The Uvyrdslåmi snowboarding team was founded in the summer of 1987 in Åmot. During the course of the first season, the club took on almost 100 members. Several of them - led by siblings Einar and Åshild Lofthus – quickly established themselves in the snowboarding elite on both the national and international scene. In the autumn of 1987, Håkonsen had his first goes on borrowed boards on the alpine slopes at Rauland and in the fields around his parents’ house in Åmot. In February 1988 he bought his own second hand board, and the month after he participated in the Nordic Championship held at Rauland. Håkonsen won in the junior class, and quickly became part of the team of the Norwegian importer for snowboard manufacturer Burton Snowboards, Elling Balhald. After winning a number of Norwegian competitions in the 1988-1989 season, Håkonsen was invited to meet Craig Kelly at Juvass (Galdhøpiggen Summer Ski Centre). At the time, Kelly was the world's leading and best known snowboarder. Håkonsen has on several occasions said that he regarded Kelly as his mentor. In turn, Kelly saw the boy's potential and put him in touch with his sponsor, Burton Snowboards. At the age of 15, Håkonsen travelled to the USA by himself and negotiated his first professional contracts with Burton and Oakley. Håkonsen completed the final year of lower secondary school and then took the decision, due to the contracts, not to apply to upper secondary school.