Hoji delivers a masterclass in backcountry skiing

Known for his cat-like balance and reflexes, Eric Hjorleifson is in a class of his own when it comes to the steep and deep

Hoji’s back!! After a two year sabbatical from filming, last season he rejoined the Matchstick Productions team for their latest film project ‘Ruin and Rose.’

Hjorleifson’s one of those skiers who stand out from the crowd, with his now inimitable buttery-smooth and fluid yet lightning-fast style and sheer creativity. He’s like a skiing cat, always in perfect balance due to his lightning fast reflexes, whether schralping pillows and cliffs in the backcountry or throwing 7’s in the park – on powder skis and tech bindings! In the video somehow he even finds time to wipe the snow from his goggles mid-pillow huck!

Eric Hjorleifson RUIN AND ROSE Athlete Edit – 4K

After a two year sabbatical from filming with Matchstick Productions, last season Hoji reunited with the team for what would turn out to be one of his most enjoyable and successful filming seasons in the past few years.

We’re stoked to see Hoji back on the big screen! This is just his athlete edit from ‘Ruin and Rose,’ shot in Golden, Revelstoke and Whistler in Canada’s British Columbia region, but you can find the full film here.

It’s also interesting to see the gear he’s using – exclusively Dynafit’s Beast 14 binding, with the toes unlocked. Despite the latest beefed up tech bindings like the Beast and Kingpin, there still seems to be never-ending debate as to whether they are capable of high level freeriding – will they pre-release with the toes unlocked; are they as reliable as alpine bindings; will they release safely when needed?

Eric explained more on the Teton Gravity Research forums: “I exclusively skied the Beast 14’s unlocked (except for the Whistler park shoot where I locked the toe for obvious reasons) the entire time I was filming with MSP last season and I experienced no failures, prerelease or breakages. The Beast 14 in my opinion is an amazing binding and it’s performance blew my expectations out of the water: I was skeptical to ski the toe piece unlocked at first but as the season went on I became 100% confident in it’s abilities and it has become my go to choice for charging.”

Elaborating on his heavily-modded boots: “I really was not involved with the Khion (I think that is pretty obvious) and therefore I do not have much to say about it. What I can say is that there are good things in the works and I am quite optimistic that skiers who love the concept of the Vulcan will be stoked! Please be patient, the future is going to be exciting…”