MARCH 9-16, 2008 East Coast USA -  The Flow Team including Antti Autti and Risto Mattila just finished logging almost 1600 miles traveling throughout New England with Team Manager Andrew Mutty.  The trip included stops at Loon, Cannon, and Waterville mountains in New Hampshire. When they drove north up to Sugarloaf, Maine they ran into the EasternBoarder crew. Be sure to check out what The Leominster Eastern Boarder blog had to report on the Flow Team visit...

When looking for the best location to shoot new images, you have to think outside of the box a little. For example, Northern California is inside the box, Mammoth Mtn is inside the box. We have seen these shots over and over. This is why the Flow team decided to venture to the great north East kingdom for a trip that would be unforgettable. This leaves the question unanswered till now… when was the last time you saw an East Coast shot published? The old saying goes, “If you build it they will come”, and when they show up they will ride it. This is exactly what FLOW team riders Antti Autii, Risto Mattila, and Scot brown came to do.

Home to the World Champion Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, and the unstoppable Boston Celtics, there was no better place to make a new milestone in New England sports history. New England is full of over 60 resorts covering 6 states, but only a few are willing to go the extra mile. Loon Mtn, host of past epic events, “Last Call”, “The Main Event”, and “Hike and Huck”, built the crew an impressive jump for shooting. The18 foot take off and 65 foot flat gave the team something worth shooting for a few days. With the help of photographers Rami Hanafi and Josh Campbell, the team was set to go to work. When the weather cooperated with the sun shining, the opportunities were endless.

Loon used the terrain they had available, and also found some terrain worth shooting that was “out of the ordinary”. They helped build a transition up a 20 foot tree with Mt Washington in the background. The session started with Antti and Risto being a little skeptical of the feature, but young Scot Brown stepped up and hit the tree. After seeing the potential with Scot Browns lead, the Finns starting hitting the feature as well. This is a typical situation that always happens when a new feature is approached. A group will come to a feature with a difference in opinions. But when one riders steps up, the others will rise to the occasion and get the job done.

After 4 days of good shooting documented in the digital world, the team packed up and headed north into the woods of Maine. Four hours through the back woods of Northern New Hampshire and the west side of Maine, the team made the trek in search of more riding at Sugarloaf Resort. Upon arrival and after one run down the park and onto the pipe, things were tough in terms of shooting. We needed to think outside the box and find stuff to shoot. Just like any good “junk yard” shoot, Sugarloaf, had some epic material. From old Jibs, tractors, propane tanks and even electrical boxes, the team jibbed, bonked and slid down everything they could find. The best part of this session was not how adaptive and creative the group became, but rather how much the local park crew was amazed at everything we wanted to do. The remarks ranged from, “wow, I have been here for years, and never thought about riding this” and “you guys are pro’s, you need to hit the big stuff”. Ironically everything we did that day was pretty small, but showed that snowboarding is more than just being ‘Gnarly” and “huge”, but more about doing things that are fun and goofy.

Rumors spread fast that the FLOW team had made it to Sugarloaf, and were planning on hitting a never before built “road gap” on the far North side of the mountain. After building for the whole night and a little reshaping in the morning, a crowd had started to gather at the feature. Building in numbers the crowd accumulated to about 50 people standing around in amazement, hoping to get one glimpse of a FLOW team rider, jumping the biggest road gap in Sugarloaf history. Antti stepped up and threw down the biggest front side 360 he could possibly do. Risto dropped in next and laid down the biggest method the jump could take. From take off to landing Risto must have covered about 60 feet in distance and 18-20 feet in height, using every inch of the landing he could get. After about 3 hours of jumping, Antti and Risto decided to call it quits. Photo’s logged and minds blown, the team had accomplished what it had set out to do…GTS (get the shot).

With the birth of snowboarding, and 25 years of competition history, the East Coast has just set another milestone in snowboarding. Having two of the worlds best Finnish snowboarders, Antti Autti and Risto Mattila destroying jumps for the week definitely leaves it mark. Young Canadian Scott Brown proved to the world he is a staple in the snowboard scene. Snowboarding is a new sport in the world of sports, but it continues to leave a trail of memories. This is one for the books.

-Written by Andrew Mutty