BEO07 Janne Korpi
© BEO 07 (photo BEO 07)

TAC 08 peetu piiroinen
© TAC 08 (photo Rasmus Werner)

Date: 6.01.2009
Updated: 1.02.2009 09:34

By: TTR Press Office

Innsbruck, Austria – December 29th, 2008:  Finland is undoubtedly one of the powerhouses of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour.  Since the TTR’s inception in 2002 Finnish snowboarders have consistently won top contests and have always been up top the ranking  at season’s end.  In the last two seasons, the Finns have always come so close to bagging the Swatch TTR Title but U.S riders Shaun White and Kevin Pearce have beaten them to the punch.  In season 08/09, Finnish riders have a strong chance to finally claim snowboarding’s most prestigious honor that has so far eluded them.  

Currently sitting in Swatch TTR No.4, Janne Korpi is the Finnish rider who will be looking to claim the TTR No.1 spot from America’s Chas Guldemond  at the upcoming 6Star O’Neill Evolution in Davos, Switzerland.  Taking place January 5th – 10th 2009, this competition is made up of both a 5Star Slopestyle and 6Star Quarterpipe format which will definitely ensure a close battle between them.  Whilst these two riders are known to excel on Slopestyle courses, Korpi has a slight advantage due to the fact he has historically performed better at Quarterpipe events.

At last year’s 6Star O’Neill Evolution Finnish riders Risto Mattila and Peetu Piiroinen ended up 2nd and 3rd respectively on the Quarterpipe podium.  This will definitely give fuel to their fires to go one better and hunt down a 1st place finish.  These two snowboarders have a history of putting down amazing runs on both Quarterpipes and Slopestyle courses which means the mixed format contest will allow them a solid chance to climb the rankings.  They will need to post good results in order to leap back into the TTR Top 5 and charge forward with Korpi towards the TTR No.1 spot. 

Antti Autti is one Finnish rider who has been making waves since he arrived on the TTR scene and could potentially make a charge on the title this year.  When asked about the state of Finnish snowboarding at the moment, he said "They're all super sick.  Peetu can't fall so he's going to do well".  He also believes that the future is bright for Finnish riders, "Theres plenty of newcomers too.  Look out for Peetu's brother, Petja, he's sick".

In Swatch TTR national rankings the Finnish crew are currently second to the United States by only 102.14 points, a feat that is highly impressive given the fact that the U.S population is 60 times larger than Finland.  The upcoming 6Star O’Neill Evolution and 6Star Burton European Open will be  pivotal moments for all of them as they seek to finally get their hands on the Swatch TTR Title.  Will Korpi come out firing and claim the No.1 spot? Can Mattila and Piiroinen raise the bar and go one better than last year?

Stay tuned to www.ttrworldtour.com to see if the Finnish force can finally do it this season.