People tend to think pros as untouchables who can ride it all from backcountry descents to the gnarliest urban.
But those skills don’t always transition smoothly to other types of riding.
Last winter Amplid team rider Kevin Salonius joined the brand’s top tier team, the Cartel.
Before then, his riding had been limited to what’s available in and around Finland.
Well my name is Kevin Salonius and I’m a freeskier from southern Finland.
I live in a town called Kirkkonummi which is just outside the Finnish capital, Helsinki.
I have been skiing for Amplid for two years now.
What’s skiing like around Helsinki?
I think the ski and snowboard scene around here is really cool and pretty unique.
Serena is only has 55 meters vertical, there are a couple normal slopes and one terrain park.
So whenever there is enough snow in the city everybody is out there trying to film.
Even when it’s bad we always find enough snow to make it happen.
The plan developed from there.
In March I flew to Vercorin in Switzerland to ski backcountry jumps with Alex Neuhror and Julien Lange.
We filmed with Yann Barthelemy from GPSY Feelin which was really rad.
My last trip was to Spain and Andorra in April.
I also had the opportunity to ride my first international slopestyle comp.
What was your favourite trip of the series and why?
All of the trips were really fun and great times!
The one trip that stood-out the most was the trip to Andorra with the Round 2 crew.
Andorra is such a cool place to go skiing, especially in the spring.
All of them are really nice guys and have positive minds and personalities!
They are definitely some of my favorite people to ski with.
They have their own unique personal styles and views on skiing which I think is really sick!
It was so sick to see all of them go big, I really enjoy watching them skiing!
Why do you think these guys haven’t received the attention they deserve from the global freeski community?
I think they really deserve every bit of recognition they can get!
You told me that the first day of skiing in Austria was the first time you’d skied powder.
So what’s your verdict on the fluffy white stuff?
Yeah it was pretty much my first time skiing powder deeper than 10cm, hahah.
For sure, I did a lot of tomahawks and crashes in the first few hours.
But it was super fun and a really nice challenge, I enjoyed it A LOT!
Did it make you nervous?
How did the nerves compare to riding urban spots?
To be honest I was actually a little bit nervous on my first backcountry run with Andi and Teddy.
There was a particular step-up to step-down jump in Switzerland that really worked you.
What’s different about a backcountry set-up like that to what you might find in a terrain park?
Yeah I definitely had some problems on that spot, haha.
You went to Andorra to compete at the Total Fight contest.
What was the vibe of the contest like?
The Total Fight contest was super fun and the overall vibe was really chill and relaxed.
That’s how it was for me at least.
The level of contest skiing has gone loco in the last few years.
Was it fun competing with skiers at such a high level?
It was crazy to see how consistent those guys were on big and difficult tricks.
I kind of had the “what am I doing here” feeling, haha.
Has the Rookie Season experience changed your ambitions in skiing?
What are your plans for the coming winter?
Any thanks and shout-outs?
Thanks to my family, all my friends and all of the new skiers that I met last winter.
WATCH THE FIRST EPISODE OF ROOKIE SEASON ON WEDNESDAY ON NEWSCHOOLERS
