Around Austria snowboarding and doing stuff!

I taught I had updated the blog but seems like I've been alot more active on Facebook and Instagram.
If you want to follow me on Instagram: sainlymental

I've been back in Zillertal for 2 weeks now and more than one week was basically only park riding since we kinda missed the Penken park in Mayrhofen. We have been filming abit in the park but I need more for an edit. So it's coming but not just yet.

Last time we moved we spent the day in Innsbruck mostly just walking around. I took some pictures and would be nice to get some feedback so click on the picture to open the album.




 

Another kind of boarding!

This trailer is just insane. How can a wave explode like that?
Scare stuff but at the same time just so awesome.




And here is an interesting article about the truth of stretching.
I's a good read, might help someone out there.

The truth about stretching! 

Another thing you don't see every day:

Australian skier chased by snow leopard while skiing

POW-WOW

So we finally got some snowfall in Zillertal last week and at the end of the week we got some really nice pow days. The first day we didn't expect much going up since the weather was super bad. It was raining alot but seemed like higher up it had been just cold enough to make the rain abit more fluffy. So on the first day I didn't film anything cos I didn't even have my camera with me but on the second day I got what I needed to make this edit.

Vide-Oh! Wow-POW from Vide-Oh! on Vimeo.

Last Saturday we actually moved to Tobadill. So this week we've been riding abit further west. So far I've been to Ischgl, See, Sölden and Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis.

Ischgl was really crowded. I felt like I was standing in line most of the time. Half of the lifts were closed due to strong winds so that was partly the reason. But from what i saw of Ischgl it wasn't to my liking. There's alot of potential to some really easy access BC lines but I felt like there were lifts everywhere. Some people like it cos you never really have to use transport trails but I felt like it was abit too much. Maybe I'll get a better impression next time.

See was really nice. I think there's like 6 lifts in See. Compared to the size of the place they have an insane amount of nice off-piste and even some really technical lines. Not much of any lift lines so you get alot of riding in one day. If See gets alot of snow I would say it's an excellent place to visit.

Sölden was ok, the glacier wasn't open so still waiting to see that part. The park was for some reason closed and under construction but it seemed like it was mostly super easy boxes and really small jumps. Got some nice powder runs in but can't say that I got that excited about the place. Have to go back to check out the glacier.

Today was Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis. This place was amazing. From all the places I have been to so far if I would have to choose one for a one week holiday this is where I would go. There is something for everyone and it's widely spread out so the crowd of people just spreads out all over the place. Best pistes so far, profile and quality vise. The jib park was insane, I think it was 3 different lines side by side, each with at least 10 obstacles in one run. The kicker line was ok I guess. medium size jumps with low hangtime. On the plus side they have a big air bag which is always for. Offpiste for everyone from easy to gnarly. Cliff drops, tree lines and endless potential if you're up for some hiking. I was really amazed by this place.

Things that annoy me: What is the matter whit drivers in Austria? Even if you're speeding 10km/h some idiot will drive 2m behind you at all times. When he after 5km realizes you're not going to go any faster he passes you even if there isn't a clear view of what's ahead, just to end up behind the next car. Then, after a few more km he stops at a grocery store where he isn't in any kind of hurry. It's like most drivers here have a death wish.

Another thing that comes to mind is that coming from Finland I'm not used to having to deal with 1 & 2 cent coins. They keep stacking up and people seemed to just get annoyed when you use them to pay for something.

My mind just when completely blank so I guess I just try to post shorter posts abit more often.
Till next time.

New edit and an amazing documentary!

Check this out, really interesting documentary.

Far from Home

Hintertux Powderday from Vide-Oh! on Vimeo.

Picture time Zillertal!

First run in the alps

Really snowy day in Gerlos, magical treeriding.

After a long day in the snow, my mustache was frozen solid.

Extremely happy rider in Hintertux

Tux

Tux

Eemeli in Tux

The girls hyped about the weather.

