Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.03.2009, Qupperneq 26

26 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 3—2009
SNOWbOARDING By BOGi BJArNASON — PHOTO By iNGólFUr BrAGi GUNNArSSON
The Eiríkur Helgason Interview
bEGINNINGS
Eiríkur “Eiki” Helgason first drew the attention of
the snowboarding community in 2003 with the re-
lease of the snowboard movie “Óreiða” (“Chaos”),
where he and his fellow rippers in Team Divine
(Viktor Helgi Hjartarson, Gulli Guðmundsson and
Eiki's little brother Halldór) first set the standard
for Icelandic snowboarding. The film attracted
some international praise, mainly for Eiki's attempt
at a triple backflip—a trick never before seen, nor
seen since.
It's now six years down the road and Eiki has
experienced most, if not all, that it entails to be
a pro snowboarder: magazine covers, countless
competition wins, tireless travel, and the “Snow-
boarder Magazine” Rookie of the Year award. I
caught up with Eiki where he was in Aspen, Colo-
rado, at the top of the waiting list to participate in
the X-Games Slopestyle.
First off, I was curious to know about Eiki's
emphasis on jibbing (a form of urban snowboard-
ing). “I get a lot of inspiration from skateboarding
and jibbing rails was the only way to do what my
idols were doing because Hlíðarfjall (Eiki's home
mountain) never built jumps or anything like that,
nor does it offer many days for building backcoun-
try jumps, so we chose this way, and it worked
out”, Eiki tells me.
All of Team Divine have studied at a Swedish
snowboarding highschool. I ask him how that
came about: “We somehow heard about this
school and after that nothing else mattered, we
just had to get admitted.” Obviously they were.
They thus continued to grow and progress off of
each other, as Eiki freely admits. “I would never
have gotten to where I am today where it not for all
of us continually pushing each other to do better”.
pRO-lIfE
Last winter was Eiki's first season as a fully-fledged
globetrotting pro, which means his travels are
more or less dictated by the whims of his team
manager at Rome Snowboards, so paths seldom
converge with his friends anymore. What's it like
to spend most of the season without your old
team? “We rode together from October to January,
so it's not that bad, but you always miss not being
with all of your buddies riding Hlíðarfjall,” says
Eiki.
Nabbing the last part of the snowboard
movies you appear in each season is always presti-
gious, like headlining a concert. Sure enough Eiki
landed—and I'm talking a lot of clean landings—
the end part of Rome's “No Correct Way” movie
this year: a feat that might singlehandedly have
gotten a slew of nominations for the '08 rider
awards circuit. So I had him tell me a bit about his
recent “Rookie of the Year” award.
“I was nominated for Transworld Snowboard-
ing magazine’s Rookie of the year reader’s choice
and for the top 10 trick of the year list. Then I
won the Snowboarder Magazine and Snowboard
MBM “Rookie of the Year” awards. So the season
couldn't have played out much better.”
COmp KID VS. pOWDER HOuND
In the world of professional snowboarding there
are two more or less prevalent schools of thought.
There are media babies—your Shaun Whites and
Shaun Palmers—who crave the spotlight and the
huge cash (and occasional) SUV prizes that come
with a successful competitive career, and the
more laidback filming/photographing types that
supplement their already sizeable salaries and pro
model royalties with the photo bonus—your Travis
Rices and Johan Olofsons.
Up to this point, during his latter school
years, Eiki received much acclaim for being nearly
unbeatable on the Scandinavian, urban jib com-
petition scene; but with this year’s release of not
one but three films with an “Eiki Helgason” part
in them begs the question: competing or filming,
which is more fun? “I don't like competing. Filming
is a 100 times more fun because you're so free.
You don't need to know the day or the time. You
can just do what you like, when you like. Hehe,
couldn't be better!”
You might not know him, but he's kinda famous
HOUSEGRINDING
i wAS NOmiNATEd FOr TrANSwOrld
SNOwBOArdiNG mAGAZiNE’S rOOkiE
OF THE yEAr rEAdEr’S cHOicE ANd
FOr THE TOP 10 Trick OF THE yEAr
liST. THEN i wON THE SNOwBOArdEr
mAGAZiNE ANd SNOwBOArd mBm
“rOOkiE OF THE yEAr” AwArdS. SO
THE SEASON cOUldN'T HAvE PlAyEd
OUT mUcH BETTEr.
DESTINATIONS
1. HlíðARfjAll, AKuREyRI.
With a high-speed quad and three tow lifts Hlíðar-
fjall may not be the biggest, but it’s certainly the
best. The top lift accesses a lot of off-piste and of-
fers endless hiking possibilities to various chutes,
cornices and cliffs. The quad has high turn around
and seldom gets queued up but the slope is inter-
mediate at best. The snowpark features a multitude
of rails and is shaped by a graduate from a Swedish
snowboarding high school. The area is unique in
the meagre flora of Icelandic ski areas in that it year
after year offers 140+ operating days.
2. ODDSSKARð, ESKIfjöRðuR.
Boasting a mere two tows and a beginners lift,
Oddsskarð is small but has great backcountry ac-
cess. Take the two tows to the top and ride down
the backside through off-piste galore and find your-
self in another fjörd where you can drive back up
the mountain pass through a tunnel that opens up
back at the lifts. The powder is plentiful, the scenery
magnificent and the town tiny. For accommodation
you can’t do better than Mjóeyri, a guesthouse run
by an awesome individual called Sævar who will
go to any length to make your stay comfortable.
Just tell him I sent you.
3. bláfjöll, REyKAVíK.
With 9 tows, two double-seater chairs and a detach-
able high-speed quad, Bláfjöll is certainly the big-
gest, but the area is only open when the Norse god
of weather is in a good mood. And that guy’s one
moody bastard. A benefit of his whims are however
nice wind formations such as cornices, in particu-
lar the “Framhengja”, which is a short hike away
and often offers up a lot of hangtime. Man-made
kickers are scarce as the weather doesn’t take
lightly to such constructions, but the ISA (Icelandic
Snowboard Association) tries to keep jumps avail-
able. The terrain is suitable to all levels of riders/
skiers.
4. SNæfEllSjöKull.
The Snæfellsjökull glacier is where you want to be
in spring and early summer. Here you can partake
in some midnight riding under the never setting
sun, if you rent a snowmobile that is. A good surf
break is nearby and a mini-ramp for skating was
left behind by the Iceland Park Project, which used
to run a summer camp a few years back. Pitch your
tent at the Arnarstapi camp ground, near the small
restaurant and bar. The scenery is breathtaking
and the fowl is loud and menacing.
5. SIGlufjöRðuR.
Have never been but a northerner friend of mine
says it’s easily his favourite as far as backcountry
goes, and if it’s not to your liking, Hlíðarfjall and
the small areas of Dalvík and Húsavík are all within
about an hour’s drive.
Honourable Mention: Skálafell, Reykjavik. R.I.P
Top 5
Ski Areas in Iceland
By BOGi BJArNASON