When Eric Pollard skis, he does so with a style and grace that’s unmistakably his. Always light on his feet, the man seems to float above the snow—it’s a trait that has kept Pollard at the forefront of the skiing conversation for well over a decade. Off the hill, Pollard employs similar poise and delicacy in his artistic endeavors; his work graces Line Skis’ top sheets and also the walls of many happy customers. If you had to use one word to describe Pollard’s legacy, it’d likely be “smooth.”
AGE: 33
HOMETOWN: Welches, Oregon
SPONSORS: anon., Dakine, evo, Line Skis, Marker, Stoked Coffee
The last backcountry zone I skied was near Kaslo, British Columbia with Stellar Heliskiing. I was with a super fun crew that included Karl Fostvedt, Jeff Wright and Christian Pondella. We shredded perfect blower pow on sustained steeps in some of the best tree zones I’ve had the pleasure of sliding through.
The last(ing) memory from that zone is Fostvedt blasting off a blind roller and stopping dead after smashing into a tree. It was a rough crash. He tweaked his ankle pretty badly.
If someone was spending their last day on Earth, I’d tell them to go backcountry skiing at one of the many Alaskan heli-skiing operations. The entire experience is just amazing: the flights, the mountain ranges, the terrain—it’s magic up there.
The last time I scared myself in the backcountry was when I was with just one other person, Jeff Wright, in Japan. Skiing backcountry with one partner-in-crime is difficult; you have to keep your head on a swivel. Each time someone drops, the other has to be in a safe spot and ready to fetch the other if a slide or something else goes down. On average, we were a one-to-two-hour walk into the backcountry. Rescues that far out in a foreign country with no cell service are not easy.
The last person I hugged was my little daughter, Nova Jean. She’s a newborn, and I was hugging and holding her while coaching my older daughter’s soccer team.
The last lesson I learned was no one ever regrets working too little when they’re on his or her deathbed.
The last piece of backcountry ski gear I recommended to someone was telescoping poles. They’re such a great tool whether skiing on-piste or in the backcountry.
The last time I ate something I regret was the third time I had food poisoning last year. I had a super bad stretch with food poisoning for some reason or another: twice in Mexico and once in Nicaragua. My stomach is worked after undergoing a lot of intravenous antibiotics to fight an infection in my leg.
The last time I drank something I regret was in Greece, at Pep Fujas’ wedding. I was moved by the occasion, and in a really great state of mind, so I sent it pretty hard for a couple of nights.
The last good book I read was Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s wild to read about our species in such a comprehensive timeline. I can’t say I agree with everything in the book, but it was very interesting.
The last piece of art I made was a collection of fish drawings in my sketchbook. Nothing too fancy, just some concepts that I’m working on for a ski graphic. They didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped, though; it was frustrating.
The last hobby I picked up was ceramics. It’s fun to get on a wheel with my wife and throw some sub-par pottery down.
The last movie I watched was on a plane. There were some super inappropriate scenes that I wish I knew were coming, because I would not have watched the movie on the plane if I’d known about them. It was Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
