Snowboarder Eero Ettala has spent a day on his board but travelling horizontally rather than downhill, hanging onto a rally car travelling at up to 50pmh (80kmh) on a frozen lake in Kuusamo, Finnish Lapland.
“I do remember when I was younger that sometimes we got some speed for rails and hand rails by hanging onto a car when filming in the streets. But obviously hanging onto a rally car on an ice track is a whole different ball game,” said Ettala, who added, “The first challenge was the flat surroundings. I’m more used to driving on hilly tracks. Despite the flatness, we managed to accomplish some really cool stuff, like the rainbow rail. It was of course scary at first to be hanging onto a rally car. I was afraid that Kalle would speed up to 200km/h and I’d lose my arm. In the end, it was more scary to be hanging from the window, being constantly aware that I need to keep my board’s nose far enough from the tyre.”
Ettala also spent some time on the roof of the car, with his board fixed onto the rooftop?
“It was actually one of the most pulse-racing scenes. I think that if I had been there on skis, the balance would have felt more secure – snowboard boots do give in quite a bit, after all. The board was bolted onto the roof and then we began slowly testing the set up on different speeds. Once the confidence grew, the speed got faster.”
To cope with the icy surface of the lake Ettala says he made a tactical move and used a brand-new board.
“The edges were sharp and the base was smooth. Ice can be quite a challenging base as the edge doesn’t bite onto it quite the same as it does on snow. This was obvious after a day of filming when you could see how much ice eats up the waxing. Then again, it only takes about 10 minutes for me to fix my board so there’s no need for a rally team to do it for me, even though it might save a bit of time,” said Ettala.
