Our full online parts countdown continues with Eero Ettala’s appearance in Euro Gap 3, one of our favourite movies from last season. Style, versatility, Finnish humour: a must watch by all means.

Eero Ettala was instrumental in not only bringing back the Euro Gap flavour for one last dance, he also scored one of the movie’s best parts, showing off his circular skills from downtown to the park to the BC. Hell, he was so stoked on the project he even went full chimp and got naked. Yep, the film came out in 2010 but Eero only got around to releasing his part from it in October 2011. This scored him 23 Fuck Yeahs* and rank 9 in the best online video parts of the year.

Rider: Eero Ettala
Movie: The Shred Remains
Posted Online: 10.10.2011
Fuck Yeah! Score*: 22

[* We used a complex scientific calculation method to determine the quality of these clips. Every time something stoked us out we had to exclaim 'Fuck Yeah!'. It could be a triple cork, it could be some rail dancing, it could be a face shot, it could be some editing, but once uttered it was noted down and added up at the end. The part with the most 'Fuck Yeah!'s won.]

Check out Eero Ettala’s heavy full part from last season’s awesome Euro Gap 3 movie. Guaranteed 100% frickin’ awesome.

Euro Gap 3 was one of the Onboard crew’s favourite movies of last season, with the predominantly Finnish cast finding that winning mix of high-octane shredding and fun-time fuckwittery.

Eero Ettala was instrumental in not only bringing back the Euro Gap flavour for one last dance, he also scored one of the movie’s best parts, showing off his circular skills from downtown to the park to the BC. Hell, he was so stoked on the project he even went full chimp and got naked. Now he’s dropped his full part online so you can marvel at the size of his balls…

We’re not really writing this on the day of its publication. That’s not how we roll at Onboard. In fact, right now it is still well before Christmas, and it was only a few minutes ago that I realised that I’d gotten all dates wrong for these reviews. I made the ‘necessary amendments’ in all earlier posts, but now I ran out of ideas for anything funny for today. Hope you enjoy the epic day that December 30th always is. And here’s the best and worst of November 2010!

November

We kicked things of with a true banger – we unearthed the long-lost Euro Gap 1 movie as part of our Euro Gap 3 week. Other great posts included the Niki Korpela interview, some Joni Malmi chit-chat, Jaako Itäaho talking about the new Euro Gap 3 movie, Euro Gap 2, and of course Euro Gap 3 in all its glory.

Marc Swoboda rode his way in great style through the Nitro flick, and Jamie Nicholls was yet another young, innocent pro who posted his online video part:

Ted Borland’s part from All Plugged Up/The Leak was also noteworthy. Then there were the Finnish movies Mortal Wombat, High Guality, Wannabe, and Homework, but the Onboard crew decided to go to Innsbruck for a game or two of football. Nitro dropped their Road Warriors full movie, the Wappulounas peeps were already watering our mouths for next year’s event, and Joe Sexton showed what we were to expect from his Cheers video part:

The Dump Em Out full movie was released next, and it features Forest Bailey. Reason enough to watch it. Frames came next, and it was supposed to be the slowest snowboard film ever. Reason enough to skip it. Solberg and Fuse’s parts got remixed, which seemed to be a trend in November, and using Bungee cords was obviously a trend all last winter. This was all nice and good, but what really blew us away was Process Film’s Shot in the Dark teaser:

(Well, the Commotion full movie was also pretty, pretty good. Watch at least Keegan’s, Harrison’s and Ted’s parts!) Next thing we knew Jeremy Thompson and Tim Humphreys stopped by our office, and we forced them to play a game of Knowledge. Pat Moore captured Shaun White’s best pipe run ever, the Frontline Rail Jam went down in Sweden (and marked the first European comp of the season), Erin Comstock presented herself as a gnarly rider in the Roxy Refreshments episode 1, Seth Huot presented himself even gnarlier in his full Cheers part, and the Helgason’s Cha Dang! immediately becomes a modern classic. But after seeing all those clips we decided it was time we did something on our own and sent our new filmer Will to Saas-Fee:

Then we learnt that the Air&Style will return to Munich, and that the Gothenburg Rail Battle was also quite a success. Mario Käppeli joined the ranks of online video part publishers, and Mikey LeBlanc those of the chosen few that dare to make a drop like this. Finally Torstein Horgmo kicked his wicked webisodes off with his take on tall tees, Mammoth saw 7ft of snow, and Mac Spedale went nuts in his Commotion remix.

