We ran into Jussi Oksanen in the cafeteria in the lodge after an epic early season shred. We asked him a few questions about how he stays so stoked, about memory lane and how life is looking on the Zeal Optics team.
What's your first memory of snow?
I was probably around four or something. I had this little sled and all I remember is that I just wanted to go as fast as I could on it! Haha!
Five words that describe winter:
Adventure, Powder, Peace, Nature and Excitement.
What picture on your phone best describes your love affair with snowboarding?
How about the most epic place you've ridden?
That would have to be the first time I went to Valdez in Alaska. I have ridden all over the world, but the first time riding in Alaska is something I won't ever forget. The mountains are just so intimidating and humbling there. That year we had to pre-book the hours and the minimum was 30 hours to get a private heli, so we had some hours to burn. Josh Dirksen was counting our runs. We end up doing something like 68 runs on that trip!
What's on your list of accomplishments to check off this winter and beyond?
I have lots of things in mind that I'm looking forward to, but we'll see. I'm just excited to see these spots up close that we been checking out from the plane. They look absolutely amazing!
You've had a long, deep career in snowboarding – how do you continue to see the mountains differently and get creative each year, adding to the stoke?
That's what's exciting about snowboarding and the mountains, the options are endless. By the end of each year, I'm kind of like man, I need to do this or I should have done that, but then I'm always looking forward to next winter for doing new things. This season I'm looking forward to adventuring in some new terrain that we have been scouting over the past few years. I'm getting really hyped to get back out there again!