EERO ETTALA Interview

Eero Ettala is arguably the best all-around rider in snowboarding today. On the forefront of the creative progression of our sport, Eero has made a name for himself since his voyage to the US of A a few years ago from his homeland of Finland. Soft-spoken and rather quiet, his riding couldn’t be more contradictory to his mild-mannered disposition. From backcountry to street rails to any-and-all things transition, you can rest assured that Eero can slay it. Have a seat with one of the biggest names in our sport as he talks the talk on Finnish cuisine, recovering from knee surgery and filming for Mack Dawg’s fall release, Picture This. Fresh off a stop-by at the SNOWBOARDER offices, Eero lets it all out, even when the camera is off and the recorder is red.

-Tom Monterosso

TM: You’re recovering from knee surgery. How’s that going?
EE: Pretty good. It was a lot of rehab for the first couple months, but I’m getting into skating again, so [it’s been] a little less gym and a little more skating. I figured that if my knee is feeling good, then I should be doing stuff [like skating] before the season starts, so I can count on my leg and feel comfortable, you know?

Sure. How did you jack your knee?
I was riding this wooden handrail in Finland, doing a backlip, and I actually landed it, but when I did, I heard my knee pop, and that was it.

No way.
Yeah. It was a lot of compression cause it was [a] super steep rail, and I was landing on ice, like a frozen lake, so it was pretty crazy; a lot of impact.

How was your season filming with Mack Dawg?
It was really good; definitely one of my good seasons. It was way different from last year. I’m not gonna have as many bangers as I had last year, but I did different kinds of stuff, like more creative stuff, cause I was kinda bored. I didn’t wanna do just another front board but add 10 stairs, cause I thought I could’ve done that last year. If I saw a rail, I wanted to think about how I could ride it differently, you know? [Then], when people see those shots they’re gonna think “Whoa, that was cool. I’ve never seen that done before.”

That’s what pushes snowboarding. When you have something in front of you and you think how you can make it more unique and progressive.
Yeah, thinking differently. And also it seems fun, and it makes the kids think more creatively too, when they see that other stuff is possible when you find a rail that only has 20 stairs. it doesn’t have to be [a rail with] stairs, it can be anything.

There has been rumor of a switch triple backflip attempt during a Mack Dawg shoot at Bear. Is that legit, or is it merely a rumor?
Yeah, I probably tried it four or five times, and I was really close, I almost landed it, but at the time, my knee was jacked and I had no ACL when I was riding, so I kinda hurt it again a little bit. That was in the middle of the season, and I was thinking “It doesn’t have to be this jump, I can just do it on the next big jump,” but the end of the season was really bad and we didn’t have any other good jumps [to try it], so I’m kinda bummed I didn’t get to do it.

Did you spend most of your time filming in the States?
I spent about 1 and a half months filming in Finland and three months in the States. I film all of my handrail stuff in Finland and when I’m done with handrails, I come to the States to film all my jump shots.

What’s the one thing that you miss about home when you’re in the States?
Pretty much my family and friends. The snowboarding is way better in the US than in Finland, though the skateboarding is pretty cool in Finland, cause you can skate in the streets and no one cares, so that’s pretty rad, but all in all, I miss my family and friends when I’m over here.

What’s one of the staples of the Finnish diet?
Ummmmm, this one’s hard.

I told you these were gonna be hard questions.
I know, I know. Umm, I guess Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes. That’s what people like over there. They’re good here though. You can go to IKEA and get good Swedish meatballs.

Who is your favorite snowboarder right now?
Heikki [Sorsa] is good. I like to watch Heikki ride, and he’s really fun to ride with. He’s one for sure. Jeremy Jones is another one.

Jibber Jones?
Yeah, he’s still going for it. He’s insane. Riding with that guy is cool.

He’s one of the guys in my mind that has a different take on what he rides.
That’s what I like about him. He’s always doing crazy stuff and you think “I haven’t seen that before,” you know? That’s what stokes me out; like, who wants to see another backside seven in the backcountry, cause everybody can do it. It’s kinda funny, like, you think you need a frontside seven, a backside seven and a switch backside seven or whatever in your part, just to show people that you can do those tricks. Those are the filler shots anyways. I figure if I had a switch frontside nine in my video part five years ago, people still probably think I can do it. Like the double backside rodeo. I did it last year in my part, but I don’t feel like I have to do it again every year.

So that was the first time you ever landed that trick?
Yeah.

The only time, or have you done it since then?
No, no. Only that one time.

How many tries did that take?
Uh, like five tries. It doesn’t feel hard, but it’s not something that you just wanna huck on a Sunday at Big Bear, you know? I think I could do it again, but it’s one of those things that I’ve already done. Who cares if I’m gonna have the same trick on a similar park jump? They’re gonna be like “He did that last year.”

Will you be at the Air & Style this year?
Yeah, I think so yeah. I already signed in, so I’ll be there.

Know any good jokes to end on?
I know some pretty good jokes, but they’re really hard to translate into English, so I’m not gonna even try it.

Haha. Okay Eero, thanks for your time.
Yeah man, that was fun.