Faceshots on the side of the slopes

Amazed by theese rando guy going up black slopes. There's alot of theese people here.

Stoked

Weather getting clearer after a day of alot of snow and no vision what so ever.

Last Chair

Funny thing about the first picture. We were so hyped on getting up that we ended up taking the wrong lift from Mayrhofen, we taught we were in Mayrhofen but got super confused trying to find our position on the trailmap. After a while we realized we were in Ahorn on the other side of the valley. It's really small so we just rode Ahorn for a while before moving over to Mayrhofen.

I've seen rando skiers in every resort we have been to, skinning from the bottom to the top. I'm not new to rando skiers but I feel like theese people are really strong minded since they hike up a slope right next to the lift.

Because someone will end up asking anyways I'm gonna quickly just say this. Yes I am traveling with 1 guy and 2 girls, but they are all just friends.

I will try to get some tourist pictures taken on my Canon this week.

Season is ON! Like really on.

So all of December I was in Levi as usual. It's always nice to see the people there since you barely see anyone during the summer. Weather was like it usually is around that time, some days you might have -1 and then a few days late the temperature drops to -25. A few days after I left Levi they got -34 I think, soo thankful I wasn't there working when it happened.



Most of the time I was just working. I did get to ride some park but mainly after a long day of working when it's too dark to film anything and on my days off the weather ended up being quite terrible. Only thing I ended up filming was some faceshots in the small amount of pow I could find on the side of the slope. It turned out so bad that I actually just deleted it. The base was way to weak to go ride in the trees.


So christmas and newyears passed by pretty quickly and on the 5th of Jan I left Levi, went to Helsinki, repacked, and headed towards Austria.


So I've been in Austria now for 2 weeks and it's been epic. The snow base is not that good but the last 4 days we've been getting so much snow that it's hard to stay away from the off-piste. This results in ruining the base of your boards real nicely. The service for my board ended up costing 40€ which was abit of a shock but they did a really nice job. If anyone is interested in where I took my board it was Moreboards in Mayrhofen.


We bought the Tirol Snow Card which is like a combo ski pass that is valid in something around 90 different resorts. During this first week we've been to 4 different ones. Around 7 I guess if you count the ones that are connected to eachother as different resorts.


The first weekend we tried going out. This ended up with us eventually just drinking at home since the taxi never picked us up. We called it like 3 times and the same driver confirmed that he would be on his way. I feel like he might have been one of those drivers who pick you up at the point when he happens go drop off another costumer close by.

So last night we were successful because of better planning. We took the train to town. Only "problem" is that the last train leaves at 20:20 or something so you end up starting the evening quite early. So today was kinda just about regaining my strength, which is an idiotic way to spend your day away from the slopes. But, it had to be done.



This week we actually got a super fun day in Hintertux. The weather was abit terrible but it had it's upsides. The few who were there mainly spent the day on the slopes further down where it was less windy and better visibility. This left us with some super easy-access powder areas. I think we spent like 3/4 of the day riding this area between two slopes that for some reason had really good snow. I filmed abit even if the visibility wasn't too good but it turned out ok. Was planning on putting a clip together tomorrow night. Our internet connection is the most unreliable you can get so let's just hope I can get it uploaded.



Hintertux in general to me seems like a place that has good riding as long as they have alot of snow and it's a bluebird day. The clouds seem to almost stick to the mountain and since it's a really high mountain the top part has been really windy. The wind combined with the snow and clouds played tricks on us real bad, there was no way of knowing what is up and what is down or if it was ice or powder in front of you. It was super funny going on the t-bar to the top. The lift trail was covered in 20cm of fresh, coming half way up i suddenly hit a wall of snow. With the back foot unstrapped i didn't get very far at the point where I was waist deep in snow. I think all of us fell off the lift at that point. You really don't expect that much snow on the lift trail.


Even if this isn't that far away from home there are so many things that make you feel like you're somewhere super far away. First of all I would say that it's about as easy to get your point trough to someone in Thailand as it is here. Surprisingly often you end up in a situation where you end up getting service in german even if you tell them you only speak english, no matter how polite you are.

There seem to be alot of stores that don't accept Visa which to me is weird. Yesterday I was in a grocery store that would only accept AMEX and Maestro. No Visa, no MasterCard. So basically you get used to always having to carry abit of cash with you. Up on the slopes they only take cash in the restaurants and bars.

On the slopes people have no respect what so ever when it comes to standing in line. everyone cut in line, alot of people even cut in line even when there is no free space anywhere. Too many seem to have no idea what so ever how to pick a spot where you wait for your friends. You get people going trough the ticket gate at the lift and then just stop in the small area in between the ticket gate and the lif to wait for the rest of the group. You get large groups who block all of the gates while waiting for the seasons to change. After 2 weeks I'm still completely amazed by this chaos around the lifts. One day I girl in her 20s started complaining to me because I wouldn't let her cut in front of me in the lift line. She most def got the babe of the day price for that one.


Oh yeah, they use 2&1 cent coins here so you end up having alot of those small annoying barbie coins that are worth more in the material they are made of than the actual value of the coin.


There alot of stuff to write about but I will leave something for later. I need to put up some pictures and edit some pow riding to make this blog abit more interesting. Hoping to get it done tomorrow.

While writing this the damn internet shut down again so might be that I'll get this posted tomorrow morning if someone wonders how some of the stuff I've writted don't add up.

Goooooooooood Night!

What I wouldn't give to be as good at skateboarding as theese kids!

Winter just came! Or something...

At least we're getting closer. I have no clue when I will get my season started but I'm beginning to realize that it's not going to be that long.

 I'm actually super hyped, more than usual. It's fun when you start the season checking out and buying gear. And checking out clips and movies. Insights - Peetu Piiroinen Full Part Is one part that I found interesting a nice to watch. I've actually seen Peetu several times riding. It's insane how big he goes, on everything. In Talma he hit almost every obstacle so hard I was scared that he was going to miss the landing. That's one thing I haven't seen him do. 

 Seems like it's been snowing abit in the alps, just looking at this makes me excited about the upcoming season. 

 

 Since it's still almost summer or something I want to add a few clips from another sport. Just insanely cool footage from Nine Knights MTB, enjoy!

That moneyroll.....

Close to a perfect summer day!

First of all. I haven't been blogging or anything like that lately because I've been at our summerhouse where you just constantly end up doing stuff. It's where I am right now as well but for the first time in a long time I'm here all alone, which means it's easier to concentrate on writing.

So ye, today was a pretty epic day. I've been out to sea. I made a nice BBQ dinner for myself, feels weird to bbq for only yourself. I enjoyed a really cool sunset, while heating up the sauna.

Had a long relaxing sauna session. It's sooo chill to just sit there in the warm sauna looking at the flames behind the glass. Skinny dipping/swimming in the sea where the water was just perfect. I had some cold beers in the sauna, and one of the times I was sitting outside cooling off with my beer and owl flew straight over me. Owls are badass, like the birdversion of ninjas. They have insanely good and precise hearing (in the winter they hunt mice trough layers of snow), they are completely silent in the air and when they sit up in the tree you can barely see them cos they sit freakishly still.

Now it's completely dark outside so might go practice some astrophotography, loads of fun and really challenging. At least with my gear and skills. But you gotta start somewhere right?

My sister and her boyfriend just left today so kinda weird not having them here since the evenings are usually the time we sit at the kitchen table socialising or watch series. I think they spent like 6 or 7 weeks here and were kinda bummed out about leaving. Got to go sailing with them on sunday (damn this week has gone by fast). Tomorrow I'm off to Turku on new adventures.

Last but not least!!!!!!!! The frikin edit that took me FOREVER to get done. SKDÄÄÄM!!!

Vide-Oh! Season 3 Finale from Vide-Oh! on Vimeo.

