During our stay in Tamok, Norway we also ended up working car danchi video segment for Approach & Attack. Japanese riders might have invented the car danchi lifestyle but since then it has spread around the world. Janne Hinkkanen & Ile Eronen are finnish snowboarding legends who also follow the snow and live in a car during their snowboarding trips. We followed them around the natural pipes in Tamok and had a blast. Photo: Jani Karppa

This was probably the best pipe session of the season! Ile Eronen leading the way with tail grab. Photo: Jani Karppa

When you go ride pipe in Tamok you only ride it once or twice and then move to next one. This place is full of nice gullies and poppers. I made a track for this one and Ile followed. photo: Jani Karppa

Ile only hit this fun quarter pipe few times but still was able to do an air which I have no idea what to call it. Maybe it is NoseMethod? I do not know but damn if looks good! Photo: Jani Karppa

For next 3,5 weeks Im going to be located in Tamokdalen,Norway. Together with our crew we are here to complete the video part for Approach & Attack. It for sure feels good to be back in this familiar low-key spot that some people also call the valley of Finns! photo: Jani Karppa

After somewhat unsuccessful trip to AK riding on good snow felt so nice! First turns in Tamok were Super.
photo: Jani Karppa

Scandinavian version of Japanese style pillow poppers. No complains! photo: Jani Karppa

Mountains in Alaska are big but so are the coffee cups. Morning without coffee is like winter without snow. I need to get my fix, Darker the better! photo: Matti Ollila

This overcast view pretty much sums up the majority days in AK. Luckily weather can change rapidly and riding in treeline saves a lot too. But I did not come all the way to Alaska for tree riding. photo: Matti Ollila

Constant change of weather can be pain in the butt. But that´s the way it is. Sometimes you score it and sometimes you don´t. If forecast shows partly cloudy it can go any direction. It´s almost impossible to trust weather forecast here. you just gotta go out and give it your best. photo: Matti Ollila

If weather stays good you can find yourself on top of the peak. You just got to prepare for at least 2 to 3 hours of hiking. If your mind is not ready to hike then your body is not either. To me hiking has become fun part of the day. You might not ride as much but most likely the riding you do feels more rewarding than any other riding you have done before. Earn your turns…Perkele! .photo: Matti Ollila

You made it! You are top of your line! Weather is great! No rush , no stress. Here you can take your time. If you feel that today is not the day for the steep run you know there will be super fun one next to it! Good riding is guaranteed! Im here to push my limits but number ONE thing is to HAVE FUN with reasonable risks! photo: Matti Ollila

When I was young I thought I could ride everything with just one board. For the most of my career I’ve been riding on directional twin freestyle boards. Commonly it’s the perfect shape for overall riding. It has a great sidecut for transitions and park riding, and if you want to hit backcountry just add some set-back and you’re good to go.But sometimes you find yourself in conditions where you need a ”real deal” – a real powder board. With designers and team riders at NORTHWAVE & DRAKE we have finally come to the point that next fall there is going be an All mountain & Freeride collection. One of the flagships of the collection is called Battle. This board truly floats like a surfboard on snow.
photo: Jani Karppa

Japan has been my early season mission for the last three years, so I packed my gear and went to test the first version of Battle in the beginning of January. photo: Jani Karppa

It was amazing to see how 163 cm tall board can be so agile in trees. I might say I got the best tree riding ever on that trip, and that is mostly because of the great board. But you can’t forget that Niigata was great too… P: Jani Karppa

The shape of the board is like a dagger or a sword. So it’s no wonder it’s called Battle. And yes, it feels like you’re in a battle zone when you ride it. Geronimo! photo: Jani Karppa

This beauty is truly a perfect weapon for anyone who is into powder and surfing!

There’s no such thing as bad weather – you just have to use your imagination. This was that kind of day.
As we woke up, water was running through the streets and sun was burning awfully hot. When you go to rip backcountry in Japan you might consider this as a terrible day. And that’s exactly what it is if your up to riding pow, but for riding it’s not completely miserable. photo: Sami Valikangas

As the Olympics were to go down we decided to give it our share. Since for some reason I was chosen as a deputy for halfpipe in Finnish team I needed to practice too. We knew a spot where we could build a nineties style quarter. The kind of where the take-off is apart from the landing with a size of maximum four meters. photo: Sami Valikangas

Sounds funny and easy. So did we think, too. After six hours of building we didn’t feel so funny. And it wasn’t long before we noticed the landing was way too flat. That didn’t feel funny either. photo: Sami Valikangas

Again, we got hungry as we were building, and a mini qp wasn’t good enough after all. So we ended up getting way higher than we could take on this landing. We sure felted it on our limbs. The day was supposed to be a day off. But after several airs, flips and plants the day was again that far that we saw sun going down photo: Sami Valikangas

Again, we were dead tired as we got ourselves back to Taku’s ”Grand Hotel”.
But we were happy. Down days are not for feeling down. They can also be fun as hell. photo: Sami Valikangas