Brofiles: Marco “Milo” Milardi

Guys, this is probably the hardest thing to do right after convincing my mother I puked on the bed because of and indigestion instead of being more than drunk. I know Milo since a long time: he, being way more precise and healty than me, suggested it was 2002 at an halfpipe contest in Obereggen.

What to say about him? He’s a true character and what I love so much of him is that he stands high in the average joe crowd of the snowboarder prototype (let’s say of the general dude prototype). On the other hand sometime he’s an over-meticulous being and really strange to follow in his mad arguments, but this is Milo!

He’s the most true person I’ve ever met, with his pro and cons; I consider myself a quite genuine guy, but compared to him I’m the worst soap opera actor.

This is a quality very rare now and I fuckin’ admire him for it ’cause he says and do what he think righteous no matter which are the consequences.
There are many other peculiarity that make Milo so special but I want to let him to introduce you into the Milo’s world.

just an ollie nose to drop in – Ph. Andrea Rigano

Hey Milo, how’s goin’?
Howdie! Everything is fine. Or is going to be. I’m working on it.

What are you doin’ right now?
Except for writing down the answers to this interview? I’m sitting at my desk at the university trying to figure out how to manage the 10 different things going on at the same time instead of actually doing any of them and getting over with it, a classic..

Whar are you going to do when you finish replying to this interview?
I promise I’m going to work double hard to make up for the lost time.
I still need to write one divulgation article, answer several mails, prepare a conference application and abstract, collect some data from a survey, reply to a few work-related requests (“I don’t know” works for most of them), pack for my next field trip and deal with another ton of commitments I took but forgot they existed until they showed up on my calendar.

Oh yeah, and tonight I’m buying a motorboat!!!

Physical Education – Ph. Alex Luise

What do you do in your average Finnish day?
There is no such thing as an average day for me. When I’m working at the university the only fixed thing is that I try to get to work at 9 but then I never know when I’m going to be over or what exactly is going to come up. Sometimes I work on weekends and sometimes I just skip one day to go fishing. My tasks can be anything from repairing outboard motors to speeches in international conferences so there isn’t a daily routine. Some days are lost to boredom and wasted on the net, some days I work like a maniac just to discover it was all in vain, some days are just productive and effective.

Do you remember the first time we met? I’m always a bit confused about that, but I guess it was at Obereggen first Space Over halfpipe contest…or am I wrong?
You might be old but your memory is still good. It was 2002 and I still remember most of those days as the days when we were “actually doing something”. I guess that’s what hippies think of their Woodstock days even though they were mostly listening to music and getting stoned but whatever..

Robots loves, too

So much things drastically changed both in snowboarding and in our own lifes, too..is there something you eventually would save and something you’d like to erase from then? Sort of “I’d like to live that moment again” and “I wish I would never had done that”. And then again also something to save and to trash in snowboarding history from then to now.
If I could I would erase some of the worst injuries I’ve had (knee, back, ribs). Injuries are part of the sport and fundamental as a learning incentive but those ones spoiled my sport life and sometimes bother me even today.
On the other had I would like to live again all those moments that made snowboard great for me. landing a new trick for the first time, a run in deep powder, a sunny day riding with friends. That’s snowboarding!
Everything in snowboard history has contributed to make it what it is now, changing anything might be dangerous  and consequences terrible!

However I would have preferred it stayed a niche sport, let’s say like in early 2000 when it was already kinda widespread and accepted, fully pumping but not exactly mainstream. Nowadays there is more money (more greed), more investments (more crappy politics), more features to ride (more expensive parks), more people riding (crowded resorts). Of course we wouldn’t have triple corks and multi-million budget videos but I would like it just the same.

The thing that impressed me the most of you as I met you for the first time was that you were a totally different person compared to the average rider.  You weren’t the common messy guy alcholized and in perpetual searh of the next stupid thing. You’re always controlled and organized, but your snowboarding is so natural, instinctive and awesome to watch. Why all that difference?
I did my share of stupid things even if I like to think I didn’t. That’s the way you learn and grow up.
Snowboarding is about style and style comes from expressing yourself through movements. In those moment if you want to be controlled you will only accomplish technically perfect tricks but without style or with someone else’s style. So there is no point in taming your instincts while riding. I believe in training and practicing but I never really managed too well, doing the same trick 3 times in a row makes it feel stale..

On the other hand in life things are a bit different people that are uncontrolled and disorganized end up being a total mess if they don’t have some special skill. As a non-special-skilled person I had to make it up with hard work.

Snowboarding means fun – Ph. Alex Luise

You graduated in Natural Science and then decided to leave Italy and head to Finland…why Finland?
It was  just one of those tricks of life. A small series of decisions that leads to totally unexpected results. And once the process was started it was harder and harder to pull back.
It just happened to be this country. But I like it anyways. It’s a good place to study a PhD that actually counts for something at international level.

You would like to get back in Italy in the future?
Italy is still in my hearth of hearths. It’s a beautiful country and you will not find anything like it in the rest of the world.
Unfortunately living in Italy sucks on so many levels that I don’t even know where to start. If one day things will change for the better I would love to come back. Until then I’m only coming there on (short) vacations.

Which are the main differces between Italy and Finland: socially and culturally talkin’..
I cannot really start talking about all the differences, wiser people have spilled rivers of ink on it and still there is lots to tell.
If I had to say one thing I perceive as deeply different in the two countries I would say it’s the  way people relate with the society and the government.

In Italy people are more social and friendly with each other, or at least used to be, while almost noone trusts the government. In Finland people trust their administration more but are more solitaire. But times are changing and these evaluations are far from being necessarily true.

Big Fish

And talkin’ about snowboarding and more generally about minor sports such as all the boardsports area and bmx… ?
What I saw here is that there isn’t as much money going through the business as in Italy. Boardsports are extremely widespread but the market is so small because of the small number of inhabitants that there simply aren’t as many resources.
The main difference about snowboarding are the mountains and the parks. The first ones are just absent (there is nothing here I would call a mountain, coming from the Alps) and the second ones are everywhere (even if not always at the top).

Yet snowboarders are really passionate about the sport. No one acts like a spoiled bitch (even though some younger guys are starting..) and everyone tries their best to make the most out of what they have. There aren’t many big resorts in the south, just small hills, but the level is really high. People here still do things “for the sport” rather than for themselves. They have a different set of mind.

Is friendship a different thing in Finalnd?
I don’t think friendship has a country. The very few friends I have are different but the friendship itself is the same.

Which is your last purchase?
As I said earlier I’m buying a motorboat today..before that the only significant purchases were a bike and an electric trolling motor (at a police auction). It’s not a big or expensive boat but I will customize it into the best fishing boat ever!

Takeoff! – Ph. Andrea Rigano

What is fishing for Milo? Why so much “gravity” athletes has (have) a main dangerous sport and then in their spare time they enjoy quiet activities such as fishing, golfing…
Golfing and fly fishing is what CEOs of companies and wealthy people do. I guess most of them do it just because it’s fancy and they can afford to do it. Some of them are really into these sports though, and it shows. I guess it’s a gret way of relaxing when you are under pressure and get away from your normal surroundings.

For me fishing is a great way to stay in contact with the nature that I love. It’s a challenge to actually catch something but the main point is to be outdoors not the fish catching itself. Fishing is also almost a work for me but I try not to take it as seriously as…

Ok Milo, hope to see you soon here or there…