Things haven’t slowed down for 17-year-old Sage Kotsenburg. In fact, things continue to speed up for the local snowboarder, and it’s all for the better.

Kotsenburg won a Winter X Games bronze medal in the Big Air snowboarding competition on Jan 30., in Aspen, Colo., an atmosphere he described as “Super gnarly. It was pretty heavy to be on the podium.”

Following his bronze-medal performance, Kotsenburg traveled to Innsbruck, Austria, in early February where he would pull of snowboarding history.

Kotsenburg was invited to participate in the Billabong Air & Style 2011 event and he did so in epic fashion, completing the first-ever cab 1440 double cork in competition.

A double cork features two mid-air off-axis rotations, including a1440, which is four full rotations.

He said he didn’t plan on doing the trick, but going up against one of the sport’s best riders in Canadian Sebastien Toutant, Kotsenburg knew he had a choice to make.

“No one thought of doing it,” he said. “The jump there was so big. No one thought it was possible.

“I figured I might as well (try). I wasn’t scared at all. I figured it shouldn’t be that different. I just winged it.”

After Kotsenburg’s vicious in-air twists and turns ended in a clean landing, he raised both arms in jubilation.

“Jumps are getting bigger,” he said of Big Air. “I think this put me a little bit ahead of the game.”

Most recently, Kotsenburg’s travels took him to Oslo, Norway, where he and two other Americans dominated the Oakley Arctic Challenge. With members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on hand to watch the slopestyle event, Kotsenburg and his fellow Americans put on a clinic. Kotsenburg finished third with an overall score of 86.4, while Chas Guldemond (89.1) and Tyler Flanagan (88.9) took first and second.

“I think it’s super good it happened,” said Kotsenburg of the American sweep in front of members of the IOC.

Next up for the Parkite is a trip to Japan for the Toyota Big Air held in Sapporo.

Kostenburg is unsure whether he’ll use the cab 1440 double cork again this time around; wouldn’t want to risk anything off an unfamiliar jump.

He added that he anticipates close to 50,000 people being in attendance and that he couldn’t be more excited.

“We’ll see when we get there,” he said.

With three more big contests left on his winter schedule and having been gone for almost the past six weeks, Kotsenburg was able to spend one day at home in Park City before jumping on a flight across the Pacific to Japan.

More than anything, Kotsenburg said being able to contribute as part of the professional snowboard community is what makes him the most happy.

“It’s like you’re part of snowboarding,” he said. “You’ve helped it.”