And that was November’s haps and we’re nearly hitting the present day. In fact, writing this before Christmas as we are, we’re wondering how the hell we’ll get round the Space-Time continuum to figure out what happens at the end of December. All will be revealed tomorrow!

Our photo ed was on hand at the recent Euro Gap 3 world premiere in Helsinki and fired in these snaps of the show.

If you haven’t yet seen the movie, stop what you’re doing and go to www.pablo.fi/eurogap and watch it now. Our ed in chief made the lofty claim that it’s the best movie of the season, so go check that bad boy.

Although our Finnish friend Sami doubtless got too drunk to remember anything that went on, hence the lack of any report, he did have his iPhone with him and snapped a bunch of party shots for posterity before mailing them across with the words “Best Film Ever.” Almost as interesting as the shots of Finland’s finest throwing down the party hammers is that he’s finally bought Hipstamatic after hating on it for so long. The horror…

Enjoy the snappers.

We built up to this all last week, and now following the raucous premiere in Helsinki you can watch the full movie from today.

Crack open a brew, jump on over to www.pablo.fi/eurogap and enjoy the show…

Jaakko Itäaho and his personal serving midget. Photos: Sami Tuoriniemi.

Jaakko Itäaho has been one of the driving forces behind the upcoming Euro Gap 3 movie. After doing his own Elekrep movie, the Finnish filmmaker worked alongside legendary Brad Kremer for several Mack Dawg productions, most notably “Picture This”, before focussing on his own production company called Pablo Films. We met up with him while the Euro Gap crew was on a trip in Monaco, where he gave us the lowdown on the motivation behind doing this project…

Can you tell us how you got involved in the Euro Gap 3 project?

The short or long version? (laughs) Last year and even the three years before that I was kind of over doing snowboard movies. I don’t want to tell you any details – I just got over it. Brad Kremer, who I’ve had done the last four movies with was totally done and quit. So I started working on the commercial side of it. I have a production company at home in Finland with my homies, and it started to run really good, and I thought ‘Yeah, maybe it is time to move on and do other things than snowboarding.’ I did a couple of music videos and some ads. Last Fall I started thinking what I should do for the rest of the year. At the same time – when I thought that I was not going to do any snowboard movies for a living – I started talking to Joni [Malmi]. We played in the same hockey team. We kept seeing each other about twice a week. We started talking about Euro Gap 3, more like a joke. We said ‘We should go on a couple of trips together this year! Just for fun and filming, to see what comes up and maybe to put it on the web.” I don’t know, it could have been five minutes or just two minutes. He wanted to make Euro Gap 3 for so long. And that’s why we started talking about it. I still kept thinking about doing something else for a living.

And it was almost winter when I started talking to Fredu [Sirviö] and Niki [Korpela]. Who else was there? I talked to Heikki [Sorsa], but he wasn’t into it in the first place. But somehow those guys were stoked, and the idea of making a little bit more of a major movie came about. Still, I didn’t want to have a big crew, no matter what. I was over having 15 riders and the same amount of sponsors and having to try to keep everyone happy. You come up with something that you don’t really like yourself. It’s always such as hassle trying to keep everyone happy. The result is usually a mainstream snowboard movie that nobody wants to see from the beginning to the very end. There’s always something you want to skip. And that’s because you want to keep everyone happy. So that was the main idea. Even though I started making a little bit more of a serious movie I didn’t want to have more than seven or maybe eight riders. Originally I thought six is the max. Anyway, when we started making something more serious we were still pretty sure about what we did not want to do.

