The neighborhoods we’re raised in play a big influence on how we talk, our personality, and even things like our diets. While those may seem like obvious truths, skaters are especially susceptible to becoming products of their environments compared to the average joe.

Skaters will always be more likely to explore nooks and crannies and discover everything their communities have to offer, especially compared to kids who just sit around at home playing Minecraft. You can learn a lot about someone by taking a trip to their original stomping grounds, so we decided to revisit skaters’ old neighborhoods to see what the streets and spots can reveal to us about their early lives and maybe even their current selves.

In this episode, we took a flight to Helsinki, Finland to meet up with our friend and Finnish-born pro, Marius Syvanen. Since this was our first time exploring the capital of Finland, Marius played the role of tour guide for the day and showed us the ledges that tons of local Fins have skated, filled us in on some fun facts like “Finland has more Saunas than cars,” and even took us to a new spot he’s been itching to skate.

You can get your hands on a print of Mariu’s ollie, shot by Keke Leppälä, here.

Filmed & Edited by: Greg Navarro
Archival footage courtesy of Travis Adams
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