Ruka ski resort opening week by Eero Ettala

First week of November

 

It has become a tradition to myself and many other Finnish snowboarders to skip traveling to the glaciers around the alps to get the first turns of the season. Instead we just wait till Ruka opens and get the season started in our home country. These photos are taken on the first week of November of my riding buddies Antti Jussila and Toni Kerkelä.

 

img_87541. We arrived to Ruka just before the sun was setting, so instead of putting on my snowboarding gear right away, I ran in to the woods and snapped this photo with the tele lens.

 

img_91142. If the sun was out in the mornings, we decided to stay out of the park and try to find something fun to ride off piste. We found this natural hip jump with a perfect background and since it was sunny, i was able to capture Toni Kerkelä cranking a method on the golden hour!

 

img_90813. When the sun is out up north of Finland this time of the year, you know that the magic light wont last very long. Antti Jussila poking out a stalefish with the last beams of light in the horizon.

 

img_90604. This might look like legit powder, but in fact its few centimeters of fresh artificial snow on top of ice. Toni Kerkelä performing a quick backside turn to create this blower effect.

 

img_90565. Last day on the hill and another sunny day. We got very lucky with the weather on our 4 day mission to Ruka. Perfect way to start the season and we will be back soon for some more shredding!


All of the photos are taken with our Tele and Full-frame Fisheye lenses, make sure you check out them from the shop!