Maija is part of the latest generation of Finnish riders! She gone from hitting street spots with her brother to filming with United Chaos, is one of the latest additions the Burton Lightweight program, and is getting creative on and off the board. With a decade on a board under belt, we had G-Don hit her up to get her take on her riding and the latest in snowboarding.

Name: Maija Luurila

Age: 23

Social Media Handles: Instagram at @maijaluurila

Hometown: Helsinki, Finland

Home Mountain: Talma

Sponsors: Burton Snowboards

Stance: Regular

Setup: Burton Lightweight board, Burton Felix boots, Burton Lexa bindings, stance width at reference, angles around +15 and -9

How did you find snowboarding? When I was a kid I saw my big brothers snowboarding and that’s how I got excited as well.

Years snowboarding? 10

Best contest result? 1st on the Finnish champs way back

Favorite snowboard video? Horsepower and Melter 3

Biggest inspiration? In snowboarding, my friends who I ride with. Overall, my mom who is a hard working and kindhearted person, and my dad who’s always learning new things and showing me that you need to practice in order to become good at something.

What motivates you? The feeling of success I get when I land a trick after a battle.

What rider from the new generation is the gonna be the future of snowboarding? There is so many talented young riders from my point of view! But to name a few, Telma Särkipaju, Katja Dutu, Jaylen Hanson

Most talented rider? For this also it’s hard to think of just one, there’s so many… I think Henna Ikola and Telma Särkipaju are soo talented and also Mikko Rehnberg – his video parts are just on another level.

Best style? Love Eppu Taka’s style!

Most underrated rider? Sofianna Oikarinen, her street spots are sick!

Favorite Old Head? Eero Luurila 😀

Favorite filmer? Julia Voutilainen

Most cooked homie? None of my homies are cooked right now.

Sketchiest homie? I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus xD

Who brings the best energy? My friends who I ride with!!

Worst trick? I don’t know what’s up with me and frontboards because I feel like every season I have to learn to do them properly again. :’)

Steel or Powder? Steel, but I’d love to ride more powder!

Dream Sponsor (Doesn’t Have to Be Snowboarding-Related): Maybe some camera company like Canon

Worst trend in snowboarding? Let’s just all be respectful and forget the unnecessary negativity.

Is there a time where you should have died but made it out unscathed? Or sketchiest moment? It was pretty sketchy a few years ago in Hintertux when I caught my edge on a plastic tube that was pretty high and fell straight on my hip. Hit my head also and got a small concussion, couldn’t ride for the rest of the trip but luckily after a few days I was fine. It was one of those moments when I already felt too tired after a long day on the slopes and I was ready to leave but still wanted to try something for a video.

Warm up or straight to business? Warm up for sure

When do you ride best? When I’m well rested and I feel confident. I also love to ride when the weather is a little foggy and the snow is soft.

When do you ride your worst? When I’m really tired or when I’m putting too much pressure on myself.

Best and worst place to snowboard? My fav places are Ruka, Talma and Sveitsi. Worst is anywhere where it’s super icy or the rails are sticky.

A moment that you’ll never forget? Many years ago, when I was learning how to snowboard, my brothers and I went on the street on a snowy Christmas day to look for places to snowboard. We built a kicker and they found some rusty piece of metal that they used as a rail. Then we filmed it just for fun. I remember thinking how fun it is when you can just build your own obstacles and be creative.

Interests outside of snowboarding? Photography and other arts and crafts stuff, I often have a little creative project of my own going on.

Best advice you ever received? It’s simple but good: look until the end of the rail. It’s so much easier to get through it haha

Words to live by: Just be yourself. 🙂

Shout Outs: My mom, dad, brothers Lauri and Eero, Helsingin lumilautailijat and the United Chaos -crew, Burton!

Describe snowboarding in one word: Creativity

Watch Maija in United Chaos’ Connected by Heart video