He took a wicked spill doing an urban jam, but that didn’t stop Kieran Nikula from getting back at it a couple of days later to film his second video for the Best Skier on the Internet competition.
Nikula has been skiing for his whole life, and in the last few years, his passion for jibs, urban rails, step-ups and step-downs has found him burning it up in the terrain park.
“I’ve been skiing since I can remember,” says Nikula. “I raced for a number of years, and when I finished racing, I went straight to the park and I’ve been there ever since.”
The Best Skier on the Internet has entrants of all abilities upload their best skiing videos in at least five of seven categories including backyard jib jam, urban rails, park rails, park jumps, backcountry/big mountain, half pipe and slopestyle.
Nikula, along with his production partners at Inflik Media, produced a backyard jib jam video for round one. He finished number two, a mere two 10ths of a point behind the winning entry.
“That’s okay,” he says, pointing out that there are four more opportunities to increase his standing. “It’s seven rounds, the next section will be urban, so handrails and all that.” Winning the title of best skier on the Internet is a prize Nikula covets.
“You win a full set up of skis, outerwear; stuff like that,” he explains. The winner of the title is also awarded a pre-qualified spot in the Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) World Championships in Whistler in April.
“You’re automatically entered into the AFP world championships for slopestyle and that’s just huge,” exclaims Nikula. The Best Skier on the Internet isn’t the only way Nikula competes, last year he competed in his first big mountain event.
“I really liked it, it was called Wrangle the Shute. It was kind of a unique event because it wasn’t just solely riding a big mountain line,” explains Nikula. “It’s a big mountain line with a jump at the bottom and then for fun, they had a mechanical bull ride that was tallied to your score.”
An aspiring filmmaker, Nikula spends his down time learning all he can about filming and editing for the production work he does for LSL Productions.
“That’s a good way to stay in the ski industry,” he says. “I’ve become very passionate about it. I like it, and I love skiing and that’s what I want to do.”
Nikula’s round two video is open for voting from Dec. 6 to 12. The Best Skier on the Internet will be awarded on March 27, 2012.
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