Lauri Heiskari : Interview

For the several years that Finland’s Lauri Heiskari has been in America, he has been ripping up the snowboard world. The ex-Forum, now-DC team rider will be seen this year rocking his gaudy fur hats (that he may have stolen from your grandma) in the new WHITEOUT Films video. Though, when he’s not playing in snow, one may find him in sunny Southern California wandering around with pirate porn stars or having coffee with hippie women from Woodstock. So if you happen to work at Wahoo’s Fish Tacos and see this summer surfer walk in for lunch, please give him the two sides of ranch he asks for; he really gets grumpy if you don’t…

MV: You spent the winter filming with Devun Walsh. What did you take from that experience?
LH: Oh my God, I was super stoked on that because I have been kinda out of the backcountry scene the past two years. I filmed in Finland for two months and then I showed up to Whistler and had a month to film backcountry, but the weather was always bad, so I only rode five or ten days which bummed me out. This year I filmed with Devun for the first time. He’s so experienced in the backcountry, and he always knew what to do. We would be on top of this line and I’d be like “Devun I have no idea how to do this,” and he’d point me a place to go and talk me through it on the radio-phone. He was such a big help for me and I learned so much this year. I probably learned more in the backcountry than I’ve learned in the past three years.

MV: Do you have anything planned for your High Cascade session this summer?
LH: No, I think Active wants to make some T-shirts or something. I haven’t really thought about it yet. I guess I should. I’m just stoked to go there and have a good time with kids. I’m going to be having it with Pat Moore and Erin Comstock, and they’re my really good friends so it’ll be fun.

MV: What is the DC video going to be like this year?
LH: It’ll be different from last year. Last year everyone really liked it and it sold well in Zumies and it was a funny video. This year will have that too, but it will have more stuff outside of (the) Mtn. Lab as well. We had a second filmer in the backcountry all year, so there is going to be more variety. We did a lot of new stuff in the lab and they had new features. Last year when they put the movie together, Eddie (Wall) told me they did it in a couple weekends and they were just goofing around. They didn’t know if they were going to put a movie together. So since this year they knew it, they could put a little more effort into it. I think it will be really good.

MV: What are some of the new features?
LH: A 45-stair down rail, they set up the boxes differently and they had a bigger Chad’s Gap style jump.

MV: Who is the biggest character on the DC Team?
LH: Renee Renee. He’s the biggest character for sure, but I think the whole team is pretty funny. You’ll see the movie. Todd is there playing Iikka as a remote control snowboarder. Eddie, you’ve seen. He’s an idiot, he’s funny. I’m goofing around with Iikka. I think there’s a lot of fun stuff there, like Travis Rice doing back flips naked…good for him. There’s a lot of characters.

MV: I heard a rumor that you have met a porn star since you have been in America. What’s the story there?
LH: I don’t know any porn stars. (Laughs) Okay, Okay. So we went to Metal School, this cover band in Hollywood, and we were watching the concert. I was with other dudes too! I wasn’t like pointing out the porn stars…I don’t watch porn. But anyway, for some reason we were next to this guy when we walked in the concert the guy looked really familiar. All the Grenade kids were there too and they were like “Dude they made this really expensive erotic version of Pirates of the Caribbean. They spent millions on it.” So that’s how we knew the dude. We saw that movie and it was totally corny, like erotic. That was the main dude, the Johnny Depp guy, and he was right next to us. Then Danny (Kass) and all the guys with Grenade were taking pictures with him.

MV: Is it true that you gave some old lady a watch at Starbucks?
LH: Oh yea! Yesterday. That was so funny! I went to Starbucks and had my second cup of coffee ever. Iikka (Backstrom) is trying to get me into it because I’m always so tired. I hate it but it wakes me up. I always have the (weirdest) coffee too. I get some like white-chocolate-mocha-whipped cream drink…the fruitiest drink you can have and it still tastes horrible to me. Anyway, back to the story. So I met this old lady and she looked like she was straight from Woodstock. She was probably 80 years old and super hippie. She had gold rings on all her fingers. She was behind me in line and was looking at all my jewelry. I had this shiny gold Vestal watch on, its super flashy, but I think its sick. Then she grabbed it and took it off my hand and put it on hers and was like “Oh my God I love it, it’s so rad.” So I left and went back to my car where I had a box of watches because I had just gotten back from Vestal and found the exact same one I had on. I walked back to Starbucks and gave it to her. I thought it was pretty rad to see an 80-year-old lady rocking a Vestal watch. She was so stoked. She gave me a hug and almost started crying.

MV: What is the deal with (Joni) Malmi leaving his car at LAX for months at a time?
LH: He’s a retard! He bought a Porsche and he’s had it for two years and I swear he’s driven it ten times. He parks it at LAX and leaves it there when he’s home all the time. He keeps telling us that he’s going to come here and surf with us but he comes here for two weeks and then he’s gone again. The last time he left his car for three months at the airport and left a Starbucks drink in it. When he came back the whole car smelled like baby poop. There were flies all over it and it was disgusting. That’s the way he is. He should sell that thing, but now he can claim he has a Porsche back home, so he’s a superstar.

MV: Can you explain your fetish with huge furry hats?
LH: I don’t have a fetish with furry hats! That sounds so pervy. I just bought this one fur hat from Colorado ages ago and I’ve been rocking it because it is soft and it fits my head. I think its rad. My friend made these furry hats back home and I had a couple, but Iikka has been making fun of them for the past four years, so that’s the only one that I wear. I can’t take the diss anymore.

MV: Do you enjoy California as opposed to Finland?
LH: Yea I love it here. I want to go home because I miss my family and my friends, and I love summer and Christmas time back home, but I don’t have a lot of time to go there that much because DC is planning all these trips.