Eero Ettala was on his way to NZ when we squirted Ketchup all over his shirt. Sadly, Eero had a winter on the sidelines last year after another knee operation, but homeboy is almost fully recovered and amping to get back at it down in SoHe, picking up where he left off. Here he talks rehab and future plans, sounds like he means business, read on to find out more.
Hey Eero, what’s good?
Hey, I am actually in transit at Singapore airport, on my way to New Zealand for the Oakley catalog shoot.
How is your knee feeling, I hear you're back skating and surfing now?
My knee is for sure getting better. I wouldn't say it's 100% yet, but I am feeling confident I'll have it back to 110% for next winter. I still have plenty of time to build up the muscles around my knee to get it even stronger. My knee is fine for surfing and skating already, after a little warm-up I am good to go.
What exactly happened with your accident, did your gear malfunction, was it someone else’s fault or did you just fuck up?
Haha, well it was my own fault for sure. I had been filming for the previous couple of nights on the streets and got home really late both nights, but I had already promised to do this "ride with kids" day for Red Bull the next morning at my local resort. I was physically tired, and on the last run before the lunch break I hit the medium-sized jump in the park and slightly overshot it with a BS 180. All the pressure in the landing was on the knee I had already operated on and it just blew out. I stuck the landing and rode away, but somehow my knee ended up twisting a bit in the wrong direction. The problem with ACL surgeries is that building up muscle memory again takes a long time. I felt like my muscles didn't react fast enough after absorbing the landing.
After a solid season the year before last, how did it feel to have a season on the sidelines?
Well, it's never fun sitting on your ass and seeing other riders progress and knowing full well that there will be a lot of catching up to do, haha. But at the same time, it's a good learning experience being hurt, you learn to appreciate new things in life, and actually understand how much work you're willing to put in to get back on your board. That’s kind of the point when you realize how much you appreciate snowboarding.
What's the worst part of being injured?
For sure it's always the first month, when walking is hard. After you can walk things go pretty smoothly, but just not being able to move and needing to rely on so many other people is not so fun after a while.
Explain your method of recovery.
At first I was just doing simple leg-lifting exercises at home and when I got the permission from my doctor to do other stuff, I got into cycling, water running and going to the gym. Three months after surgery I was allowed to start lightly jogging, so from there on out I was running, swimming, and building up muscles at the gym. At 4-5 months I was cruising around on my skateboard a little and still going to the gym four times a week, and now at 7 months I am heading to NZ to get on my snowboard! I am still doing rehab at the gym constantly and will be until the next season is knocking at the door.
Do you think snowboarding has gotten to the stage where tricks and rails are so gnarly that if you don’t stomp them you end up landing in the hospital?
It’s definitely getting gnarlier, but I feel like younger kids can take a lot more of a beating than us a bit older guys. I mean, snowboarding is a weird sport, the older you get the less beatings you can take, but at the same time the sport progresses and you have to go bigger and gnarlier to be able to stay on top, haha. No wonder some of us end up in a hospital bed. But it's not like I wouldn't want to go bigger every year. My mindset is to step it up every year from what I have done before. Hopefully I can continue to stay on that track!
And how do you feel now mentally, are you ready to tear snowboarding a new rectum?
Yeah man, I am just writing up ideas and things I want do on my snowboard next season. Definitely pretty ready, haha.
You have won X-Games, best trick at Air & Style, Jibber of the Year, Best Video Part of the Year ’05 and ’06 and over 20 cover shots, you're basically a machine. What would you say was your career highlight so far?
I feel like my biggest accomplishments were filming all those video parts, inventing the double BS Rodeo 1080 and being able to stay fairly healthy for such a long time. But if you would ask my sponsors what my career highlight was, they would probably say winning gold at the X- Games. Somehow I feel like they appreciated it way more than I did.
And you’re lowest low?
I would have to say having 3 knee injuries.
Will you be doing Tracking Eero again or do you have any new projects on the horizon?
Funny you mentioned that! I would love to do something like that again, it was such a fun project. So actually Heikki and I are talking about doing something together, but we will see if we can pull a budget together. I really hope that I get to film with Heikki next season!
Do you think a grown woman can truly love a midget?
Haha, I guess so. I think it's what’s in the inside that matters, right?
Where will we be able to find you this winter?
All over the place, I’ll definitely be filming urban stuff in Finland again, but also I want to spend a bit more time riding in America. I hope there is a Japan trip coming up again! Basically, I am ready to go wherever the snow falls and my friends are going!
Shout outs?
Oakley, Nitro, Red Bull, DVS, Planet Sports, Northstar at Tahoe, Skullcandy, Poler, White Moment, family, friends, girlfriend, doggies, filmers, photogs and every one that has been part of my career so far, can’t thank you guys enough!
Big ups to Pasi Salminen for the photos, check out his site for more dope shots: www.pasisalminen.com