Sami is like a snowboarding hero from the late nineties. All you ever got to see from him would be a few hilarious lifestyle shots and insane riding clips. Just how it used to be when snowboarding could only be seen on VHS and DVD. Social media has ruined the mystique of a snowboard pro. We all know what deodorant Mark McMorris uses and which car Sven Thorgren drives, but we know nothing about Sami, and that is the beauty of him and the reason for us to want more! When he realised that the bigger Productions wouldn’t meet with his vision,  he decided to create something magical, something that was missing in snowboarding…WOP. Sami has proven to our industry that a big budget doesn’t make a great snowboarding video. Fuck Red cameras, fuck cheesy voice-overs, and fuck helicopters filming another helicopter. All you need are your homies, good vibes and a filmer with a fisheye. It has been 10 years since the release of his first WOP video, and I finally built up my confidence to hop in the van to witness the sickness of the crew. I sat down with him and Antti for a WOP chat, and this is what came out of it.

 

INTERVIEW: EERO ETTALA

PHOTOS: KEKE LEPPALA, EERO ETTALA, PASI SALMINEN

 

What does WOP actually mean?

S: We just wanted to figure out a name that was short and easy for people to recognise. Then everyone started asking what it meant. I always say everyone can choose what it means. 

But what does it mean to you? Because I thought it meant ‘Without Pussy’. It made sense to me because everybody who’s in the video never gets pussy. That’s why I’m in the movie now.

S: *laughs* Yeah, that’s true. Or With Old Pussy. Toni Kerkela is always saying it’s Wheelchair Or Paradise. When Theo (Acworth) was with us on the Spring Tour, he told me he always thought it was Without Pirates, because I created WOP when I stopped filming with those guys.

A: I’ve also heard someone say it’s Without a Plan, too. Maybe that was you, Sami?

S: Or maybe Without Panic.

Okay, it means something different for everybody, I think. What were the influences in the early days, when you started WOP? Did you think there was something missing in snowboarding?

S: I think the only part that was missing in snowboarding at that point was that the riders who liked to film had to be in big video productions, you know what I mean? If you wanted to be on point, to film in a proper way, you had to be in a bigger crew. With WOP, you can simply prepare your camera and go film something, and have a good time. If you are ready to put some effort into it, then you can make some shit happen. 

Antti, do you remember when you saw the first WOP video?

A: Yeah, definitely. It was something very unique; the whole approach was totally different from what others were doing at the time. The general vibe was something else that I really liked. I’ve always been a fan.

I remember it felt less structured; it was kind of an organised chaos in a way. It was also something that was missing in snowboarding. At that time, everything was shot in 4k and super slow-mo without rawness or some sense of reality. It was amazing, beautiful pictures, but there was no raw snowboarding in it.

 

S: Yeah, it’s something I felt when I watched my snowboarding. If everything is in slow-mo, I can’t see how it looks compared to when you might see it in person. The way I use my power, how fast I go, and how I do the tricks. When you have everything in slow-mo, it doesn’t fit my snowboarding in my eyes. One reason why I wanted to leave the Pirates and start creating something different was to show the way I feel my snowboarding should look.

I agree 100%, I feel like you always had some of the craziest stuff in the Pirates movies. But still, I think your footage didn’t look as good as it could have done with the right filming, the right cameras, the right vibe, the right music, and everything. The way it was put together, maybe it wasn’t fitting for you.

S: Yeah, you’ve seen how I snowboard in real life, how I use my board and stuff like that. You can never see that if you’re just watching those other videos, something is missing in them.

Is the budget another big difference between filming with the homies versus filming for a big production? 

S: Yes, the budget is the main thing. But I’ve always been filming as if I’m part of a big production. I make things happen the same way I did when I filmed with Pirates. After a couple of years filming with Basti (Balser) and those guys, they taught me how to film professionally, and I’ve always wanted to keep that standard and effort; that’s the way I like to do it. 

Filming with Pirates must have been a great education for you to understand what it takes to film a part or film a movie. You can apply that learning experience to your own stuff as well.

