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[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
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EERO ETTALA:This video part
definitely has been a real challenge to myself.
I mean, I didn't feel any pressure from the outside,
the pressure came from myself.
And see if I still have what it takes to do it
on that level that I think in my head that I could pull it off.
I think the best way to actually see it
was by going to some same spots
that I've hit in the past and in my prime.
[SERENE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Pretty ready for a speed check.
Always the first hit the... nerve wracking.
I mean, it's been seven years since I hit this, so it's kind of....
I can't remember too much about the speed or nothing,
you know, but just gotta feel it out.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Because if I look at the years, let's say '05, '06, '07,
that was the time when I was feeling the strongest.
And then leading up to this project, you know, being 40
and going back to some same spots that I've had in the past.
Like I have way more question marks in my head.
It's like, "Can I still do this?"
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Maybe it's a bit more like nerve wracking sometimes,
like knowing doing the things that I'd still tried to do,
like, if there's a higher risk of getting injured.
Of course, when you're 16,
you're a rubber man, you don't get injured.
But now when you're 40, like, every time you, like,
fall from this high of the ground, like you're in pieces, you know.
This is the legendary roof gap that I hit in the past.
The first time was back 180.
Second time was one foot.
Third time I did a frontflip and a back rodeo,
and now it's the fourth time.
I want to do like a switch underflip.
There's always like a little bit more excitement
going switch into something like this,
you know, because you can't mess up on the lip or before the lip.
You know, you have to make it all the way over
to be on the safe side, you know.
A classic day in the life of a of a family man.
I woke up 6 o'clock in the morning with the kid.
Took him to daycare at 9 o'clock.
Come here by yourself.
Build this massive roof gap.
Pick up your kid from the daycare, feed him, put him to sleep.
And then I'm gonna come back here
and hopefully start shredding around 10 o' clock
and be back home by 12.
That would be ideal.
And pretend like nothing happened.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:But this is something it's pretty hard to explain
to the fam.
It's better pretty much leave it out.
I don't tell my wife either that I'm coming here.
I'm like, "Yeah, I'm gonna go hit this mellow, sweet spot."
And then in real life,
I'm here at the parking garage jumping from roof to roof.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I used to think that life is over when you turn 40.
And I definitely don't think like that anymore.
I think 40 is the new 20.
My brain definitely still thinks that I'm 16,
but my body feels like I'm 70 years old,
so I'm just trying to compromise between my mind and my body
to do the things that I still do.
This thing's big.
It's actually a lot steeper and longer than I remembered.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:A legendary spot.
I hit it back in '06 for Follow Me Around.
Yeah, from frontboard and a nose press.
Now, 18 years later, back at the same spot.
Will be stoked to get a backlift this time.
I think I got it.
Strong in the head, weak in the body.
That's the way to do it.
[CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Once you come here,
you really have to be on point to get the shot.
Especially in Finland in the winter time,
the days are really short or the daylight.
Hammer time.
Like knowing. Okay, that spot's ready. There's snow.
I got a day in the calendar.
I got the approval from the wife. I can go to the spots, you know.
So then I decide I'm gonna come here, and then I just have to be like,
"All right, time to get that trick."
Wow! Yes!
Yes!
EERO:I think that was the turning point
when filming for this part was like realizing,
"Okay, now I got this trick, you know.
So that kind of like, opened my mind again.
Okay, now I can really go for it and get more tricks,
and I can ride on that high level that I see in my head.
I've had a good career,
and I still feel like I want to film one more video part
that I could be satisfied with.
Ender came out in 2015, which was nine years ago,
so I claimed I wasn't going to film another part, you know.
And then that's how it was supposed to be
until I got a call from Rene Rinnekangas,
yeah, three years ago.
I was on the phone with him and he was like,
"Eero, I got this idea for your next project.
You should film a video part and release it on your 40th birthday.
You have a couple seasons' time,
you can make it pretty easy for yourself,
and you should give it a go.
To me it feels really cool
because Rene is one of the best snowboarders in the world
at the moment.
Why does he want, like,
this washed up old fart to film another part?
That doesn't make any sense.