After getting those couple of riders to join, it was still only four of us. Back then I thought I wanted to do a ten-minute-movie for the web. This would mean doing a couple of trips, shooting rails in Finland (which has always been my home turf), do something mellow, and do something else in between, like shooting some videos and stuff. But then, when I talked to Eero Ettala, we got the main reason why we are doing this. Because Eero told us he wanted to do his video part this year for his website. And I said: ‘Well if that’s the case, if I make a short movie this year, would you want to have your part in this movie?’ I thought we might as well make a real movie this way. This was not a bad idea, but we were way late in terms of sponsors. I was so over it and so not doing it, but then the right things happened. And I think this is the key: We are not feeling any pressure, because we have the lowest budget ever. No one is really telling us what to do. I don’t know, we are here trying to find pow, and we didn’t find any and we knew it was going to be warm so we drove all the way to Monaco under the palm trees and chill. No pressure from anyone. And that’s how it should be. And hopefully it turns out that you can see it in the movie, too.

Who else is behind the project?

Well, there are two filmers: Me and Rasmus Tikkanen, who used to do the Storbis movies. He is a friend of Eero, and he was with Eero all the time last year filming for his TV series. Nitro had already hired him to shoot Eero’s video part. That’s why we teamed up for this. So me and Rasmus are filmers, then you could say Joni is helping with the production side. Because without him, the whole thing wouldn’t have started. And of course he was the main man behind Euro Gap 1 and 2, even though that was many years ago. Then there’s the company I mentioned earlier: Pablo Films. I am a part-owner, and we are producing this film as a Pablo Films production, because there are a couple of dudes helping us on the production side.

The old Euro Gap movies did not really have a focus on next-level riding, or super-artsy filming and editing. It was all about the fun and riding. Your own background as a filmer are these high-definition, almost Hollywood-style productions. You don’t seem to be the obvious choice for Euro Gap 3. Or are you?

That is very true. Just five minutes ago before we came here for the interview I was doing some logging. And I just realised: ‘Oh my God, I should have shot that way more cinematic.’ I was just looking at one drop-in shot from Niki, and I am kind of on the track of making a road movie, and I keep forgetting that I want to get some cinematic shots every now and then to mix it up. It is not like the old Euro Gap or the old Mack Dawg films. It is going to be a big surprise for myself, too, how it is going to turn out. Because I just caught myself five minutes ago, filming like I never used to film. And it is definitely changing. I’ve been shooting hand-held, wide angle, like 80 percent of the shots, and usually I use dolly-tracks and cable cams in a lot of shots. I don’t know. The style definitely has changed this year, and already over the past year. I have always been a big fan of cinematic style, but at the same time I got over my own steeze, my old style of making movies. The name Euro Gap sets some expectations in terms of the style we should make it in. But for sure we won’t make it the way 1 and 2 were done – hand-held and fish-eye. They didn’t really plan. They were just all over the place, shooting for the bigger movies. When they had time they pulled their cams out from the backpack and started shooting. They didn’t really plan anything.

Do you think that they choices you’ve made are part of a bigger trend? Are snowboard movies moving away from the big Hollywood-style action sports productions and maybe return to their roots: Bringing out the fun and the community aspect of the scene?

Could be. I haven’t really watched snowboard movies for a while. I’ve seen That’s It That’s All, which was an amazing movie. You know there is no chance of making a movie like that for cheap. I wasn’t even thinking of trying to do anything like that. Even Picture This was low-budget compared to this. But that stuff has definitely been done during the last two to three years. I mentioned that I might do Euro Gap to Pablo, the producer in our company, who has been around for a long time and was the producer for Elekrep, my first movie. And he said: “What are you going to do? You know, it’s not that easy anymore to do something that separates you and your movies from the others out there.” And I thought that this was the key, that I might have to try something else, that it might be the time to go back to the basics. Just leave the tripod and go for it! The result will be a big surprise even for myself, that’s for sure. I have been thinking about these things, but we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out.

You could have chosen an entirely different name for Euro Gap 3. Now you are in the tradition of the old movies, and there will be certain expectations.

There have been a couple of reasons for that. First of all, it is easier this way to get some money from sponsors. The people working at the companies are much older than the kids out there. They still remember 1 and 2. It is easier to talk to them and say “Hey, we are making the third one!” Joni has been helping with that, too. It could also have been Elekrep 2, and it would have been just as easy to get the budget, but we were also stuck with that name, and we had already made our minds, and we just went for it. Maybe it does create some expectations, I am thinking about that every now and then, but we were just too busy at the time to come up with anything else.

We were talking about this earlier: Euro Gap used to be about the fun, amateurish footage, hastily put together. Do you think that expectations might be a little too low for what you will come up with? You seem to spend a lot of time on making this project…

Yeah, but it is also easier to surprise people when they don’t expect much.

