We splattered Ketchup all over Finnish legend Antti Autti after the release of his highly anticipated new movie Antiout in his hometown in Finland. Antti put down the contest bib and pulls out his powder skirt last winter, after ten years of traveling the world on the contest circuit, Antti decided to do things in his own way - hit all natural terrain. He spent a year searching for the best spots and the deepest powder. Documenting these explorations gave birth to ANTIOUT.
Hey Antti, firstly props on the movie. It was dope!
Thanks, guys. Stoked you liked it.
So tell us a bit about why you wanted to do this project?
I wanted to ride more natural terrain and be a better all-around snowboarder. So surely my website anttisworld.com was and is a great platform to make my own movie and show people that even though I have made my name through contests I can adapt to any kind of terrain. I think riding trees, mountains and being out there is what snowboarding is all about for me. I hope this movie makes people want to go snowboarding because that is what the whole purpose of making snowboard movies is really about, at least for me. I think in many ways it has been quite lost nowadays, at least compared to the days when Subjekt Haakonsen, The Garden or the TB movies came out.
Did you feel like you had burnt out from doing the contest circuit or were you intimidated by the amount of leather on Shaun White's body?
I was for sure burnt out on contests but mainly this was something I needed to do at this point in my career as well. I do not want to be remembered as this guy who only rode contests and that is it! Man, I love freaking powder riding. When I started traveling and riding contests I always hoped that there would be chance to go shred powder in between, but then it started to get so crazy and I realized that my whole season was so full of contests and I couldn't do anything else with my snowboarding. And no, I was not intimidated by Shaun's leather.
How rewarding was doing a full movie in comparison to say winning X- Games or competing in the Olympics?
I would say that I had the best season I have ever had last season. Hard work and I had a lot of stuff to learn but this made me the most motivated I have ever been. Winning contests is so great but just hitting a natural jump or line and stomping it right away makes you feel so freaking happy! It is this weird feeling that I cannot describe that all the snowboarders in the world need to experience. After that your feelings about snowboarding will change. You know some kids can't relate to the stuff that a lot of backcountry riders do because it is so freaking gnarly. I feel like in our movie we showed that riding some scary stuff is awesome but the feeling you get out of it is even more awesome.
Talking of the Olympics, is it true that government gave you a nice big piece of land in Finland because you were selected to represent the country?
I actually got it when I won the X-Games and World Champs. I have built a pretty nice crib for myself there. It is situated in the city in Rovaniemi, up near the Arctic Circle, and it is near good resorts. To be able to get this kind of present from your hometown is something I thought only happens in bigger countries! It was awesome!
You decided to premiere the movie Antiout in your home town first, how was that experience?
It was the most nerve-wracking expericence I have ever gone through. Actually all the premieres we did in Finland were kind of hard for me because I have never done anything like this. I've hit a jump in Japan in front of 45,000 people but I was way more nervous sitting in the cinema in my hometown. My parents really liked it because they are people who respect nature and they see what I really desire to do with my riding. It is just not the riding itself but also involving nature which is something that is really important in our family.
You have been traveling the globe for so many years now on the contest grid, how was it to travel in search of powder?
I loved it for sure. I love the feeling of exploring and taking your time in zones, finding good snow was sometimes hard but It just made me want to use more imagination and not give up. You know, I think snow doesn't always have to be so good to have great time in the backcountry. People sometimes just give up too easily when snow gets shitty.
Where was the best place that you filmed and for what reasons?
I would have to say New Zealand this fall was the best and most productive trip. We just hit it right and even got some cheap helitime over there. I realized for the first time that, man, I have actually gotten so much better at this game and now I feel like I can take it to next level.
It is predominately a Finnish movie with Finnish riders and Finns aren't known for riding pow, but your movie focuses on shredding the deep, how is it to break free of that mold?
Well, first of all we did get to shred some pow in Finland this past season. I also really wanted to focus on getting a legit part in Scandinavia. You know I can drive from my home to Norway or Sweden within 5 hours. Doing rails and park jumps is so easy here but to actually be able to drive to these sick zones and landing a FS1080 into powder in a place that is only 6-hour drive from my home made think that we Finns are not actually living too far away from great powder zones. The guys who only show rails and jumps in Scandinavian movies just don't know about these zones. I hope that our movie can make people see that even near my home you can find great spots if you just make some sort of effort!
Why is it that Finnish people can drink so much and why do they go crazier than a school of fish with tittes?
That is a good question but let me ask you this: why is it that Russians can drink even more than Finnish people? Haha!
Tell us one funny story from your travels that involved alcohol.
Damn! I don't think this is really a story about drinking alcohol but I thought it was pretty funny when I went to Japan for this one contest years ago and the organizers took us to a strip bar and bought strippers for all the riders. I was quite young then and wasn't allowed to be in the bar so they threw me out but somehow the Japanese kept on sneaking me in so I could see some poledancing. Ha. I wonder how much it cost for all the strippers for everyone.
Will you be back competing this year or have you found a new avenue to express your snowboarding?
My goal is purely to be in the backcountry. I want to take it to next level and actually be the first Finnish rider who can ride down some big ass lines with great flow and get some airtime.
Stoked on the movie, mate, shout outs?
Thanks again. I want to thank Teemu Lahtinen who made the video with me, as well as photographer and web editor Jani Kärppä. My sponsors Billabong, Giro, Drake, Northwave , A+ snowboards , NDKreative Design. But most of all my riding buddies who made me want to ride better and better each trip! It was great to have young and hungry upcoming shredders in our crew! I'm really happy and can't wait to go shred again, it just need to start snowing in Europe!
Thanks to Jani Kärppä for the awesome photos, check out Antti's website for more info and follow his travels anttisworld.com