But when I started, like, processing the idea,
it just felt more appealing to me as well
to make it more like a personal challenge
and trying to see how far I can take my snowboarding.
So I think the motivation was a little bit healthier in a way.
Or healthier for the mind and for the pressure,
maybe not healthier for the body, but it's like...
But that was the price that I was willing to pay.
I mean, I wanted to see.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:So between 2015 and 2024,
I've been mainly focusing on some like Red bull projects,
like more scripted projects, you know.
So it's been like a Snow Castle.
I made Helsinki Transitions.
There was this like rally crossover project with Kalle Rovanperä.
One Line my project,
plus doing stuff for the Instagram.
You know, I've been like staying active,
but it's different.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Yeah, I think there's a huge contrast
between filming only for Instagram or filming a video part,
because in the Instagram clips
you're always riding in your own comfort zone
and you're doing the tricks that feel fun
and most likely you won't get hurt.
But when you go filming for a full part,
you want to kind of be on the edge a little bit
and you have this like some sort of doubts every time you go to a spot.
Like, "I wonder how this is going to work out,
I wonder if I'm gonna get the shot."
I feel like there's definitely higher risk, of course,
but also in a way there's higher reward.
And I think the motivation just builds up
on when you're filming a video part.
Like the same motivation doesn't build up
filming for Instagram.
[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
EERO:And the video part itself is like a statement,
like, this is what I have,
and this is how I want to look like and snowboard and...
It gets more interesting in a way,
and it feels like a process, like a never ending process.
Like once you get a clip,
you start like visualizing the end result.
You're like, "Okay, now I got this frontside wall right,
maybe now I want something else."
And then you get that shot and you're like,
"Okay, now I'm missing this thing."
Basically, when you put your heart and your focus into something,
that's who you are as a snowboarder.
And that's what the actual video part is about.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
Yeah, that's where I break my rib you see, over here.
Yeah. You see where I slip out.
I put my arm down and then I pop my shoulder
and then I break my rib on the ledge.
I'm like, yeah, I think I can still do this.
A couple more tries."
I was feeling confident.
I'm like, "I'm gonna get this one,"
because I thought it was gonna be easy, to be honest.
And so, I had so much adrenaline and I was all like warmed up.
I'm like, "I'm still gonna go."
And I kept going for 30 more tries trying to get this clip,
and then it still didn't work out.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Yeah, I just got fucked. I mean, 60 tries after, like...
Like, I don't get this. I'm not gonna have this trick.
But I have this mentality going into spots like,
I give it my all on that one time that I go there.
And if it doesn't work out, I'm just not going to go back.
I mean, and that's the case still.
I mean, this was close,
but this would have been so fucking ugly, too.
I had no control.
Like I just jumped on it. I'm like, "Where should I look?"
That C was like...
It took over the control. Just the ledge itself, like...
I don't know, it never felt good.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:It was a night mission, so I went back home.
I was at home like at 3 o'clock with a broken rib.
Like, I was lying in bed.
I remember, like, my wife woke up and she was like,
"Hey, how was the session?
I'm like, "It's great." It was great. I was barely able to breathe."
But I didn't want to make her worried at all.
I don't think I even told her in the morning
that I had a broken rib.
I would just try to play, like everything's cool.
Daddy is fine.
When the kid came over, I was like,
"Yeah, I'll take you to daycare. No problem."
And then...
And I remember the next step when I dropped him off to daycare,
I just went straight into scoping more spots.
I was never that good at, like,
giving myself time to rest after the injuries,
you know, like, three days after I was already snowboarding.
EERO:My body's always telling me
I shouldn't be doing these things that I do,
but something in me just wants to do it.
And I'm sort of scared too, you know,
because I feel like snowboarding is one of the only things in life
that I'm really good at.
So I just kind of want to hold on to it.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:So I want to be able to be doing these hardcore tricks
as long as possible.
And my mind is still there.
So I still know I can,
and I want to be able to prove it in this project.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I do think about the risks of snowboarding
definitely a bit more than I used to,
but I think that's just because of getting older.
I mean, of course, because I'm being a dad,
I think about stuff a bit differently too.
Plus, I get to snowboard way less, which means when I get to a spot,
I'm not as confident as I used to be, you know.
