PEETU PIIROINEN"FLYING FINN"

Peetu Piiroinen

Already at the beginning of the Northern Hemisphere portion of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour 2008 the buzz was circulating around Peetu Piiroinen of Finland. Transworld Snowboarding Magazine quotes Jussi Oksanen on Peetu’s potential: “Peetu can ride anything. He can kill the pipe, slopestyle, and rails. And this year at the Open, it was really gnarly conditions – icy and [bad] weather – and he was doing tens left and right. He’s still super young and only going to get better. I think he’s going to be the next contest machine.”

After one of the most climactic TTR seasons to date it is clear that Jussi’s prophecy held its weight. Winning the Burton Global Open series the previous year, Peetu Piiroinen, a now iconic rider on the Burton European team, quickly escalated his exposure and professional status to global levels after becoming the 2009 and first Finnish born Swatch TTR World Champion.

“I think Peetu rode the best on the Tour for sure, out of everybody” said fellow Finnish rider Antti Autti at the season-ending 6Star Burton US Open. “ He was good in every event.”

Chalking up contest win after contest win is an essential ingredient within Piiroinen’s snowboarding career, a key component that has been ingrained in his riding since day one. Once school finished up all those years back, Peetu’s ‘hobby’ quickly became an obvious obsession. Contest riding soon turned to sponsorship and progression turned into championship.

And while upon first approach Peetu might seem like the most reserved guy on the chair, his on-board character testifies to an aggressive determination seen only in a handful of TTR riders who also revere Piiroinen’s abilities.

“Of course, he’s good at everything and he’s just so solid,” claims Chas Guldemond, who finished second behind Piiroinen in the final 2009 TTR rankings. “He just knows when it’s time. He’s gonna give it all. I see it in his eyes. He’s not scared by any of it. He’s there to do it and he’s going to put it all out on the line.”

Highlights of Peetu Piiroinen’s winning season begin at the 2008 6Star Nissan X-Trail Jam, where an impressive Quareterpipe hit combined with a Corked Backside 9 in the Big air had him standing on the podium next to contest veteran Shaun White.

In his best performance of the season, Peetu grabbed his only contest title of the 08/09 season at the 6Star O’Neill evolution Quarterpipe by executing one monster of a Backside 5, a relentless demonstration of his transition prowess.

Piiroinen locked in his stand as World No. 1 at the 2009 6Star Billabong Air & Style impressing both crowd and judges with lofty airs and a buttery smooth Backside 5. He would hold his Tour lead all the way through to the end with a second place in the 6Star Burton US Open Halfpipe that solidified his position as the 2009 Tour Champion.

A quick word with Peetu after the US Open confirmed his stoke for his win, but spoken like a true competitor, he still expressed his future aspirations: “I’m looking forward to next year too, but the riding level is going up and up and there’s going to be so many good riders. It’s going to be hard but I’m looking forward to [it]. I hope that I can win it again. It would be nice.”

Respecting those who push the sport and dialing in his own riding at the most opportune times, Peetu Piiroinen has the true mindset of a world champion and certainly has more than what it takes to go after and claim a second consecutive Swatch TTR World Championship Title.