S: Yeah, exactly. I respect Gigi (Rüf), Ludschi, and all of those guys so much. I miss those guys. I speak to them sometimes, but haven’t seen them for a long time.

 

How do you choose the riders for the WOP movies?

S: Just whoever has a good vibe, I never thought too much about it. Everyone is welcome if they feel it and like riding the spots. We’ve just been going with the flow. Everyone is a homie who I can chill with, even without snow.

So it’s basically people you get along with, feel comfortable hanging out with, and like to ride with?

S: Yeah, and it can also be because something happened, someone brought those people to us, you never know. It’s hard to say how the people end up coming to film with WOP because no one really knows. 

Antti, you filmed with KBR in the beginning, then you shifted to doing a solo K2 project, and now you’re back to crew videos. Did you miss riding with a crew?

A: Both types of projects can be good, for sure. When you’re doing your own thing, you have time to just focus on yourself, but you still have the crew behind you. 

 

Are there benefits to doing something by yourself, or is it more stressful?

A: The benefit is that you probably have more filming days available, allowing you to choose more days for yourself. But it’s a little bit more stressful sometimes. If you plan to film the next seven days with your filmer, you know that you just have to go for it. Instead of filming with the crew, where you can have one day here, then wait out two days, and then do another spot, that’s more relaxed in a way. I definitely prefer filming with a crew nowadays. And I like people, so yeah, I would always choose a crew.

Luti (Sami), what’s the drive for you? You’re getting really minimal support from the industry, but you’re still getting after it, you’re going out there and doing the gnarliest stuff with no support. 

S: I’ve been trying to quit snowboarding, for sure. I had all kinds of woodworking work with big planers and stuff, but it’s something inside me, or maybe outside me, it’s everywhere. Snowboarding drives me in every way in my life. It gives me motivation to make things happen. I can go snowboarding or go on trips with other people, we can have a good session or demo, and it’s been driving my whole life. Everything is based on snowboarding, which is crazy.  

You’re not getting paid a crazy amount of money now. I don’t think you need to do as crazy stuff as you’re doing, like going on top of a building, and doing something fucking crazy. So what’s the reward for you?

S: Yeah, but sometimes you do the more gnarly stuff when no one else is pushing you to make shit happen, other than yourself. If you sign a contract with someone who doesn’t even really care or help that much, you can wonder why you would do this for someone other than yourself. 

 

It’s inspiring the way that you just decided: ‘I’m doing my own thing, and I don’t fucking care if my sponsors are coming with me. I’m still gonna be fucking riding, and I’m gonna be doing the gnarliest stuff.’ Are you having more fun snowboarding without the bigger support and having less pressure?

S: No, maybe some days, but nowadays, it doesn’t really matter. I’m clear with what I want to do. I’m down to do whatever, go on trips, just have fun wherever I go. 

You’ve been asking me to film for WOP for a long time, and I always thought that it was way too crazy, because you do the craziest tricks and hit the craziest spots, and I wasn’t prepared. But I realised filming for WOP is actually more fun because you don’t have any rules about what you’re allowed to ride. We’ve been able to ride rocks, ride trees, or whatever, anything could be a spot. I feel like you’re loosening the rules, and anything could work when you have the right vision for it. I think encouraging people to do their own DIY projects is your biggest influence with WOP, Sami.

S: Yeah, and you (Eero) have always been a big influence on me from the early days as well.

Yeah, like with power tools, for example, what’s up with using them to modify spots or boards to get clips? Sami, I’ve heard you say: ‘Let’s just make it work. What do you need? Let’s just fucking cut that pole or take down that tree, or whatever it is.’

S: Yeah, for sure. I’m always thinking that way. If you have a really special rail, maybe it’s wood or something, then I’m down to put metal on it, if I can make it look really good. Because you don’t have much unique stuff in Finland. I don’t see why we shouldn’t modify spots.

A: Yeah, there’s definitely only a certain number of spots left in Finland. So if something needs to be modified a little bit, then we do it if it’s not too crazy. For instance, if it’s an abandoned place, it doesn’t hurt anybody if you cut a little piece of metal out of something because it’s gonna be taken down anyway in a year or two. But if it’s somewhere more public, then I wouldn’t do it too much. 