That’s true. What can they expect?

Something like Eurogap 1 and 2? [laughs] Maybe with a little extra spice.

Where did you go this season? Where have you filmed? What has been outstanding so far?

We had a decent rail season in Finland. There has been only like a few times during the last four years where I had the chance to film at home. We were always tied in a schedule and had to finish the rails by the end of January. There just wasn’t any snow in Helsinki during that time. We always tried to go further up North, where we shot with Eero and Heikki. And this year we did not have a big budget. And I thought it would be quite difficult to go up North and pay for the hotel and everything. And suddenly there is that big dump and we received the most snow ever. Last time it was like this was in 1973 or something. There was like half a meter of snow in Helsinki. We were really lucky with that. Then we went to Russia for three days with Joni and Niki. But that was just for fun. A couple of weeks before we came here parts of the crew went to Japan. Like Eero and Heikki were there, and Markku [Koski] went there for a while, too, before he did the Olympics. The highlight was that we could stay at home and could film in a circle of 50 kilometers. Everything was done there. We could go home every night. We were like a bunch of kids from home playing in our backyards. And this is how it used to be ten years ago. It was the first time when riding rails became popular and people went for them: We would ride our local resort during daytime, and then go downtown jibbing. There was no way we could have lived anywhere else but Helsinki. We were just a bunch of kids from the same area. And we still are! This had been the first time in so long – maybe except for Joni, because he has been a pro for so long – that we were like kids again. We were like “Oh yeah, let’s jib this! Let’s jib that!” It was no mission anymore, we did not have to go somewhere, drive ten hours, stay in a hotel for three days, and by the time we get back everyone is so beat he wants to stay in bed for five days. It was more like: “What is this? Let’s go shoot it and then go home! Or let’s go out!”

Sounds like this had a way more natural flow to it.

Yeah, it was so natural to film there this year. I guess we got lucky, or we were meant to do this one. But that was the highlight of the season so far for sure!

Thanks for taking the time, Jaakko, and good luck with the movie!

Jaakko on set, weapon in hand.

As you’ll have seen on Monday the Euro Gap 1 was nothing short of epic, so is this like their Empire Strikes Back? Kinda double awesome? Set aside 30 minutes, click Play and find out for yourselves.

Here’s the blurb from the back of the box, which we lost, so you’ll have to make do with this awesome screengrab of Paavo. Pretty much sums up the vibe perfectly…

A movie about snowboarding, skateboarding and the crusades of Joni and Paavo.

Featuring: Nate Bozung, Ingemar Backman, JP Walker, Jonas Emery, Wille Yli-Luoma, Devun Walsh, Tero Ainonen, BJ Leines, Steve Ruff, Jeremy Jones, Sebu Kuhlberg and many more…

Filmed on locations at Finland, Brazil, Norway, Japan, USA, Europe…

Photos: Sami Tuoriniemi.

Back in the days, Paavo Tikkanen and Joni Malmi were the two masterminds behind the phenomenally successful Euro Gap 1 and 2 movies. And it was apparently during a game of hockey that Joni and Finnish filmmaker Jaakko Itäaho decided on the making of Euro Gap 3. We sat down with Malmi on a trip to the southern alps to get some background on the originals and what we can expect of the new installment. Read on to find out why they did it and what the difference between old and new will be…

We are in Nice right now. How come?

Yeah, not every day you get to come here, but we had a chance to hit a kicker with one of the famous skier guys, Jon Olsson from Sweden. Because we are travelling with the Swedish crew Hampus Mosesson and Chris Sörman right now. Those guys are good friends, and Jon had told them that the had a pretty good kicker lined up. He sent us some photos and it looked really good. We decided since there is no powder and we’re in Europe we drive down to Monaco.

About ten years ago you worked on the Euro Gap movies. From my understanding this new project is supposed to be in the same spirit of the old ones…

Exactly. Ten years back me and my good friend Paavo Tikkanen had been snowboarding for quite a while, were travelling a lot, and we bought some video cameras just to record everything that happens on the trips. We got so much material that we ended up making a couple of half an hour films about it. They were called Euro Gap 1 and 2. A lot of our friends gave footage for that, too. They ended up becoming some sort of cult movies – at least in Finland.