Cheer up, summer is short anyways!

Alright here is the edit from my trip to Riksgränsen. Hope you like it.

Vide-Oh! Riksgränsen from Vide-Oh! on Vimeo.

Largest illegal graffiti in the world

The headline speaks for itself. This was just too cool not to post.

INDECLINE: Largest Illegal Graffiti Piece In the World from Indecline on Vimeo.

Most awesome things come in small packages?

I have posted a clip before of my surfing hero. But you can't go wrong with this clip.

QUINCY from Sean Slobodan on Vimeo.

Season is over! Onboard SendOff Session Final Edit.

So there hasn't been that many clips this season. I still got some unedited because we kinda wanted to try to save up for a longer clip but the weather was against us most of the time and on top of that I managed to injure both of my knees which forced me to spend alot more time off the board then I wanted to. To give you some info there will be at least one pow clip from Riksgränsen and one park clip from Levi if not two small ones. Due to my injury and unemployment there are alot of things to get done but I should get everything edited within a month. If you follow snowboarding sites you might have noticed that Onboard MAgazine had their Send Off session at LEvi this year. The Park crew worked long days for about a whole month to get everything build and it turned out amazing. Levi is truly underrated when it comes to park standards, in a way it's a good thing because the park is hardly ever that crowded. I'm not sure if it's at 100% but next season there might be some big changes around the parks at Levi, and all I can say is that it's most likely going to be really epic. If you haven't seen the final edit from the sessions here it is:
Onboard Send Off Session 2015 - Main Edit a Snowboarding video by onboard


  A friend posted thsi video on Facebook today and I felt like I just had to repost it here. This looks like tons of fun. Maybe it's something I should try this summer on water and then on the snow next winter :D

Shitty weather but spring is here!

We have gotten close to nothing filmed the past few months. The weather has been absolutely terrible. With a few sunny day that have been so windy it's hopeless to do anything on the jumps. Riding rails is beginning to feel abit boring almost because it's the only option on the super windy day. The wind also destroys all the soft snow so no pow to be found.
On the upside I've been out abit more than usual. For me it's a good thing because I might not go out at all for a few months and it gets sort of antisocial. The busy weeks for example are usually so exhausting the alot of the day you just can't find the power to get your ass of the couch once you get home. I've started going to the gym again on a more weekly basis, always a good way to get more energy.
I think everyone know we've had a few really good nights with some amazing northern lights. The were so strong that even if it was abit cloudy that radiant light pushed trouhgt the clouds.
I grabbed my camera and the tripod but was too late once I got everything in place. Another time I guess...
I've been home from work trying to get my knees in better shape which means I've been watching alot of stupid stuff but yesterday I found some gems from the past. The best snowboarding movies ever. Movies that get you more hyped on snowboarding than any other.

Some of the great
Mack Dawg Productions movies I found on youtube.




The quality is poor but it doesn't really matter. Still awesome.

Quick reminder if you order anything from www.myboard.fi add the LEVI code at the checkout for a small discount.

I got a new edit done. Had some problems with the resolution so I had to render it 4 times and upload it twice before I got it to work and look the way I wanted.

Vide-Oh! s3ep2 Out in the sun! from Vide-Oh! on Vimeo.

Svanstein

Here we go. So on January 17th we headed to Svanstein since there has been alot of talk about the resort this winter. I'm going to cut it short.
There are 2 t-bars but still alot of terrain to be ridden. If it snows alot they leave some slopes as they are so you get to ride pow on the slopes too. In some areas they have been cutting down alot of trees for BC riding which is awesome. You might have to walk back to the lift 10 mins or so but it's worth it. The staff all around the mountain were really outgoing and friendly and just ask the lifties and you will get good directions towards the good pow spots.
The terrain is kinda steep, but nothing too crazy.
As it got dark we had some lunch and hit the park. The park wasn't too much fun. Alot of small features and some of the takeoffs were abit sketchy. Then again they started working on the park abit more around a week later so I think we'll be going back to check out the park later this season.
I forgot to set my bindings back on the board and was too lazy to do anything about it later so the riding isn't the best and during the day I crashed quite alot. So this clip is far from good in my opinion but shows abit of Svansteins potential.