I remember being one of the riders in Finland who introduced the winch to snowboarding. Pasi (Salminen) built it, but I was one of the first to use it. There was a phase, maybe 10-15 years ago, when everything had to be hit with a winch, and now we’re trying to avoid using them as much as possible. How do you guys feel about using winches at spots?

A: Yeah, there was a five-year golden era of winching. 

S: But it’s still really cool to use them because Finland is really flat. It’s crazy how flat it is. With a winch, you can open up so many possibilities. I don’t use it much nowadays, but I don’t see anything bad about using them if you’re up for it. For sure, you should hit the spot if you need the winch. The reality is that we just don’t have that many hills here in Finland.

Whatever it takes to make the spot work. It’s kind of the same thing as modifying the spot with power tools. But it’s not like we have to highlight the winch anymore, like we used to, when you would always have the lifestyle in-run shot holding the rope. Now you’re trying to hide the winch instead of highlighting it.

A: I want to get one of those in-run shots in the video. *laughs*

Up until my ‘Ender’ part, I always wanted to top my level from my previous video parts. When I did Milestone, I felt like I was still able to raise the level of my riding, you know? I would still go to spots and try to do something better than I would do on my normal day riding. I was able to push it 100%, but I would also get inspired by the WOP videos, by filming with Tobbe (Tiusanen). I started looking at spots that would look good through a fisheye lens that you guys use. Smaller spots, but more technical, with good flow, a good line, and more creativity. Instead of just finding the biggest fucking rail and thinking, ‘Okay, this is gonna look good with the long lens from far away.’ 

 

S: Yeah, you bring your fast legs when snowboarding, in my eyes. We used to skate together, and you always had those fast tricks, reverts, all that stuff. But you never showed that in your snowboarding parts until Milestone when you started moving that way, different spots, fast tricks, combos.

That’s the kind of riding that speaks more to me nowadays. If I see someone riding something smaller, more relatable, more technical, or creative, that makes me want to go riding as well. It just looks more fun than finding the biggest fucking thing to jump off, you know.  I found my way of riding where I feel that I can keep doing this, at this level, for years to come compared to doing something fucking crazy. I’m not sure if I really want to do that anymore anyway.

S: Yeah, it’s the same for me. I can’t land from really high too many times. My body can’t take the big impacts. That’s why I like the tree spots, the forest, there are so many sketchy things. You can’t see it as clearly, but you can get the same feeling. Sometimes it’s so crazy, even if it’s a smaller spot, you never know what’s gonna happen. 

All of us have been doing this for so long, so if we’re hitting a regular down rail, we know what’s gonna happen, we know what to expect. But finding something that hasn’t been hit before, something random, as you said, like a rock or a tree or whatever it is. I think that’s the motivating aspect for us to keep going forward and not always do the same thing.

S: Exactly.

 

The WOP videos are the perfect outlet for me to showcase my snowboarding how I want to be presenting it. You know, this gave me the freedom. I think some of the spots that we filmed for this movie, I wouldn’t have filmed for Milestone, for example. It’s just two different concepts. So I think that opened some new doors to me for how to look at snowboarding.

S: Yeah, which was nice. I remember a couple of times when you were surprised by how some spots ended up looking through the camera, like ‘oh, fuck, this works so good, what the fuck?!’

Yeah, exactly. And I think this is also where the ideas from Antti, Sami, Tobbe, and everybody else involved come in. You guys can tell really well what’s gonna look good shot with the fisheye, or the filming style WOP is doing, you know. I think that has really inspired me a lot for my riding as well.

S: Yeah, and we’ve been hitting a lot of spots, with the fisheye. WOP is full of filmers who can shoot really well with the fisheye.

Yeah, and there are no rules, like what you can film or what you can’t film. I still think one of the best WOP clips is the fucking backside 630 on the grass Niels (Shack) did. Like, that’s not really a clip to the usual filming standard, but the fisheye makes it the best clip ever!

S: Yeah, exactly. 

 

You guys are just down to use something like so random that other people wouldn’t use, which makes it the best.

