Videos

Labyrinth Crew drop their latest edit | Low Five

Who are Labyrinth and how was filming for Low Five?

Finland, a country that houses 5,5 million people, 187,888 lakes and 2,2 million saunas. Many great things hail from this beloved country in the North: Nokia, Sanna Marin (the fresh 34-year-old Prime Minister), Heikki Sorsa’s Mohawk in the 2002 Winter Olympics, Eero Ettala – and the LABYRINTH crew. It’s not exactly the surprise of the century that this country breeds talented snowboarders, hence being titled as ‘the Mecca for street riders’. But how is it actually to spend a winter filming in a country where the temperatures can drop to -30 degrees?

“Cleaning up after yourself is a very VERY important part of the ‘street-riding-etiquette’ in Finland”

LABYRINTH crew just dropped their latest edit ‘Low Five’, another masterpiece originating from the streets of Finland. We had a chat with the boys about street riding in Finland and got the insights to what went on behind the scenes.

So who exactly are Labyrinth?
We are Kiril Rikkilä, Joona Saikkonen, Petrus Saikkonen, Roope Rautiainen, Henna Ikola, Saska Halmes, Veikka Siivonen, Kilian Hänninen, Axel Thelen, Zenja Potapov and Mikko Rehnberg. Labyrinth Crew has been around since 2015 and this is our fifth edit. Some of us knew each other from before and some just met through snowboarding.

What’s street riding really like in Finland?
We more or less ride around the whole country. The cops in Finland are surprisingly chilled about it [street riding] especially if the spot doesn’t cause bystanders any harm. There’s always some locals who aren’t too keen on it, but you really shouldn’t start yelling back at them, just politely try and explain that you’re just shooting for a snowboard film and you’re making sure that no one is in any danger and that you’ll clean up the spots once you’re done. Cleaning up after yourself is a very VERY important part of the ‘street-riding-etiquette’ in Finland. There’s this one really good spot in Kuopio which is now overly guarded by the police because this one European crew left without taking down the kickers they’d built or generally cleaning up after themselves.

How long did you film for the Low Five film? What were the best and worst bits about filming?
We’ve been filming Low Five ever since we had snow on the ground by end of 2018 until it all melted in spring 2019. The best bits about are definitely when you finally got the shot after multiple tries, the feeling you get once you nail it is just epic. As for the worse bits, something we’re faced with every year, is standing around without getting anything done when it’s freezing cold outside. But it’s not worth thinking about that too much. After all, riding those spots is very rewarding.

“The day we finally got it, it was -28 degrees outside, so you can only imagine our excitement when I finally nailed the trick”

How many times did it take Kiril to nail that last rail (at about 18min)?
Kiril: Took me like two weekends, so four days. I was so close to nailing it every day, but my feet kept on sliding off the board. The hardest bit was to keep the legs locked on the board, since I didn’t have any additional traction on it. This was in January and we filmed like 4h every day, and my mate Niko Vainikainen who was filming, was literally like an ice stick by the end of every day as he had to stand in the snow for all those 4h. The day we finally got it, it was -28 degrees outside, so you can only imagine our excitement when I finally nailed the trick.

Also, how the hell is Roope able to shoot that high up without a kicker or such?
R: Haha I’m not sure how to answer this. I mean, I don’t think I’m jumping that high. But I eat porridge every morning and drink a few cups of coffee so maybe that helps.

Riders: Joona Saikkonen, Roope Rautiainen, Henna Ikola, Mikko Rehnberg, Zenja Potapov, Niko Vainikainen, Luukas Saikkonen, Eemeli Kyllönen, Saska Halmes, Joonas Pihlajaniemi, Veikka Siivonen, Atte Permikangas, Kilian Hänninen, Petrus Saikkonen and Kiril Rikkilä.

Edited by: Joona Saikkonen.