Milestone (2024)

[bunniefuu]

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.

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.

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?"

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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 Rovanper.

One Line my project,

plus doing stuff for the Instagram.

You know,

I've been like staying active,

but it's different.

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.

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.

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.

Yeah, I just got f*cked.

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 f*cking 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 sh*t, 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 f*cking 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.

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.

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 f*cking 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.

What do you think?

f*cking looks insane.

Wow.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Being a sports commentator.

Being a pro snowboarder.

And then a social media influencer.

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.

It definitely

gets more challenging these days

to get the focus on snowboarding,

because I have so much

other sh*t 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.

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.

I do question myself

sometimes too,

like,

why do I love snowboarding so much?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I don't know what's next, but...

I felt like I found my happy place

in snowboarding now.

Like I found my peace.