So I feel like I have to do so much more work with my mind
to be in the right place
when I'm actually throwing down these tricks.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I don't end up trying anything
that I feel like I couldn't be able to pull off, you know.
So I'm sort of playing it safe
on the terms of my own skill level, I would say.
I guess for other people it doesn't look safe,
but to me it usually feels safe because I do tricks that I know well
and I hit spots that seem comfortable to my skill level.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I would say I'm one of those guys
that I come up with an idea,
and I still want to get it out of the system by doing it,
to kind of scare myself a little bit
and proving to myself that I can do it, you know.
EERO:Like having a vision and making it reality.
And that's kind of like the way I always performed,
and I'm not willing to let go from that thing,
even that I became a father.
EERO:I always used to have powder clips
and street clips and park clips in my video parts,
because I wanted to showcase people that I can do it all.
But for this part, my life has changed quite a bit.
Like, I wanted to go out there and get a clip
and then still be able to come home and see my kids and see them grow.
So coming out of Finland, what's accessible for me,
it is the streets.
I usually cycle on this road
and I just one day I saw this I'm like,
"Holy shit, there's a new ledge,
definitely needs to be hit."
But it's sick because sometimes it's pretty hard
to reach some of the spots with a car, you know.
So it's so much more accessible with the bicycle, you know.
So now I'm this fucking old guy cycling in a spandex,
looking for spots, you know.
Not so core anymore.
Do I look core?
I feel core.
Get a picture of me doing a backflip on the ledge.
As you can tell, I'm pretty desperate for spots.
I found this spot last winter, and did it front board on it.
It was not nice.
The shittiest spot in town,
but still, you know, it's close to home.
Had to hit it.
Yeah, it's pretty funny.
In the past three years, most of the spots that I found
have been either on a walk with the baby
or cycling as a training or on a family vacation.
That's my scouting missions.
From blunt dropped frontboard down the rail.
It used to be different.
We would just drive around for ten hours looking for spots,
and now I'm trying to use all my time wisely.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:It was so random. I found this spot.
We were at the family vacation at a spa hotel.
It's right around the corner.
So I had a breakfast,
I'm telling my wife I got to go scope.
And then behind the corner I see this ledge,
I'm like, "I scored," so hopefully this is going to work.
It was a long drive, 3.5 hours just to get here.
But if I don't get this shot, it's going to be a waste of time.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Managing time definitely gets tougher these days.
I don't think I even get like half of the snowboarding days
as I used to.
And when I get out, like,
I'm trying to be as productive as possible, you know.
Been a long day, it's...
12:30.
Yeah, but it was good.
We hit two spots.
A lot of building, a lot of fucking shoveling,
and at least five hours of shoveling today.
And then both of us hit a spot.
Pretty exhausted.
I think it looks really promising. I definitely want to hit it.
It's always when you go on the roof,
there's a high chance of getting kicked out,
but it looks like a pretty mellow spot for that.
[TRANQUIL MUSIC PLAYING]
MAN 1:What do you think?
Fucking looks insane.
Wow.
MAN 1: I'm pretty happy with that. Eero: Yeah, I'm super happy.
My back is just really stiff.
Yeah.
I woke up at 7:30 again. I just can't sleep.
I know.
EERO:I can't sleep past, like, 7:30.
No matter what time I go to sleep.
Like, even last night, I went to sleep at 2:00.
Or like, we tried, like--
We tried, you know, like it didn't work out.
We were just talking till like 2 o'clock.
Yeah.
EERO:I feel like--
which is weird, this is pretty exhausting and pretty heavy.
But I still feel like I'm on a vacation.
Getting away from home feels like a vacation
even it's a pretty tough work.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Life is pretty challenging at the moment, to say the least.
Being a husband,
being a father of two and then being a TV host.
EERO:Being a sports commentator.
EERO:Being a pro snowboarder.
And then a social media influencer.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I'm really selective
with the social media influencing stuff.
In a way, I feel lucky
that I get offered to do these things,
but at the same time,
I'm really protective of the things that I do.
So I want to make sure that the things that I do
really look like me.
EERO:It definitely gets more challenging these days
to get the focus on snowboarding,
because I have so much other shit going on.
