etnies

Markku Koski: tall, quiet, observant, and when it comes to snowboarding, very focused. Strap him in, and he will not hesitate to unleash a torrent of high tech maneuvers in any situation. Born October 15, 1981, 22-year-old Markku hails from Sievias, Finland and first started snowboarding at Louekallio Skiing Center in 1992. Although at the time there weren't as many fellow snowboarders to push him as there are now, Markku became more and more enthusiastic as his skills improved. A surrounding atmosphere of encouragement from friends like Risto Mattila, Sami Makela, Tuomas Kaattari and brothers Jukka and Janne, not to mention a good local pipe, were keys to his early progress.

Markku is quite the contestant. His competition experience began in Iisalmi, Finland in 1993, followed later by the Finland-Cup and World Cup contests. More recently, he has participated in the Olympics and the U.S. Open, with an impressive second place showing in the latter. Many may not realize that Markku has also made snowboarding history with the first-ever Cab 1440 in competition. Like most pros, Markku spends at least half of the year on the road: "It's so much better than sitting in school." His favorite spots include Mammoth, for the variety--ramps, kickers and pipes--plus Snow Summit and Louekallio.

Markku's career highlights include traveling all over the world and completing Finnish military service. His favorite riders include Jussi Oksanen, Devin Walsh and Nate Cole. Aside from snowboarding, Markku enjoys the occasional round of tennis, Playstation 2, carting, photography and filming. His favorite food is his Mom's cooking or pizza, and favorite music is The Orange Humble Band, Elliot Smith, Belle & Sebastian and Cosmic Rough supply the soundtrack. As for the future, Markku hopes to progress in all areas of snowboarding in general, and train more in the pipe for contests in particular. Make no doubt about it, he will also continue traveling the world, filming all of his "fantastic snowboarding experiences" and riding in many places yet unknown to him.