Arto Saari

Saari was born in Seinäjoki, Finland.{{cite web|title=Arto Saari Skater Profile|url=http://skateparkoftampa.com/spot/sk.aspx?ID=215|work=SPoT Skate Shop|publisher=Skatepark of Tampa|accessdate=2 September 2012|author=Skatepark of Tampa|date=23 June 2011}} His mother was supportive of his skateboarding and his first skateboard was a Vision Gator model.{{cite web|author1=Jake Phelps|title=Thrasher Radio: Ep. 10 Arto Saari|url=http://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/thrasher-radio-ep10-arto-saari/|website=Thrasher|publisher=High Speed Productions, Inc|accessdate=26 July 2014|format=Audio upload|date=5 February 2014}}

Saari first attracted attention from the global skateboarding community when he won silver at the skateboarding world championships in Munster, Germany in 1998 at the age of 16 years. Following the event, Saari was invited by professional skateboarder Danny Way to tour Canada with Plan B, Platinum, and the Red Dragons teams, and received a mailed airline ticket at his family home. Saari's professional skateboarding career commenced following his decision to relocate to the United States after joining Flip Skateboards.{{cite web|title=The Arto Saari profile|url=https://www.espn.com/action/skateboarding/news/story?page=arto-saari-profile|work=ESPN Action Sports|publisher=ESPN Internet Ventures|access-date=9 June 2013|author=Keith Hamm|date=28 January 2011}}

Saari was selected as the "2001 Skater of the Year" by Thrasher. To this day Saari remains one of only two Europeans to ever win the industry's premier award. After receiving the award, Saari stated, "I never thought it would actually like ... whatever, happen to me, or what not. Like, it's just one of those things that's just come out of the blue, you know?"{{cite web|title=Geoff Rowley and Arto Saari - SOTY [2000 and 2001]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OEVYec14DY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/8OEVYec14DY |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|work=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc|accessdate=19 December 2012|author=MobDylan|format=Video upload|date=28 June 2007}}{{cbignore}}

In what was perceived as a shocking decision by the global skateboard community, Saari announced his decision to leave Flip in 2008 due to the distress that was caused by the death of Flip rider Shane Cross.{{cite web|title=Arto Saari - Episode 2|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/arto-saari-part-2/|work=Vice – Epicly Later'd|publisher=Vice Media, Inc|access-date=29 December 2012|author=Patrick O'dell|format=Video upload|date=May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902015847/http://www.vice.com/en_uk/epicly-later-d/arto-saari-part-2|archive-date=September 2, 2012|url-status=live}} Saari joined the team at Alien Workshop.{{cite news |title=Arto Saari On Alien Workshop |url=https://www.skateboarding.com/news/arto-saari-on-alien-workshop |access-date=10 January 2024 |work=Transworld Skateboarding |date=1 May 2008}} In an interview with skateboard journalist, Chris Nieratko, following his decision (Saari later contacted Nieratko to prevent the interview from being published and the journalist published it on his personal website instead), Saari explained the process of leaving Flip:

It was really heavy but they [Flip] took it pretty good. I thought they were going to come and chop my legs off but they were very reasonable about it but it’s been a heavy process. It’s been on good terms. I just felt like I had to move on. I changed all my other sponsors, I might as well. Why stop now? New knee, new liver, new shoe company, new board sponsor ... Yeah, I did shed a few tears. It’s like getting a divorce; even though I’ve never been married other than Flip. I can imagine it’s something like that. There’s parts that you like but there’s parts that you just want to move on past. It’s really hard to deal with. You wonder, ‘Are you going to lose friends? Are you going to lose business?’ It was a tough decision to make and I’m still spun out about it. I can’t believe that it’s all happening but I think it will be for the better for everyone ... I just couldn’t take it any longer. I couldn’t take the madness and I thought it would be better to move on than to stay somewhere where I don’t think I necessarily belong anymore. Things have changed a lot over the years and I thought it would be better to explore something new, to be like a little kid in a candy store.{{cite web|title=Arto Saari Interview |url=http://www.chrisnieratko.com/artosaari.php |work=ChrisNieratko.com |publisher=Chris Nieratko |accessdate=15 January 2013 |author=Chris Nieratko |year=2008 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118081056/http://www.chrisnieratko.com/artosaari.php |archivedate=18 January 2012 }}

In the Nieratko interview, Saari also discussed Rowley's response to his decision:

“Don’t do it.” He knew it had to happen. We’re still cool. He understands. He’s like, “Go do your thing. Go skate around.” It was a very, very emotional, gnarly thing. It’s been so many years in the same boat you have to start going in different ways. Sometimes the ship gets too small, too many egos, you got to jump overboard and catch the next one and see where that takes you.{{cite web|title=30th Anniversary Interviews: Geoff Rowley Pt 2|url=http://skateboarding.transworld.net/1000155787/features/30th-anniversary-interviews-geoff-rowley-pt-2/|work=Transworld Skateboarding|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|accessdate=15 January 2013|author=Skin Phillips|format=Video upload|date=5 April 2012}}

In 2012, Saari provided further insight into his decision to leave Flip, citing the death of former teammate, Shane Cross, as a significant underpinning factor: "It wasn't, like, a easy thing to do, but, at the time, I knew I had to do it ... for the reasons that happened, you know? And that's why I decided that it's better off for me to leave Flip than, just, go my own way and, just, do that."{{cite web|title=Arto Saari - Part 5 Epicly Later'd|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/arto-saari-part-5/|work=Vice|publisher=Vice Media Inc|access-date=15 January 2013|author=Patrick O'dell|format=Video upload|date=June 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822150236/http://www.vice.com/en_se/epicly-later-d/arto-saari-part-5|archive-date=22 August 2012}} Professional skateboarder, Ed Templeton, stated in a 2012 interview: "I mean I was completely shocked when he left Flip ... it didn't make sense."

At the start of January 2011, Flip announced that Saari had rejoined the team and released an image that featured Saari alongside the caption: "Home is Where the Hearto Is".{{cite web|title=Arto Back On Flip|url=http://skateboarding.transworld.net/1000130028/news/arto-back-on-flip/|work=Transworld Skateboarding|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|accessdate=15 January 2013|author=Blair Alley|date=1 January 2011}} A video segment was also published on the website of Thrasher magazine and featured Rowley, Saari and Thrasher editor-in-chief, Jake Phelps, discussing the decision in Phelps' office in San Francisco, US. Saari explained to Phelps that Flip is like "family" and stated "You can take a man out of Flip, but you can't take the Flip out the man".{{cite web|title=Flip: Extremely Saari|url=http://www.west49tv.com/watch?v=738919270001|work=West49 TV|publisher=West49.com|accessdate=15 January 2013|format=Video upload|date=January 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130217005346/http://www.west49tv.com/watch?v=738919270001|archivedate=17 February 2013}}

In 2012, Fox disclosed the process of re-recruiting Saari:

I went up and saw him with Geoff, one day, because it seemed like he really ... well, I could tell; we could all tell that he wanted to be back on the team. Arto's not a very pushy person, at all. Never the guy who will ask for anything, and I just said to Geoff one day, "Let's just, we need to drive up there and then, and just put him back on the team. Make him put himself back on; because, otherwise, this is never going to happen." Maybe he'd grown up and realized that it might be a little dysfunctional family, but it is my family.

Also in 2012, Rowley confirmed that "It came from Arto, you know, saying that, like, this is where he belonged, kinda thing ... We know each other long enough to know, when you're hanging out with someone that, hey, like, okay, he's ready now." Saari has also stated:

It was a pretty unspoken thing. It wasn't until the last minute that, it was like, "You wanna get back on?" I was like, "Yeah". We [Rowley and Saari] probably didn't talk for like a year or two. There was this vibe. That's how I grew up skating; those are the guys who brought me up, backed me up. And I was, like, "You know what? I gotta, I gotta get back on."

Alongside professional skateboarders Stevie Williams, Brandon Biebel, and Tony Alva, Saari completed a photo and video shoot for Playboy that was shot by Irish photographer Tony Kelly.{{cite web|title=Biography|url=http://www.tonykellyphotography.com/bio/|work=Tony Kelly Photography|publisher=Tony Kelly Photography|accessdate=9 June 2013|year=2013}} The shoot is entitled "Playboy Poolside" and features the four subjects skateboarding in and around an empty swimming pool.{{cite web|title=Playboy Poolside by Tony Kelly|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAvoxvO3nlg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/jAvoxvO3nlg |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|work=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc|accessdate=9 June 2013|author=Tony Kelly|format=Video upload|date=5 June 2013}}{{cbignore}}

In a February 2014 radio interview with Thrasher magazine, Saari identified his video part in Flip's Sorry as the video appearance that he is most proud of.

Saari has had several major injuries during his career. Saari was nineteen years of age when he almost died of brain injuries, suffered as he was warming up for the execution of a trick on a handrail. The incident was represented in the form of a cartoon in Flip's first video, Sorry.{{cite web|title=Flip - Sorry - Arto Saari - Dream After The Accident By The Time He Had Arrived ...|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrtWdYBkGug|work=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc|accessdate=29 January 2013|author=sniteoner|format=Video upload|date=9 June 2012}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}

Saari appears as a playable character in the video games Evolution Skateboarding,{{cite web|title=Evolution Skateboarding - Arto Saari|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87lWAfSF6gE|work=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc|accessdate=29 January 2013|author=DanielsFavourites|format=Video upload|date=23 August 2011}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}} Tony Hawk's Underground,{{cite web|title=Thug 1; Arto Sarri|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_IZ1zQFXSc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/o_IZ1zQFXSc |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|work=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc|accessdate=29 January 2013|author=sensesfailrthebest|format=Video upload|date=15 July 2009}}{{cbignore}} and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground.{{cite web|title=Tony Hawk Proving Ground Skater Vid- Arto Saari|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k__6g8wVPB8|work=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc|accessdate=29 January 2013|author=myuusmeow|format=Video upload|date=17 October 2007}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}

As of July 2014, Saari is sponsored by Flip Skateboards, New Balance Numeric, WeSC, Ricta, CCS, MOB, Destructo Trucks and hOme Watches.

In late 2012, the Burton company announced a major restructure in accordance with a plan to focus more closely on its core business; consequently, the skateboard teams of the Gravis and Analog brands were dissolved.{{cite web|title=JAKE BURTON ON OVERHAULING CORPORATE STRUCTURE, CLOSING THE PROGRAM BRANDS|url=http://business.transworld.net/113535/features/burton-overhauls-corporate-structure-pulling-out-of-the-program/|work=Transworld Business|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|accessdate=26 April 2013|author=Mike Lewis|date=23 October 2012}} Saari's move to WeSC was announced on April 26, 2013,{{cite web|title=WESC WELCOMES ARTO SAARI|url=http://www.skateboardermag.com/industry-news/wesc-welcomes-arto-saari/|work=Skateboarder Magazine|publisher=Grind Media LLC|accessdate=26 April 2013|author=Brian Blakely|date=26 April 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428143736/http://www.skateboardermag.com/industry-news/wesc-welcomes-arto-saari/|archivedate=28 April 2013}} following Saari's selection as the first skateboarder of the international team of hOme Watches—alongside snowboarders Travis Rice, Gigi Rüf and Mark Sollors—in the previous month.{{cite web|author1=TWS|title=Arto Saari, hOme Watches|url=http://skateboarding.transworld.net/news/arto-saari-home-watches/|website=TransWorld SKATEboarding|publisher=TEN|accessdate=26 July 2014|date=7 March 2013}} Then, in May 2013, Saari was announced as a member of the New Balance Numeric skate footwear team.{{cite web|title=Video: New Balance Introduce Skate Team|url=http://www.huhmagazine.co.uk/5091/video-new-balance-introduce-skate-team|work=HUH Magazine|publisher=HUH|accessdate=10 August 2013|author=Staff|date=May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507143348/http://www.huhmagazine.co.uk/5091/video-new-balance-introduce-skate-team|archive-date=May 7, 2013|url-status=dead}}

• Transworld: Feedback (with Geoff Rowley) (1999)
• éS: Menikmati (2000)
• Flip: Sorry (2002)
• Flip: Really Sorry (2004)
• Flip: Feast Tour (2006)
• Alien Workshop: Mind Field (2009)

According to their website, he is one of skateboarders that "have gravitated towards Leica M equipment".{{cite web|title=Rolling Through the Shadows|url=http://blog.leica-camera.com/photography/m-system/mark-whiteley-rolling-through-the-shadows/|work=The Leica Camera Blog|publisher=LEICA-CAMERA.COM|accessdate=29 January 2013|author=Mark Whiteley|format=Blog post|date=28 January 2013}}

In a May 2011 interview for the CCS web-based channel, Saari identified an old press camera and a Noblex medium-format panoramic camera as two of his favorite possessions—Saari also identifies a framed black and white photograph, taken with the latter camera, of the Helsinki Cathedral as one of his favorite images.{{cite web|title=Material World With Arto Saari|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNhDJ5CszV0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/FNhDJ5CszV0 |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|work=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc|accessdate=29 January 2013|author=CCSskatemedia|format=Video upload|date=17 May 2011}}{{cbignore}}

In early 2013, Saari was selected as the photographer for the "Fear and Loathing in Australia" Oakley skateboard tour that featured the sunglasses brand's team riders: Eric Koston, Rune Glifberg, Ryan Sheckler, and Curren Caples. The Oakley site explained that Saari was employed for advertisement campaigns and gallery shows, while his demand as a photographer is equivalent to his popularity at the height of his skateboarding career.{{cite web|title=One Icon // fear & Loathing in Australia: Arto Saari – The Skater Turned Photographer|url=http://oneicon.oakley.com/fear-and-loathing-in-australia/?cm_mmc=youtube-_-feature-_-fear-loathing-oz-_-_#chapter-3|work=Oakley|publisher=Oakley, Inc|accessdate=9 June 2013|year=2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820035448/http://oneicon.oakley.com/fear-and-loathing-in-australia/?cm_mmc=youtube-_-feature-_-fear-loathing-oz-_-_#chapter-3|archivedate=20 August 2013}}

In 2024, Saari published Bike Path, a photo book documenting the bicycle path which winds along the Seven Mile Miracle on the North Shore.{{Cite web |last=Gegan |first=Cooper |date=2024-11-10 |title=Watch Blair Conklin Test Boards at Palm Springs Surf Club |url=https://www.theinertia.com/surf/watch-blair-conklin-test-boards-at-palm-springs-surf-club/ |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=The Inertia |language=en-US}}

In 2017 Saari married his girlfriend Mimi.{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BTsEbGcA7z3/ | title=Arto Saari on Instagram: "#noapologies needed.i know you will be #saariforever #loveyoubabe ❤️@mimimiiiiiimi #bigwednesday 📷 @dandealy" }}

They have a daughter and a son.

As of 2018, Saari and his family reside in Hawaii, on the North Shore of Oahu.{{cite web |url=https://www.redbull.com/us-en/the-other-guys-live-2 |title=Kai Lenny, Noa Deane, Arto Saari Join 'The Other Guys' at Pipeline |website=Redbull.com |last=Craig |first=Ryan |date=February 3, 2018 |access-date=August 1, 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://skateboarding.transworld.net/article/weedmaps-pipehouse-experience-2018-article/ |title=Weedmaps Pipehouse Experience 2018 Article |website=Transworld Skateboarding |last=Alley |first=Blair |date=April 2, 2018 |access-date=August 1, 2018}}

Saari has previously lived in Hollywood, just off Sunset Strip. His home had a pool specifically designed for skateboarding and a separate sauna building.{{cite web |url=https://www.mrporter.com/journal/the-look/mr-arto-saari/174 |title=The Look: Mr Arto Saari |website=Mr Porter |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sanjiv |date=January 1, 2015 |access-date=August 1, 2018}} Saari referred to his sauna as "another little piece of Finland" in which you go "onto the top of the pleasure field".

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Category:1981 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Seinäjoki

Category:Finnish skateboarders

Category:Finnish expatriates in the United States

Category:Finnish photographers

Category:Skateboarding photographers

Category:Artist skateboarders

Category:Sportspeople from South Ostrobothnia