 
Vide-Oh! goes Svanstein from Vide-Oh! on Vimeo.

What board(s) do I ride?

So at the moment I got 2 boards.
The one on the left is a Lib Tech Travis Rive Pro model with Union Contact Pro bindings. This is a great all around board that for me works in almost any terrain. I mostly use it on big jumps, in the halfpipe, groomers and for off-piste riding. It's not really an off-piste board but to me it almost feels like it. It's got rocker between the inserts and camber from inserts to ti ad tail. I would say that the rocker part is kinda soft but the rest of the board is still kinda stiff so it doesn't feel like a complete noodle. A Noodle board would be Nitro Team Gullwing which feels like riding a board with a broken core trough the middle. Might be good for jibbing but whatever.
All in all I'm having a hard time finding anything negative to say about this board. It's my weapon of choice because of how well it works anywhere and in any conditions. Retails at around 559€

The board on the right is an old (2013) Ride Kink with Union Flite bindings. I got it in December because it was really cheap since it's an old model. If I got my facts right it's basically just the looks that have changed since then.
This board really surprised me. It's one of Rides cheapest and softest boards.
I've never owned a jib/rail board before but since I've started to enjoy that part of riding more and more I decided to give it a try.
It's true that it is a soft board but it's still easy to stay in control on nose and tail presses. It's a flat profile between contact points, but the contact points are raised up abit to make it less catchy.
Because it's flat in the middle I feel like it stays stable even when you push your weight onto the tail on nose. To confuse you even more I would say it's stiffer than you'd think but really soft when you want it to be. I just love it on jibs and rails and it holds up surprisingly well on carving turns.
It floats in powder better than you'd think but you will enjoy your pow alot more on some other board.
If you ride alot of rails in the park and hit up to medium sized jumps I would say this is the perfect board. I have to say that I am riding it in a wide size (abit stiffer), but if you look at the weight limits and get the right board this review should hold up.
Not a great board for a beginner in my opinion since the flat profile doesn't make turns for beginners any easier. So if you want a great board for the park this is alot of board for your money. Retails at 389€

I don't want to talk too much about the bindings since I feel is an area that alot of people feel differently about.
Union Contact Pro (to the left). It's true what they say about this binding on unions website. With less contact to the board you really feel alot more of the boards true flex. I really like this binding, it's abit more pricy. But at the same time might be the most comfortable binding I've ridden so far. Fit's like a glove. Retails at around 239€

Union Flite (to the right). If you are looking for a binding at a cheaper price range this is a great choice. I think union has one cheaper one but the Flight has a more quality feel to it. The footbed is completely flat and give a really stable feel. The only problem I have with this binding is that even if it is the same size as the Contact Pros it's abit more narrow, enough for my new boots not to fit the binding properly. This binding retails at only 149€. At this price range I would say it's a good binding.

I've been shopping at www.myboard.fi lately. Great outlet and good prices.
Get an extra 5% off with the the code LEVI at check out.

I hope you found this helpful.

Most insane week ever & Vide-Oh! s3ep1

Last week was the most sucky week of my entire life so far. It felt like whetever could go wrong, actually went wrong.
It all started a week ago on Monday. Made myself a breakfast smoothie in the blender. Detaching the jug from the machine the frikin bottom came off and the smoothie was all over the kitchen. Basically ment skipping breakfast and cleaning the kitchen. Coming to work it was -32 outside. I had already felt sick the day before but at his point I felt like I was about to suffocate because of the cold air combined with already irritated lungs and throat. Went to the doc and got sent home for 5 days.