S: Yeah, when it makes some sense, like if it’s working, then it’s working. It’s really simple. 

A: Yeah, we’re not scared of trying different stuff. *laughs*

I’m down to have more fun filming. Filming has been so serious in the past. With Mackdawg Productions or Standard Films, or even making Ender, it was always so serious. Trying to do the best possible fucking trick that looks the gnarliest on the video. Now it’s kind of like, let’s just go out there and see what kind of spots we want to hit, what would look fun, and what would feel fun for us. I want to showcase my riding the way I feel like it should be presented. The spots have to look fun. They have to look creative, and sometimes be kind of random.

A: Yeah, and kind of influential spots, too.

Also, I don’t want to leave my wife and kids at home, and go to a spot where I don’t know if I’m gonna come back home or wake up in the hospital afterwards. I’d rather go and hit a fun spot and hopefully get a cool clip. Sometimes those cool clips are even harder to get. If you’re jumping off a roof, those clips usually take a couple of tries. But if you want to get something more technical, more creative, you could spend two hours just trying the trick. 

S:  Yeah, for sure. But as long as you leave the house, you are a winner. That’s how I’ve thought about it. Once I get out of my home and I’m just outside with my friends, and we film or snowboard, then I’m a winner already, no matter what happens. I’m hyped on that already, so everything is a bonus. I’m hyped to get some clips, but I’ve realised that’s not the main thing. The main thing is hanging with the homies. 

That’s something I’ve started to appreciate more, especially after having kids, just being out there with homies, doing the thing you love the most. That’s the special moment, right? And getting the clip is considered the work, you know. Everything around it, that’s the fun part for me.

S: But when you get that clip, you also remember that moment for longer, especially when we are outside and enjoying the day. Crazy things can happen every day.

Yeah, that’s true. Most of the spots I’ve hit last season felt more like a session with homies, instead of going there to get one clip. If you look at my footage, I ended up doing two tricks at almost all of the spots. I would do a trick and then be just chilling while the session is still going on, then think, ‘Maybe I’ll go back up and try something else, then get a second clip because I’m more relaxed.

S: Yeah, that’s always the way, especially when we’re filming with Niels.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that you guys just hang out at a spot and see if someone comes up with anything, and then something magical happens. Sometimes you’re like, ‘I’m just gonna go to my van and cook some food and maybe see you in 20 minutes’. I was never good at operating that way. I always had a really strict plan of what I wanted to do, then do it, and then leave. Now I’m going somewhere to see what’s going to happen. And then usually something even better happens.

S: Yeah, and like that, some new spots can open up that you didn’t plan. It’s so weird how many times that has happened, you’re hitting some spot, but then you end up noticing a different feature that turns out to be an amazing spot.

A: I always find you around the corner, setting up a different spot than the one you came for. 

Also, when the spot is more playful, everything doesn’t have to be set up as perfectly as it would have to be for bigger stuff.

S: Yeah, exactly. Sometimes, you just end up at the spot that’s wherever you are. You just put a rock on the ground, and it becomes your hype! *laughs*

A: And then there’s a new spot! *laughs*

 

Niels was talking about the Gremlin hour, where you always get the shot on the last minute, you know, when it’s almost getting too dark to film. He said you chill for as long as you can, and then you start to work when you really need to.

S: Sometimes you need more time; it depends on the spots. You’re also juggling a lot of stuff in your life, and you’re taking some big risks, so you can’t make any mistakes. 

While we’re talking about time, what’s the idea behind the burning clock in some of the videos?

S: Oh, that’s when we need some more time. We fire up the clock with Hans Trössel in my backyard when we need some extra seconds for the edit. 

*laughs* Yeah, that’s pretty funny and magical. Why is WOP so obsessed with Harry Potter?

S: Niels is always so crazy about Harry Potter; he loves those movies. When he stayed with us in Finland, he would always be watching those movies after filming. That’s where it came from, for sure. 

A: Yeah. He definitely loves magic, that’s for sure!

Alright, I think we’re all good now, guys. Thanks for the interview!

S: Thank you, thank you. 

A: Thank you, easy! 

 

Watch WOP's latest video WIZARD here: