Death Defying Skateboarding: The Untold Arto Saari Story

[D10S]

[thecomfortsofmadness]

So amazing to see some new footage of Dylan, boy oh boy do i miss his influence and skating. We shared many of the same tastes, especially music Lou Reed, Bowie, Iggy Pop, Spiritualized, Nick Cave and on and on.

Arto and all time fav, how could he not be.

[corto]

During his last year in Finland and his first years in the US his style on a skateboard was absolutely divine. Also by today's standards.

[Jacintos Praying Mantis]

Shoutout Arto as the most loveable guy in the history of skateboarding

[Fongstarr.]

Weird how this is just Eplicy Later'd with O'Dell's blessing. Great episode even though I feel like I know Arto's story so well but glad they touched on the photography stuff so heavy since this is an art episode. Seems like he is living the dream in Hawaii.

[jorge]

Did Arto come from money or did he make that much from skating?  LA house with a pool, buying $$$ cameras on a whim buying property in Hawaii with no real immediate plan sounds crazy expensive.

I loved this though Arto is the best.

[sometimeperhaps]

Did Arto come from money or did he make that much from skating?  LA house with a pool, buying $$$ cameras on a whim buying property in Hawaii with no real immediate plan sounds crazy expensive.

I loved this though Arto is the best.

Maybe? I’m basing this off nothing but my own assumptions but it feels like Argo’s time period was fairly well paying, especially for a top pro. He always had good sponsors, pro shoes, etc. can’t remember if he was in any video games. Might have invested well, and bought his LA house before things went crazy market wise.

[childhood]

Expand Quote

Did Arto come from money or did he make that much from skating?  LA house with a pool, buying $$$ cameras on a whim buying property in Hawaii with no real immediate plan sounds crazy expensive.

I loved this though Arto is the best.

[close]

Maybe? I’m basing this off nothing but my own assumptions but it feels like Argo’s time period was fairly well paying, especially for a top pro. He always had good sponsors, pro shoes, etc. can’t remember if he was in any video games. Might have invested well, and bought his LA house before things went crazy market wise.

Just looked it up and he was in a couple of the later Tony Hawk games apparently, but I mostly remember him being in this weird skateboarding game Konami made, where one of the levels is based on Metal Gear Solid 2:

Haven't played it since it first came out, I remember not getting into it though, the controls felt weird & archaic compared to the THPS games

[Yaheardme]

Arto is the man

[Tiltmode Army Reservist]

My Favorite Pro of All-Time. I will watch the hell out of this.

[Mean salto]

Arto rules
Sauna at 124C tho seems up there with the most dangerous thing he's done. People on here talking about heatwaves at 20C

Would be interesting to hear Odell talk a bit more about concussion related behaviour he's witnessed

[Shitbag]

This is the kind of haole we don’t mind having here in Hawaii on the North Shore!

Everyone here loves this dude and are very stoked with the direction his life has taken him even if we are a little bit bummed we don’t get to shred with him (unless you surf which I do not but my homie surfs with him all the time).

Also stoked to see my bud Chad talk in this, shout out APB Skateshop ya dig.

[Switch360flip]

Damn this dude is living the life nowadays. Always loved to surf growing up but I’ve lived in a landlocked state for 90% of my life so no waves for me and lots of shoveling instead. Arto deserves it. Very stoked for him. Hawaii is the shit

RIP Dylan

[Arto!Arto!WakeUp!]

Expand Quote

Did Arto come from money or did he make that much from skating?  LA house with a pool, buying $$$ cameras on a whim buying property in Hawaii with no real immediate plan sounds crazy expensive.

I loved this though Arto is the best.

[close]

Maybe? I’m basing this off nothing but my own assumptions but it feels like Argo’s time period was fairly well paying, especially for a top pro. He always had good sponsors, pro shoes, etc. can’t remember if he was in any video games. Might have invested well, and bought his LA house before things went crazy market wise.

yeah, i think it's probably mostly his money. he was in video games, a soty-level name, with popular sponsors and a little bit of skin in the contest game at a time when all of that paid very well.

also bear in mind he's got boards out still - and reissued shoes.

it's not impossible that he's still making more from moving stuff with his name on than dudes's currently in their prime. like i wouldn't be surprised if arto is currently making more money as a legacy pro than someone at their peak like noah mahieu or eetu toropainen.

in the early 2000's skating was blowing up but all that focus/money was directed to a small number of brands (compared to the current landscape).

but then again you see bastien online doing go fund me's to buy a guitar so who knows...

[assvogel]

Arto is the best.

Not just as a person, but as a skateboarder he's still the most gnarly, most stylish ever come out of Finland. We do have a lot of great, cool, ripping skateboarders who rule, but the stuff he did is still on his own level.

It's always so funny when I see him somewhere, because while he's just another skater like any of us, my brain goes to this fanboy-mode where I'm like "holy fucking shit, it's Arto".

Great episode.

[Mean salto]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Did Arto come from money or did he make that much from skating?  LA house with a pool, buying $$$ cameras on a whim buying property in Hawaii with no real immediate plan sounds crazy expensive.

I loved this though Arto is the best.

[close]

Maybe? I’m basing this off nothing but my own assumptions but it feels like Argo’s time period was fairly well paying, especially for a top pro. He always had good sponsors, pro shoes, etc. can’t remember if he was in any video games. Might have invested well, and bought his LA house before things went crazy market wise.

[close]

yeah, i think it's probably mostly his money. he was in video games, a soty-level name, with popular sponsors and a little bit of skin in the contest game at a time when all of that paid very well.

also bear in mind he's got boards out still - and reissued shoes.

it's not impossible that he's still making more from moving stuff with his name on than dudes's currently in their prime. like i wouldn't be surprised if arto is currently making more money as a legacy pro than someone at their peak like noah mahieu or eetu toropainen.

in the early 2000's skating was blowing up but all that focus/money was directed to a small number of brands (compared to the current landscape).

but then again you see bastien online doing go fund me's to buy a guitar so who knows...

His first etnies shoe was one of the most popular shoes for years back when people made good money from skate companies. Plus probably got a big bump to leave es which was top 3 shoe co's at the time. Then to leave etnies for gravis gotta assume the offer was giant because he was on and already had a shoe before gravis was what it turned into. Also had the first pro shoe on nb so that prob payed alright.

[truthislie]

As always when I see old flip footage I want to get black levis 501, black accels and Artos skills and looks from back then. The first two can be obtained easily but mean shit without the second two, so I´m stuck fanboying over his old footy as ususal

[S.]

Arto is the man.

I met him once when the analog team randomly showed up at our local street spot in Frankfurt Germany. They were filming with John Holland I think. Arto was on crutches and he filmed some of the skating. In between he did push ups on the street. Dylan was there too. He ripped. He seemed extremely powerful for his long skinny frame. He filmed a line that later was put out as part of a teaser for the video that never came out (?) I have been looking for it lately, but I can't find it: Dylan skates a steep bank and does a long nosegrind on a ledge.

What they didn't really mention in the video was that Arto was really into booze and drugs during those years. Six surgeries in 7 years is insane. I am sure some of those injuries had something to do with not doing proper rehab and not taking enough time off to recover. I mean how can you recover properly if you have one surgery per year? Proper rehab from ACL surgery is one year. This was really the last generation where some of the top pros could be successful, while also taking drugs and drinking heavily.
 

[Dog the Bounty Hunter]

🌽

[backside_reacharound]

He used to go by Farto

[mattchew]

This was a heavy one, loved it.

Went to buy the book after watching this and apparently you have to be a member to purchase? Fucking lame.

https://www.florencemarinex.com/collections/bike-path-collection-by-arto-saari?utm_source=sem&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=pmax&utm_term=%7B%7D&tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=20193104816&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAABbsd37y6lD5VTCudF0lByN3x5QcS&gclid=CjwKCAiA9IC6BhA3EiwAsbltOKCPJDSdgAtUYUNmrVIQza4iwo2q86XP02VWUfarjwrxFXRTiIoyjhoCe38QAvD_BwE

[rawbertson.]

im guessing he didnt touch on why he was visiting that josh swindell guy in jail? that was really weird

[Mandatory Reload]

Arto is the man.

I met him once when the analog team randomly showed up at our local street spot in Frankfurt Germany. They were filming with John Holland I think. Arto was on crutches and he filmed some of the skating. In between he did push ups on the street. Dylan was there too. He ripped. He seemed extremely powerful for his long skinny frame. He filmed a line that later was put out as part of a teaser for the video that never came out (?) I have been looking for it lately, but I can't find it: Dylan skates a steep bank and does a long nosegrind on a ledge.

What they didn't really mention in the video was that Arto was really into booze and drugs during those years. Six surgeries in 7 years is insane. I am sure some of those injuries had something to do with not doing proper rehab and not taking enough time off to recover. I mean how can you recover properly if you have one surgery per year? Proper rehab from ACL surgery is one year. This was really the last generation where some of the top pros could be successful, while also taking drugs and drinking heavily.

i have news for you sir

[S.]

Expand Quote

Arto is the man.

I met him once when the analog team randomly showed up at our local street spot in Frankfurt Germany. They were filming with John Holland I think. Arto was on crutches and he filmed some of the skating. In between he did push ups on the street. Dylan was there too. He ripped. He seemed extremely powerful for his long skinny frame. He filmed a line that later was put out as part of a teaser for the video that never came out (?) I have been looking for it lately, but I can't find it: Dylan skates a steep bank and does a long nosegrind on a ledge.

What they didn't really mention in the video was that Arto was really into booze and drugs during those years. Six surgeries in 7 years is insane. I am sure some of those injuries had something to do with not doing proper rehab and not taking enough time off to recover. I mean how can you recover properly if you have one surgery per year? Proper rehab from ACL surgery is one year. This was really the last generation where some of the top pros could be successful, while also taking drugs and drinking heavily.

[close]

i have news for you sir

Yeah, yeah but they are also doing physical therapy and drinking smoothies for breakfast.

[rolling is good]

These sw 360 flip and bs flip may be the best ever.
He is my favorite and I wish he and many pros from the Sorry era didn't take every session as a suicide mission.
I don't care about big stuff and nothing is worth almost killing yourself or your health like Arto did.
Cherry on top we would maybe still have Arto footy à la Reynolds or Thomas nowadays.

[n0torious]

This was gorgeous. But, it would be a lot more interesting if they talked about the more complicated things, like him getting sober. The best EL episodes hold up because they get to the raw truths - Ali Boulala, Antwuan, Fabian Alomar. This beautiful but fairly shallow PR campaign is not so compelling.

[TheWineClub]

I wouldn’t say this was an untold story given that he’s had that extensive epicly laterd episode that covered 2/3 of what they talk about here, but it was cool to see all the Hawaii stuff which was new.

[Garfiled L. Asagna LLC]

Did Arto come from money or did he make that much from skating?  LA house with a pool, buying $$$ cameras on a whim buying property in Hawaii with no real immediate plan sounds crazy expensive.

I loved this though Arto is the best.

Arto seems like a smart guy, he probably invested his money well or owned part in something that sold, like a Villager Goods scenario.

Dude also rode for Volcom and Quicksilver. Those guys riding for surf brands were getting paid bank back then.

[shannamal]

i think some of y'all would be shocked at how much arto was making in his heyday.

[Neil]

I watched it. It was OK. Many questions:

- How is this series different than Epicly Later'd in Vice's lineup? It had the exact same feel as the current, slick, sanitized Epicly Later'd but wasn't called it.

- I don't need to listen to Mark Oblow ever again. Never. After the Nine Club thing he shouldn't be asked to interview.

- Why is Mike Burnett interviewed for everything? It feels like it was part of his Thrasher compensation package. "Hey, we're not paying you much but you can insert yourself into any skate documentary for money."

- It felt like there was a convenient retrospective story being told on a few levels. Arto happened to be interested in shooting while on skate missions? That he had a death wish and was always injured (isn't that every rail chomping pro)? That he has a single minded focus on anything he puts his mind to because he was focused on skate tricks, then photos, then surfing, then home construction?

- Did he get building permits to make the pool and build the house in Hawaii? They made it sound like he just got an idea, rallied a bunch of bros, and handled these things over the course of a week.

- His wife makes it seem like it was a giant leap to move to Hawaii pre pandemic with no income coming in. That felt like artificially stirring up drama and they never circled back to it. What changed since then? Did he become a famous and paid photographer? It seems like nothing has changed. So how are they continuing to manage?