Mr multi-talent on skis

Florian Fischl: Eric, You currently work as a professional skier, graphic designer, artist and also ski movie director and editor. Through which of those eyes do you look at a ski? Which three aspects of a ski are most interesting to you?   

Eric Pollard: I love all three art forms I’m involved in. Skiing is a passion of mine. Making turns, spinning, drops, and the like are how I have expressed myself for as long as I can remember. Film making is special in it’s own way. I love trying to capture my perspective. Composing a shot, dictating the frame rate, shutter speed, etc. is amazing for me. I bought a 16mm when I was 17 years old, and before that I would always shoot with my friends. I guess I have been filming for as long as I have been skiing. Graphic design and painting is just another medium to express myself in. I love taking a vision, sketching it out, and working to make that vision come to life.

In the past years, ski construction and design has taken on a leading role for the marketing of ski brands. What do you consider the main drivers for this evolution? Where are we headed in terms of construction and graphics?   

Eric Pollard: I don’t know the answer to that. I’m happy that some brands are listening to skiers, and working with their team to create skis that open doors for progression. Ski outlines, camber lines, tip shapes, flex patterns, widths, etc have come a long way in the last decade plus. I’m still working at making the best skis I can think up.

Eric Pollard and Line Skis

You’ve been skiing for LINE since you were a teenager. What makes LINE unique and what makes you feel “at home” on LINE skis?   

Eric Pollard: I came to Line as a skier who did not belong to any part of skiing. I didn’t use poles, and I couldn’t relate to the movement and direction that skiing was going in at the time. I did my own thing, and that’s how I liked it. Line brought me in, and allowed me to run with radical ideas. When I came to them asking for a 130 waist ski in 2002, they agreed to it without batting an eyelash. Line has encouraged me to think outside of the box, and they have given me a lot of resources to explore those ideas.

Do you think that ski retail has evolved into more of a question about “which type of skier” I’m approaching – meaning that the clothes, music, personal interests a person has, automatically puts them into a certain target group?

Eric Pollard: Probably. Skiing is changing. Snowboarding is easy to classify; big mountain, park, urban etc. Those categories exist in skiing, but there are also so many more kinds of skiing that accompany those three. Skis are getting more condition specific, and styles are contrasting more. The guys who just wants to ski groomers with his family does not want a powder ski, 3L jacket and pant, etc. You have to cater product to each kind of skier.

What do you consider to be the main challenges facing the ski industry in the next 10 years and which trends/opportunities could arise from that situation? 

Eric Pollard: Besides global warming? The industry has suffered from low snow seasons. Personally, I hope more small private companies get an edge in the snow and create a more sustainable business model, as opposed to one that is based on creating profit for stock holders.

USA vs. Europe and Hike vs. Heli?

Ski movies have progressed enormously in the past years. Recently, production crews have taken new approaches, focusing more on the environment, genuine content and progressive production rather than only showcasing world-class freeskiing.
If you put yourself in the viewer’s shoes, what do you consider to be the content that people are looking for in a ski movie nowadays?

Eric Pollard: I don’t know. There is always a place for the most progressive skiing coupled with the most advanced filming technology. That is what the ski movie genre is usually based on. However, people want to relate to the production’s vision, and because skiing is changing so much, productions are changing with it. Nimbus attempts to change each year. We don’t marry ourselves to a format. We try out different styles, and change the next year.

Although the North American ski scene has a notable influence on European skiing, there is a very vibrant and diverse ski community throughout all of Europe. What aspects do you “miss” while skiing Europe and what do you “miss” from Europe when you ski at home?

Eric Pollard: Difficult for anyone to put into words. North America is massive, and we do not have mountains everywhere. Where we do have mountains, each scene reflects the specific type of terrain available near the town. Colorado is different from California which is equally different from Vermont. In Europe, skiing is much more a part of the culture. You have skiing on TV covering the latest events. It’s more on the radar of the general public, where as in the States, it’s a subculture.

What was your breakthrough experience as a skier and as a film producer? 

Eric Pollard: I think as a skier, just skiing the way I want to, and as a film maker, capturing it the way I want to allows me to make an impact on skiing.

Your life requires you to constantly switch gears between ski design, filming and skiing. Do you have design ideas while skiing or how do you manage to balance the three and excel in all of them?   

Eric Pollard: Yes, that is what is so great. I sketch, film, ski, surf, snowboard, take photos, edit, paint, etc year round. Each discipline influences the next.

Last question – three word answer: Trees or open bowls / hike or heli / northern or southern hemisphere? 

Eric Pollard: With perfect conditions: Open bowls, hiking in the northern hemisphere.

Thank you for the interview !