Was that the idea behind them: Showing the fun of it? Or what point were you trying to make?

There was no point. I guess that was the point that there was no point. There was no real storyline behind it. It was quite random footage. Just some stuff behind the scenes, funny stuff. But we had some really good riding shots, too. I think that even after ten years the films are still good fun to watch. You can’t have any expectations about what’s happening next. That’s what I’m trying to bring into this new film, too. There’s something that you won’t expect right away. Not the usual format of a snowboard movie, part after part.

Do you think that was the main reason the old films became something like cult classics?

I think so. It differed a lot from the normal format. It was mainly clips of us travelling around and doing crazy stuff. Things you did not expect, and I think people liked that kind of stuff.

So you released these two short films and then called it a day. Why did it take you so long to come back to that idea?

Obviously I was filming with Forum and Mack Dawg. All those films take a lot of energy to make. It takes a lot of energy to pull a good movie part together. My own filming on the side got harder and harder as the productions became bigger and bigger. I wanted it to be fun for myself and the other people. It became too professional, and I called it quits. I just concentrated on the ‘real’ movies.

Malmi suited and booted. And riding for himself.

Now on to a more sensitive topic: You have been let go by your long-time sponsors Forum and Special Blend. Does this play a role, too, now that you have more time to do other stuff?

Oh yeah, they were like ‘Alright we can’t offer you anything good anymore’. And I was wondering what I was going to do this winter. Then I met Jaakko Itäaho, who is filming for the movie. Jaakko and me are really good friends. First he came to me and was like ‘Shit, I don’t know what to do.’ He had been in a project that he wasn’t that stoked on before, and when we met he was kind of a free agent. He actually told me that we should make a new Euro Gap. And I thought yeah that’s really good! And first we wanted to make a movie that was just about fun stuff and no riding at all. Then a lot of people heard what we were going to do. All of a sudden we had riders calling us left and right, and I thought ‘Yeah we should do it!’

And now you have a solid crew of riders you are filming with. What was the decision process behind this crew?

I don’t know. It just came pretty naturally. If you want to make a good movie it has to be a mix of people who fit together pretty cool. It doesn’t have to be like that all the time, but for this movie it had to be.

Who is on the team?

It’s Eero Ettala, Heikki Sorsa, Niki Korpela, Hampus Mosesson, Fredu Sirvio, Markku Koski and myself. And then we will obviously bring in some friends that will have some footage. But that’s pretty much the main crew.

And what’s the storyline like this time? Or will it again be just filming as it’s happening? I mean we’re in Nice right now…

I know that’s pretty random. The main thing for Jaakko and me was that we wanted to have a fun time and a fun project. We didn’t want anyone to beat down our necks and tell us what to do. We’ve both been in the game for so long that we both know what it takes to get a good movie and a good part together. We don’t need anybody telling us what to do. I think that’s one element you will be able to see in the movie straight away: Things are randomly funny and not too planned out, you know? This is the extra element that you don’t get to see in that many movies nowadays.

What role do you see in it for your self? Riding-wise for example.

Well, I want to get a good part. But I want to bring in as much as possible of the old Euro Gap spirit. Jaakko is some times stuck up: He makes such good quality movies. Sometimes I have to come in and say: ‘Hey, take it easy! Let loose!’ Things don’t have to be so planned. He likes to plan ahead so far…

But friendship aside, Jaakko doesn’t seem to be the obvious choice for the movie. His projects have always been of such a high, almost Hollywood-like quality.

Yeah, but that’s a good thing, too. We’ll have some really good quality footage. And besides that we’ve been getting along really well, and we complement each other pretty well.

And after Euro Gap 3? What are your plans for the time after the movie?

We already talked about that it would be fun to work together, but it’s up in the air. But there’s still a lot of stuff to do before we move on to the next project.

Alright. That’s it. Thanks for taking the time and good luck with the Euro Gap movie!

Mugging for the camera. Photos: Sami Tuoriniemi.

