[Above: Suomi style in Riksgransen. Photo: Jani Karppa]

It seemed that from one day to the next you went from contest machine to sacking it all off and concentrating on the backcountry. How did this come about? How much powder had you been riding before this?

When I went to Chile for a World Cup back in 2002 I got to ride real powder for the first time. I remember having the best feeling ever and I even skipped contest training because of the pow. From then on I started to go to Japan almost every season for competitions and stayed there for a bit longer just to shred the trees in Hokkaido. First time I ever got a chance to film in pow was in Japan 2006. From there on it started to evolve the way that I would always skip February from contests and only ride powder in Japan and film. Riding in the trees and jumping in pow was quite familiar to me but real mountains were something that I only started to explore more later on. Reading the terrain and understanding the snow to be able to ride bigger mountains was something that I was not feeling comfortable with at all at first – that kind of snowboarding was just out of this world for where I was coming from. But at the same time it was so interesting because to be able to do that I needed to change my perspective fully. In the past I had been just charging into my riding with the mindset that only more spins and airtime mattered, but when I entered in to the mountains I had to start think about each move I would make with my snowboard. That was very interesting to me, because through that I actually started to realise the real potential in where I could take my own riding.

Were you ever secretly relieved you quit contests before double and triple corks became the norm?

Not really, because I think that progression is super important. It was just my time to really define and prove to myself what kind of snowboarder I wanted to be and I knew that competitions were just one part of it – a very important part and if I would need to make these calls again I would go to compete for sure. Through competitions and touring the circuit I learned a lot of things that I can still use today when I’m in the backcountry. That sort of perseverance that competitors need to be successful still drives me a lot. That fire is in there but the focus on what kind of riding I want to do with it has changed.

“It would be great if in the future there would be a tour that would really crown the best overall freestyle snowboarders, and not only the ones who do slope or pipe.”

What do you make of the standard you have to be at these days to compete at the top? Do you ever miss the feeling you got when competing?

I do miss competing sometimes, but luckily there are a bunch of grass roots contests nowadays where you can still go compete and have a good time. But the circuit itself… I don’t really miss that so much. All of those Air & Styles and Toyota Big airs were damn fun times, on and off the board [laughs]. I have to say that I’m very happy I got be part of those radical events! But nowadays riders are doing mainly one discipline in contests. I think the level in pipe and slope has gotten so high that it’s very hard to keep up with both which, in my opinion, is a shame. I think one reason for this is the fact that whole snowboarding competition circuit is quite hard to figure out because there is no strong tour right now in snowboarding. I mean there are a lot of well-organised competitions but one prestige tour is missing. It would be great if in the future there would be a tour that would really crown the best overall freestyle snowboarders, and not only the ones who do slope or pipe. I mean, of course you need to have world champs for each discipline, but a real overall rider crowning is super important. The way that it’s done in WSL is perfect example of a great tour where you can’t really know who will win it until the last contest is done. This is because you need to be able to surf everything, not only do well in barrels you know.

[Below: Charging lines on a secret Swedish peak. Photo: Jani Karppa]

Antiout was the first web series/movie you produced, five years back. How much of a learning process was that for you? 

It was a crazy learning process. Riding-wise I was dreaming about bombing down the biggest mountains and doing Methods, but the truth was that I just was not ready for it back then. I fast realised that I needed to do a lot of work on that side of things so I focused a lot on freestyle on that movie still. During that year I ended up spending over a month in Tamok, Norway. I learned a lot during that time and after the northern hemi winter was done I went to NZ to really learn more about mountains. Producing-wise it was a lot of to deal with at first because I needed to start organising lot of things that did not really involve snowboarding anymore: flights for filmers, accommodation, heli time, guides, music rights and bunch of negotiations to get better deals for media just to name few things. I also quickly realised that to make it happen the way I wanted, I would need to invest some of my own money and not only be dependent about my sponsors. Of course, their support is the biggest in each project but there will always be opportunities or outcomes that you have take care of yourself.

“I was dreaming about bombing down the biggest mountains and doing Methods, but the truth was that I just was not ready for it back then.”

Antiout was followed by Relate to It, Approach and Attack, and now Statements, which is now in its second year. How did you evolve each project into the next? How do they differ?

I think that during filming for Antiout I was able create some very important relationships that still are alive today. For example in New Zealand I have been working with same guide company, Southern Lakes Heliski, for the past five years. With these relations I have been able to plan better things for each video we have made. Snowboarding-wise every movie and edit we have been doing has gone much more into freeriding. Freestyle will always be part of the videos, but moving more towards freeriding has come very naturally to me since that has really been one of my main goals as a snowboarder.

[Above: Drawing lines. Photo: Jani Karppa]

What can you tell us about Finnish Columbia – aka Pyhä? Looks like you scored there big time. Is the snow different there compared to other places in Finland?

We found this spot that looked like interior BC terrain and named it Finnish Columbia, but that was just one of those cool discovery moments that I ended up having a lot of in Pyhä last year. This place is just filled with world-class terrain and during our time there I feel like we only scratched the surface! Snow over there was just incredible, it was said that it was the best snow year in 25 years up in north. Base was perfect and some of the stuff we rode was even sluffing, which was super crazy. I mean I was riding lines in Finland and there was sluff! This place is 90-minute car drive from my home, I just could not believe it! Snowboarding and filming in Pyhä last season was the highlight for me and that is why it is the last chapter of Statements! After you’ve see how good the snow can be in Finland you’ll just really want to consider making a trip to Pyhä!

This winter is nearly upon us. Same again? Or do you have other projects you want to focus on?

All I can say is that I have some very interesting plans for the upcoming season! New project is coming…

[Below: Making Statements in Sweden. Photo: Jani Karppa]