On Tuesday I was boiling some water for tea. This ended up with me somehow managing to push over the water cooker and getting around 1 liter of boiling water on my thigh. 2nd degree burns.... I'm really killing it. I guess I should feel lucky. 15cm higher up and it would have been a whole other story, and something I don't even that I don't want to think about.

So basically Tuesday to Friday was about taking care of my burns and my flu.

On Saturday I didn't feel sick anymore so we headed over to Svanstein ski resort in Sweden together with Kaarle and Ulla. This was a really fun day with alot of rolling around in the offpiste. Not the best riding on our part but I got some nice footage I will put up later. However it was still a super fun day (pictures below). But on a week like this fun comes at a price.... My new Adidas boots broke, one of the laces came off. Since it's a quicklace system I couldn't fix it. I've been in contact with the retailer who is basically trying to get me to fix them myself somehow which to me seems kinda strange. I guess I will have to try.

Sunday, last day of the week, what could go wrong?
The weather is great, riding feels good. And they finished the halfpipe at Levi. Riding the pipe and the front slope jumps enjoying just throwing down tricks that are easy to us. On the last jump I throw down a fs3 landing it clean but then a few meters later catching my heel edge on something. It wasn't a hard fall but I completely messed up my thumb. I had it x-ray'd and the good thing is that it wasn't fractured or injured. Still really swollen and hurt alot so it still ruined riding for me.

Today it's Monday and I feel like it can't get worse, just uphill from here. That had to be all the bad luck that you usually get in several months. Now work for a few days and then 2 days off. Really hyped on riding right now so let's hope my luck turns.

The pow clips from Svanstein should be up soon and at the same time I will put up a short review about the resort and what we taught about it. This week I will try to get Ulla's video part filmed.

Here are a few pictures from Levi and the rest from Svanstein. I've been trying to learn how to get good pics on the DSLR, still a total amateur but I feel like it's getting better. And if you are wondering, I do NOT edit the pictures in any way. I'm too lazy for that.

Levi sunset/sunrise

Ulla -27

Our deck!

Kaarle most likely on Instagram (@kaarle)

Svanstein, Sweden

Kaarle & Ulla stretching

Kaarle gave up on stretching

Ulla doing what she does best! :D

All I need! (almost)

Here is the first Vide-Oh! Episode of the year. I've gotten some good feedback on this one and I hope you like it.



Vide-Oh! s3ep1 from Vide-Oh! on Vimeo.

Up north again!

So here we are, back at Levi at the end of a year with who know how many kms of traveling. I didn't think it was possible to get tired of traveling, but to be honest it feels good to know that I'm gonna stay here for a while.

New for this season would be that our footage will be a lot smoother and better as soon as we get stuff filmed. Not going to reveal how because I wanna show you in an edit.
Kinda busy before christmas so we'll see how fast we can get stuff done.
The frontslope park is all ready and they are making tons of snow for the halfpipe, it's looking good.
The Snowpark will open on Friday and I got Saturday off so that's something to look forward to.

Some people might have seen/heard that Junkyard made a deal with Sven Thorgren who's been killing it lately. I don't know if it's connected to that but they also desided to drop all minor deals which means that I don't get any good deals which is kinda hard on the budget. Especially when I've gotten my ass kicked financially this past month, too many unexpected bills to mention.

Really hyped on this season. I'm feeling good about it and it's snowing quite a lot which is always fun. I got my DSLR so I'm going to try to capture some cool stuff outside, still learning how to use it but you never know, I might actually get some cool pictures.
This one was taken on my phone (duh!), and this is where the season begins!

Pictures from New Zealand

Ok here we go. Been a few months since I came home from NZ and there are far too many things to tell so I was thinking that I't easier for me to just put up some pictures. There is the chance of noone even giving a rats ass but if you do you can just ask about the pictures!
The quality is what it is since they were taken on Samsung Galaxy S4+ and GoPro 3+ Black
Click for full sized pictures!

Mt.Ruapehu

Waitonga Falls

 From our front door

 Turoa

 

Mt Maunganui

 

 

Rotorua