Antti-Jussi Kemppainen - Halfpipe Finland

Hometown: Kuusamo, Finland | Active: 2006-present | Known for: Cardrona World Cup halfpipe win in 2013, Sochi 2014 Olympic halfpipe final, third in the 2011/12 slopestyle World Cup | Disciplines: halfpipe, slopestyle

Cloud sat over Jyväskylä on 25 February 2012, with the air at -6.2°C and a north-westerly wind crossing the Angry Birds Slopestyle Course. The layout stretched 495 metres from start to finish, 30 metres wide, with 110 metres of vertical drop and a 15-degree gradient. Antti-Jussi Kemppainen moved through a course built around slopestyle rather than the halfpipe that had shaped his earlier FIS seasons. The start gate and finish area framed a World Cup slopestyle start during a career that used both disciplines.

Ruka and Kuusamo define the 2007 base

A 2007 rider profile placed Kemppainen in Ruka, with Ruka and Kuusamo given as his home area. At 18, his listed sponsors were Salomon, Anon and Thefunki.com. The same profile was published around the King of Style event at Stockholm Stadium, placing him among a generation of Scandinavian park skiers while his FIS record was already centered on halfpipe competition.

Apex and Airolo shape the 2007 season

At Apex on 23 February 2007, Kalle Leinonen scored 45.10, Kemppainen 44.00 and Josh Bibby 43.40 in the World Cup halfpipe final. Kemppainen finished second, then closed the 2006/07 halfpipe World Cup standings in second place. On 18 March at the Junior World Championships in Airolo, he took halfpipe silver behind Kevin Rolland and ahead of Kalle Leinonen, adding a championship medal to the same winter.

Les Contamines 2008 keeps halfpipe moving

Les Contamines brought another World Cup final in the 2007/08 season. Matthew Hayward won with 45.00, Kevin Rolland followed with 44.60 and Justin Dorey scored 43.70; Kemppainen's 41.20 put him fourth. The result kept him inside the leading group of a final that also included Guillaume Sbrava, Kalle Leinonen, Xavier Bertoni and Mike Riddle.

Inawashiro 2009 brings the World Championships

Sun and 6°C air surrounded the 117-metre Super Pipe at Inawashiro on 5 March 2009, with a light northerly wind over the 17.5-metre-wide course. Kevin Rolland won the World Championship final, followed by Justin Dorey and Xavier Bertoni. Kemppainen scored 41.1 for seventh, one place ahead of Josiah Wells, in his first senior World Championship halfpipe final.

Ylläs 2010 puts Flatlight behind the camera

Flatlight Films shot Hello over five days at Ylläs, Finland, in April 2010 with Kemppainen, Pekka Hyysalo and Antti Ollila. The eight-minute film was directed by Miikka Niemi and filmed by Niemi, Iisakki Kennilä and Aarni Toiviainen. Released in September 2010, the project entered iF3 Europe in Annecy and was supported by Salomon and Marker Völkl. The Hello release page identifies Kemppainen as one of its starring skiers.

Jyväskylä 2012 opens the slopestyle route

The Jyväskylä final ended with Cyrill Hunziker first on 94.8, Kemppainen second on 92.4 and Per Kristian Hunder third on 92.2. That single World Cup slopestyle podium fed directly into the season standings: after Jyväskylä and Mammoth Mountain, Kemppainen finished third in the 2011/12 slopestyle World Cup behind joint leaders Hunziker and Thomas Wallisch.

Salomon 2012 films the competition routine

Salomon Freeski TV released its season-five episode Finland on 29 March 2012. The episode centered on Kemppainen training for the competition season in Finland, giving his contest preparation its own entry in an established ski web series. It followed Hello as a second dated film project built around Finnish terrain rather than a competition result.

Cardrona 2012 precedes the Wells Pipe return

At Cardrona on 22 August 2012, Torin Yater-Wallace won the World Cup halfpipe final with 93.0, Thomas Krief took second and Benoit Valentin third. Kemppainen's 81.4 placed him fourth. The Wells Pipe measured 165 metres long and 18.5 metres wall to wall, the same New Zealand venue where he would win a World Cup one year later.

Oslo 2013 raises the world championship result

The 5 March 2013 World Championship halfpipe final at Voss-Oslo put David Wise first, Torin Yater-Wallace second and Thomas Krief third. Mike Riddle followed in fourth, with Kemppainen fifth on 86.8 and Aaron Blunck sixth on 84.2. Fifth became Kemppainen's best senior World Championship finish, improving on his seventh place from Inawashiro four years earlier.

Sierra Nevada 2013 adds another second

Sierra Nevada supplied Kemppainen's third World Cup runner-up result on 25 March 2013. Mike Riddle won the men's halfpipe final, Kemppainen finished second and Noah Bowman third. The Spanish halfpipe measured 65 metres long, 20 metres wide and carried six-metre walls; fog covered the venue with 2°C air and a light south-westerly wind during the event documentation.

Cardrona 2013 converts fog into a win

Fog, 0°C air and a 13 m/s south-easterly wind sat over the Wells Pipe on 17 August 2013. Kemppainen scored 86.60 in the Cardrona World Cup final, ahead of Aaron Blunck on 83.80 and Taylor Seaton on 79.40. The result was his first World Cup victory and the fourth podium of his World Cup career; the final used a 165-metre pipe with 6.7-metre walls.

Rosa Khutor 2014 delivers the Olympic final

Kemppainen represented Finland in men's halfpipe at Rosa Khutor on 18 February 2014. In the Sochi 2014 halfpipe final, David Wise won, Mike Riddle took second and Kevin Rolland third. Kemppainen finished eighth on 78.20, behind Aaron Blunck and ahead of Lyndon Sheehan, completing his only Olympic appearance.