Niki Korpela has been blowing our minds ever since we saw him as a 15 year-old scamp busting the kind of poked front 5s Ingemar would be proud of and then dropping back 9s with the same effortless Finnish steeze. This kid from Espoo’s cameo part in last seasons Forum’s Forever release showcased his balls out approach to riding and got people talking, and he followed it up last season by filming for the eagerly anticipated Euro Gap 3. With some of the biggest name involved, Tom Kingsnorth caught up with Niki to see how it went down.

Tom Kingsnorth: Finland has some of the best riders in the world and has done for a while. How hard is it for riders to break through from there? Is it easy because there are loads of scouts or hard because of all the talent? Were you in the right place at the right time or do you offer something someone who didn’t make it doesn’t have?

Niki Korpela: Yeah we have loads of really good riders for sure. Like I said I was super lucky to meet those people who have helped me to break through! So you could definitely say I was “in the right place at the right time,” but I’ve also worked really hard to meet all the people and do the things I love!

TK: Do the kids you originally rode with when you were growing up get stoked for you, or were they super jealous?

Niki: Those guys who I rode with when I started are some of my best friends now, so I don’t think they are jealous or anything.

TK: What is your favourite terrain to ride? Kickers, rails, powder?

Niki: Just good parks with good kickers and rails! I never had the chance to go properly BC.

TK: Is that an area that you want to get into?

Niki: For sure. I want to ride everything but pipe. Pipe sucks and I suck riding it haha.

TK: Do you have any rider you look up to and do they have tricks you wish you cold throw down like them?

Niki: So many good riders out there, it’s hard to name only one! But I was recently riding with Mark McMorris and Seb Toots in NZ. Those guys can do like 9 different doubles. So I guess to learn more of that stuff would be cool.

TK: How many do you have down and are they fun to do or just something you have to learn as part of your job?

Niki: I didn’t do a single one last season as we didn’t have any good kicker days! But, yeah, I think once you stomp a double it feels amazing. But nope, I can’t say they are fun. You just need to have them to get proper video parts or good contest results.

TK: When someone lands a new trick like that, are you stoked or kind of stressed because you need to step up and throw it down?

Niki: More stoked than stressed for sure. But let’s say that if there is going to be triples and shit in the future, then I’m more stressed…

TK: How far off are you from doing Torstein’s triple?

Niki: Haha, just need one good powder day I’m telling you! Kidding, I have no idea.

TK: So your injury was pretty bad I heard, what exactly happened and how long were you out for?

Niki: I just got to the States and started filming with Forum. We were hitting this one hip and after few straight airs I thought I could try backside alleyoop 3, I went for it and came straight to the deck and then bounced over the landing to flat. I went to see the doctor later that evening who took x-rays of my back! He said it’s broken or some shit so I had to fly back to Finland. Did the same back home and the doc said my back is fine. WTF.

TK: Do you spend most of your time in the US now?

Niki: It depends, last year when I filmed for Euro Gap I only went to the States at the end of the season.

TK: The Euro Gap film is set to be a banger, how did you get involved in the project?

Niki. We were at this Finnish Snowboarding award thingy called Slammer Gala. That’s where I met Jaakko Itäaho the first time! I had heard some rumours that they were maybe going to make this Euro Gap movie the next season, so I talked with him about it there and few days later he sent me a text message asking if I could come with all the other guys in the movie and sit down to have a chat how we could make it happen. I know a few people put in a good word to Jaakko for me, so I bet that helped me to get in!

Niki Korpela sends one for the Euro Gap 3 cameras.

TK: How was it filming with those guys, were you nervous because they are such high profile riders or were you confident you could hold you own?

Niki: I already knew all the guys when I got in. but being able to film with that kind of a crew was crazy for me, because those are the dudes I was (and still am) looking up to when I started snowboarding! But, yeah, I was definitely the rookie in that crew! But in a way working with those guys pushed me to do better things!

TK: How were Forum with you filming for them? Were they happy about your plans or did they want you to film for Fuck It instead?

Niki: For sure it wasn’t the best year for me with Forum as I filmed pretty much the whole season with Euro Gap. But you know when there are all those riders like Eero [Ettala], Heikki [Sorsa] etc. plus some of the best filmers and you get a chance to film with them, you kind of have to choose. For me it was a huge honour to be part of that crew! But, yeah, at the same time I’m really bummed that I didn’t get to film with Forum properly!