I mean, I was forced to be more productive now.
The days get really scheduled.
This was pretty much the first year that I had my own calendar.
Like full on old school calendar, just writing down,
"All right, Eero's going to be snowboarding
on Tuesday and Thursday."
So those are my like go to days,
so that's when I go ride the slopes or hit the streets
and get the tricks for the part.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I definitely get questioned quite a bit
if I still snowboard or if I should quit,
and all this kind of stuff.
I mean, I guess it's something with the age,
you know, when you turn 30 or you turn 40.
Snowboarding is one of those sports
that isn't like looked at as a sport for grownups.
So I also want to break those barriers,
you know, just showing people
that when you're 40 you can still do gnarly tricks
and you can still throw down and actually have fun doing it.
You can tell that I did first try, right? Because I'm steaming.
Yeah. No snow anywhere.
[SERENE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I do question myself sometimes too,
like, why do I love snowboarding so much?
[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
EERO:To me, it's like the way of life.
I can't see myself not snowboarding, basically.
And it's one of those things
like more you snowboard more you want to snowboard
and more tricks you learn like more tricks you want to learn.
So it's like a never ending process.
-I'm stoked. -Another day another clip or what?
EERO:Yeah, you know what...
I guess at this point in my career,
I feel like I'm trying to maintain the level that I've been at
and that's already like challenging enough.
But sometimes I might learn these little jibs here and there,
which still motivates me, of course.
Like, it's fun to go on the hill and trying something new.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:As all the resorts in southern Finland,
they usually open up at 4 p.m. on the weekdays,
which is a horrible timing for me
because that's when I pick up my kid from the daycare.
But luckily I know a person that owns a resort,
so we get to go ride
because otherwise I wouldn't really be riding that much.
So he makes it possible for me
to get some time on the snowboard, basically.
Thank God.
And it's funny, sometimes there's not even any people.
They just leave the door open, so I can go start the lift by myself.
I'm like, yeah, I have my own resort pretty much, which is nice.
I feel like Marcus Kleveland for once.
This is a really good practice zone for us,
for getting ideas and learning new tricks
that you can take to the streets and film for the part.
A bunch of the new stuff that I did this season,
I would practice here.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Like, personally,
I didn't think I was facing any sort of midlife crisis.
I mean, I didn't buy a Lamborghini, I didn't buy a Harley.
But when I look at it now,
maybe filming this part is some sort of a midlife crisis to myself,
seeing if I can still ride on that level
that I would like to ride.
And, I mean,
I feel like this is a healthy midlife crisis in a way,
at least for my wallet, but maybe not for the body.
I definitely sacrificed my body for this midlife crisis,
but, I mean, at least my wallet to safe.
My family is eating my wallet, so it's...
I mean, it's...
Nobody's winning, you know what.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I think snowboarding definitely makes me
a better father and better husband
because, to me, it's a perfect job.
So basically, I get to go outside, I get to do the things that I love.
Plus I get to hang out with the people that I love.
And then when I get home,
I'm full of energy to hang out with my with my family.
And when I see my kids, I see my wife,
I'm like, this is what actually matters.
Even snowboarding is still one of the big parts of my life,
but that's just supposed to be the fun aspect.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:Yeah, if I'm trying to think about all the milestones
that I have in my snowboarding career,
if people asked me like ten years ago or 15 years ago,
I would of course say the double-back rodeo
or the win at X-Games.
Those would be the two highlights.
But now looking back, I'm like,
maybe the biggest milestone
is like that I've been able to snowboard for this long
and I've been able to enjoy it for this long.
I think all that other stuff doesn't really matter.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I think the biggest thing that I learned
while filming for this part was...
I've been ridiculous for myself,
like limiting myself from doing something that I love the most.
Like, I mean, why would I put an age limit into snowboarding?
I mean, I used to think
that snowboarding has to be done by the time when I reached 30,
and this part made me realize it never has to be done.
Never has to be over.
But I feel this was the first time on my career
when I actually felt like rested
after getting the last shot for the part.
[CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC PLAYING]
EERO:I don't know what's next, but...
I felt like I found my happy place in snowboarding now.
Like I found my peace.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]