark and we had some disagreements on how to do things.
Then during this DANCER x HARDBODY collab, EJ (owner of HARDBODY) was joking about me getting on HARDBODY. I was always telling myself that I was going to be on Polar for life, but the more I thought about it, the more it kind of sparked me with new fresh energy. When I then heard Antonio Durao was down for it as well, I got even more hyped on the idea. I love his crazy energy. Also, I’m getting older, and if I was ever going to change sponsors, now was the time. The way EJ does HARDBODY is different and interesting. It’s mysterious, no Instagram, small team. A bit like back in the days. He is not rushing things and really cares about what we are making.
Can you tell me more about Halberg Cider and what makes it special?
Seven years ago, my parents bought this extremely cheap, rugged house on a weird little island south of Copenhagen for no money. They are renovating the place, and they want to move there when they get too old to work one day.
Me and my brothers have obviously been going there a lot to help out and to be with our family. It turns out this island delivers most of the best apples in all of Denmark. There are apple trees everywhere. Every garden has apple trees, and a lot of people on the island don’t really eat or use their apples. So now we’ve talked to a bunch of people and friends on the island, and they let us pick all the fruit we want from the ground. One of the best cider apples is actually best if you let it lay in the grass for some time before pressing it. So we basically have endless apples for free. We just press as much juice as we can during this one-week holiday we have in Denmark every fall. Then we just let it ferment and put it in wine bottles in the summertime. It’s really grimy homemade vibes but tastes excellent.
We’ve had plenty of wine and cider nerds test it and everyone loves it, so I guess we are doing something right. It’s really dry and full of bubbles like champagne. It also gets you drunk. Last year we made 700 bottles. Maybe we will sell some one day, hahaha.
Favorite skate video?
That’s impossible to answer. Some of the skaters I have watched the most on video are probably Mike Carroll, John Cardiel, Grant Taylor, and Dennis Busenitz.
Favorite Danish food?
Falafel
Favorite song in a skate part?
Wu-Tang
Favorite restaurant in Copenhagen?
Gaza Grill… Free Palestine!!!
Photos & Interview by Theophilos Constantinou.
Read the full interview with Hjalte Halberg in Living Proof Magazine Issue 12, , available on the Living Proof Patreon and Online Shop.