TK: Were you a big fan of Forum in the old Forum 8 days? Does it still feel like an independent company or is it fairly obvious that Burton is running the show over there?

Niki: Yeah I was. That was the shit back in the day! The Forum crew is tight! It still has an independent feel to it and the team is amazing.

TK: Do you think it’s harder for Europeans to break into international teams? Andreas [Wiig] got straight in but the rest on the Euros are on the Am or Rookie teams. Some US guys go straight onto the main team; why do you think this is?

Niki: That’s true. It’s kind of weird! First you have to be well-known in Europe to get a chance to show what’s up in the US. But for the guys who live in the States, they only have to show what’s up once, you know? They don’t have to go through Europe first. There are so many US guys who are not known in Europe, only in the US, and that’s why they make it straight to the international teams.

TK: Forgetting that snowboarding is fun for a moment, how is it as a job? Is it a dream come true or less amazing than you expected growing up?

Niki: Well, for me it’s definitely living the dream. I get to travel and visit some of the most amazing places in the world, meet loads of cool people and, most of all, do the thing I love for a living! Of course there are some shitty moments too, but I bet every job has them.

TK: What are the shitty moments?

Niki: Just some little things. Like carrying your big-ass board bag, sitting hours in planes, stressing if you get a contract for next season or not, hoping you won’t get hurt etc.

TK: If you weren’t riding what job would you be doing instead?

Niki: These are hard questions, I never thought about what I’d be doing instead! Probably study. Which would suck big time, hehe!

TK: What would you study?

Niki: Maybe continue my business & marketing studies….

TK: What do your parents think of what you are doing now? Are they stoked or pushing you to get a real job?

Niki: This is a real job. But, yeah, they are really supportive! At first when this all started they where kind of making sure this is what I want to do as I dropped my studies, I don’t get it why some people think this is not a job? Because it’s the job I love to do and its fun? A job should be boring and something you don’t like? Something that everyone else does? It’s strange; loads of people don’t get it and are like ‘what are you thinking?!’ I really don’t have any big plans yet. I hope I can do snowboarding for a living at least for the next 10 years or so!

TK: What do you miss from Finland the most when you are away?

Niki: Friends and family. And Grand Casino Helsinki, haha.

TK: Which of the countries that you’ve been to produce the best-looking females?

Niki: Norway and Sweden fo sho! Babes in Sweden are hard to get though…

TK: Does being a sponsored snowboarder help your chances of getting laid?

Niki: I hope not! I don’t have any love for those pro ho’s

TK: Any last words?

Niki: Last words would be: stay tuned for Euro Gap 3. Premiere is on 6th November in Helsinki!

Hanging with fellow Euro Gapper, Eero Ettala.

Over the course of the next 5 days we’ll also be showing Euro Gap 2 in its entirety, plus we’ve got interviews with young gun Niki Korpela, Euro Gap bozzbozz Joni Malmi and director of this third installment, Jaakko Itäaho.

The first couple of Euro Gaps were low-budget, handicam buddie movies produced by Malmi and Paavo Tikkanen. But when you’re in the pack of big guns and your buddies are some of the best riders of the time, the result was a duology that had some solid riding topped up with the kind of dicking around you’d expect from a crew of lads touring the globe. Think the Whiskey or Wildcats movies but with more vodka and paddling pool parties.

That was that, until a little over a year ago when Jaakko Itäaho (of Elekrep and MDP fame), burned out with his experience on the Burton movie, was talking with Malmi about ways to get the love back and produce a film with no pressures, no outside involvement, just fun-plus-bangers. Before they knew it, Eero Ettala was onboard, filming solely for the project, and a murder of other Scandis were quick to follow suit. Euro Gap 3 was born…

Though the final installment of the trilogy promises to have the kind of high-grade filming and editing that Jaakko has made his name with, by the look of the Euro Gap 3 teaser, they ain’t ditched the fuckwittery either. And with a roster that reads like a who’s who of Scandinavian badasses – Eero Ettala, Heikki Sorsa, Hampus Mosesson, Joni Malmi, Niki Korpela, Fredu Sirviö and Markku Koski – you can be sure you’re gonna want to be by a computer come November 7.

In the meantime enjoy Euro Gap 1, and tune in tomorrow for more…