32-year-old Enni Rukajärvi participates in a free skiing tour that is respected in snowboarding circles. He would like to give space to the younger ones when it comes to the World Cup.
Simo Arkko,
SpongeBob Forsberg
14:37•Updated 15:04
The Finnish national snowboard team announced on Tuesday that the snowboard star Enni Rukajärvi has been invited to the third season of the freestyle Natural Selection Tour. 24 skiers have been invited to the new freeskiing tour, eight of which are women.
The tour will be attended by stars from the competition and filming side, such as Mark McMorris, Zoi Sadowski Synnott and Red Gerard. According to Rukajärvi, the tour has become really popular in snowboarding circles.
He says that he has followed the tour since the beginning and has thought that it would be great to enter the competition. He has done a few freefall trips during his career. For example, he spent last spring in Northern Norway.
– It is exactly the kind of calculation in which direction I have wanted to take my calculation for a long time. When touring slopestyle and big air, I’ve always dreamed of that type of skiing. It’s something I like to do on the filming side, Rukajärvi tells Urheilu.
The tour, which is contested at the beginning of March, is contested in deep snow outside the maintained slopes. In the competitions, tricks are combined with an emphasis on jumps. The race consists of six races in the United States and Canada.
– You can’t calculate the route before the race, so you have to know how to navigate the terrain and connect the jumps to it. It’s quite different from the Park or slopestyle calculations, where you get to do several practice calculations before the race.
A further place as a goal
Rukajärvi says that he is aiming to continue from the first stage of the tour. The game is brutal, as he competes for the next position against another counter. The winner advances to the next two races.
However, as a first-timer on the tour, he doesn’t want to take too much pressure from the continuation spot, but goes to enjoy the descents. The next place also affects the possible participation in the World Cup.
– If I make it to the next stage from the first stage, then I will definitely focus completely on those games. Otherwise, it seems that one of the younger female skiers will go to the World Championships.
Coaching manager of the snowboarding team Jussi Mononen according to Finland currently has one place at the World Cup, and in addition, Finland is the first reserve for the second place. According to Mononen, the coaching team will see together who will go to represent Finland.
However, is there a desire to go to the World Cup if there is a chance?
– I can not say. The thoughts are quite strong on the new tour and those races.
– We have to see what happens after the first stage. But I have set myself up for it and I would like the younger ones to be able to compete in big competitions as well. The world of thought has shifted to the side of free calculation. Of course, I’m not ruling anything out.
Calendar open
The two-time Olympic medalist told before the start of the season that he has only been with the national team since the beginning of the season and that invitational competitions are a priority when planning the calendar.
In October, Rukajärvi landed in the Swiss World Cup in big Air and finished eighth. Rukajärvi says that the competition calendar for the rest of the season is still open.
Rinnekangas is aiming for the World Championships
Mononen says that another Finnish snowboard star Rene Rinnekankaan the sights are on the World Cup. Rinnekangas has participated in one World Cup weekend in Chur, Switzerland this season.
– Rene has a good situation. He has been filming in the meantime. He is a professional snowboarder like Ennik. They have a lot of their own work and responsibilities outside of the national team for their own partners.
Rinnekangas will be seen next week at the Laax World Cup in Switzerland.
– That’s why Rene goes straight to the X-games, which is of course a really big deal.