I just browsed through our old posts and bumped into these two about one of my all-time favourite skiers, Idea ski movie and Eric Pollard for President! If you are bored and want to get some kicks for skiing, check out the clips on these older posts.

I guess I just like the “mellow” approach Pollard has towards skiing and tricks. Also, at the age of 35, I often find myself pondering the risks of park skiing and jumping in general. But after watching Eric Pollard’s movies all I can say is that if I can ever pull off a 360 as stylishly, it is worth all the effort.

Pollard’s smooth style and attitude also makes me think that it is all right to backtrack when the conditions are not optimal (at this age especially). In the end the best skiing is not “competitive” or “charging” but creative, fluid and all about having fun, IMHO, and the kind of skiing shown in Pollard’s movies fits that bill perfectly. Also, it is not about going for the biggest but finding your own way to do things and letting your personality and style show in your skiing.

That being said, it is almost ironic that Pollard is a former racer who has a rock-solid basic tehnique -  after accomplishing that it is definitely much easier to add your personal approach and style. Not many people ski like him but that is probably just because not that many people actually can?

Anyway, I’d like to see more of this kind of skiing around. And every time I watch Pollard’s movies I want to buy a set of rockered skis and try some new, silly things on skis. They say an old dog doesn’t learn new tricks but you can always try, right?