108 | Issue 115 | August 2018
Scan Magazine | Architect of the Month | Denmark
Jukka Hildén has 4.6 million YouTube Red subscribers. That is more people than
watch Love Island or Top Gear. However, despite his success, the ringleader of the
renowned stunt team The Dudesons likes to keep his feet firmly on the ground —
metaphorically speaking, of course.
By Paula Hammond | Photos: Rabbit Films
Hildén has just launched his new hit on-
line series Ultimate Expedition, in which
eight celebrities with no previous climb-
ing experience attempt to ascend Mount
Tocllaraju in Peru. It is heart-stopping
stuff — experienced climbers die every
year trying to reach the peak. Fortunate-
ly, Hildén is a man who never backs away
from a challenge.
The Finnish-born extreme sports star
spent his early years “tipping over sleep-
ing cows” in the small town of Seinäjoki.
It was an idyllic childhood “with lots of
love and attention”, but, he admits, “with
no rules”. The result was a kid with “a
good heart and lots of confidence”.That devil-may-care attitude has served
him well. “I always wanted to do some-
thing special — to test my limits, push my-
self and learn, even when I was younger,”
he explains. “So I applied for the Finnish
Special Forces and got in. Military serviceThe ultimate Jukka Hildén
is compulsory in Finland anyway, so why
get bored and do it the normal way?”From jumping out of planes to digging
snow caves, Special Forces training is
not for the faint-hearted. 120 people
started the course with Hildén. Only 80
finished. But while the experience fuelled
his love of adventure and taught him
valuable survival skills, it also gave him
something much more useful: “It taught
me that it’s okay to use your head and to
bend the rules in the right places.”Stunt performers, he comments, practice
and calculate their stunts. He does not do
that. Instead, intuition and common sense
are his guides. “Obviously I’m not going
to do something insane and stupid thatPhoto: Santi Fox