Terje Haakonsen x Casio G-Shock Riseman

Terje Haakonsen is a world famous snowboarder. He rides for Burton Snowboards and was the initiator of the Oackley Arctic Challence.
The official Burton Snowboards website starts his bio:

"What can be said about Terje that hasn’t been said already? Right when you think the guy has set to simmer, he reappears, guns blazing. Need proof? Then check out “It’s Always Snowing Somewhere,” Burton’s latest team video. Co-founder of The Arctic Challenge and all around versatile bloke, Terje secret just may be the healthy, organic lifestyle that he promotes. Fueled by a constant flow of Omega-3’s, Terje’s off snow time (which is ample when you consider that he only rode a handful of days last season) is spent chilling with his family, growing veggies, surfing, playing soccer, and kneading dough in his organic bakery/café. Not too shabby for dude who was born in a taxi."
Photo credit: Burton Snowboards

In 1993, 1995 and 1997 Terje won the I.S.F. World Championship half-pipe and won a lot of other prices. In 2007 he set the highest air (9.80 m) during a qualification doing a backside 360.


In January 1998 Casio honored Terje by releasing a signature series series of 5 DW-004BD X-Treme models (X-Treme is the Japanese variant of the G-Lide series). In January 1999 a new Terje Haakonsen signature series was released. This time Casio used the Master of G for Altitude, the Riseman. Not less than 4 different versions were released.
To be complete, in 2000 a Terje Haakonsen Wademan was released. It might be a confusing model, since it says Haaken on the watchband and his signature (saying Haakon) in the EL backlight. Haakonsen means "Son of Haakon, which might explain this.
The Terje Haakonsen version is different from the basic version. Where the basic version has straps made of leather and parachute cloth, this model has a high comfortable rubber strap. The longest end seems longer than normal, probably made to fit over your jacket in the snow. The green parts of the strap are translucent, so that light can play with it. The crystal is a little sphered, which makes it, like the Raysman, harder to make good photo's with no reflections. In my opinion these reflections do not affect reading the display under normal outdoor and indoor circumstances.
I have two of the Terje Haakonsen Riseman. My first one is an unworn red version, this one is a worn grey/green version. The exact model number is DW-9100BD-8AT.
The module number of this Riseman is 1664. This is the Japanese Riseman module, that cannot switch to imperial units.

A nice touch from Casio are the metal buttons. I actually suspect these are metallic plastic buttons, but they look very real. Although this watch has been worn quite a lot, there seems no trace of wear on the butttons.
A returning theme on this Riseman are cats. Snow leopards to be more precise. There are paws on the end of the strap and the strap keeper is a cat's face.
Even funnier, if you look at the back, there is even a funny cat's tail (nice detail).
The snow leopard also comes back in EL backlight of 3 of the 4 models (the red version shows Terje in one of his jumps).
The Riseman has two sensors. The most important (if you want to call yourself a Riseman) is the barometer sensor. The other sensor is the Thermometer sensor. The barometer sensor is very accurate and because of this accuracy, it can be used to measure altitude differences.
This sounds pretty awesome, but there are two "buts". First a barometric sensor is not only air pressure dependent, but also temperature dependent. Well, Casio solved that problem easy. It has also a thermometer on board. I hope it can operate in Terje's habitat, the minimum working temperature of the watch is -20ºC. Second, if you want a accurate reading of your Altitude, you need to set your altitude. If the weather is stable, you can use the Altimeter function for many hours. Since air pressure always changes, your altitude readings change too if you do not set it for a long time. Still barometric altimeters are the most reliable, though GPS based altimeters can be an alternative.
The Riseman also has a recorder function on board, which can store 50 time-altitude-temperature datasets. When the recorder is activated, a sample is taken every 15 minutes, so you can maximal record 12.5 hour trips.
The basic functions on the Riseman are in fact sober. Just one alarm and a 24h Stopwatch.I bought this watch from a good friend and a colleague teacher. I think I paid around $100.- - $125.- (shipped) for this watch, which is in my opinion a good price.
As you can see on the back, you can understand why this series is called the Terje Haakonsen signature series. His signature is engraved on the titanium backplate. The 4 small bulbs on the back protector are probably there for ventilation.
There it is again, the snow leopard. The returning cat theme is a wink to Terje's amazing high jumps. Like a cat falling from hight, he always returns on his "feet" (board).