Dynafit Signs Big Mountain Freeskier Eric Hjorleifson

Those of you who track the world of the skiing gladiators are probably familiar with the stunning visuals created by Eric Hjorleifson. He’s also quite the gear modder and self propulsion fan. Dynafit has “signed” him. Not sure if that means free boots for Eric to salvage parts from, or huge checks in the mail. Probably a little bit of both? At any rate, Eric will be a terrific person for Dynafit to have helping with their marketing. Below is the official, annotated and slightly edited (for length) press release.

June 2011 – (Boulder, CO) – Dynafit, the world’s only full-line full-time backcountry brand, is proud to welcome Eric “Hoji” Hjorleifson to their athlete roster. In addition to joining the Dynafit athlete team and promoting his use of Dynafit boots and bindings, he will also be a ski boot consultant for the brand. Hjorleifson, a professional skier by trade and boot-tinkerer by night, has been skiing Dynafit boots and bindings for the last two seasons. (WildSnow.com editor’s note: It has been fun to see hard charging skiers combine tech bindings with big planks for the ultimate in efficient riding. We expect that trend to continue, albeit with lots of engineering to beef the boot fittings as well as re-engineer certain parts of all tech bindings that could stand to be stronger.)

Hjorleifson remarked, “I have a lot of respect for their engineers and designers. I showed them my boots, and some footage from MSP, so they could see what I am doing on the gear. I’m really optimistic about working with them. The need for gear like this is really obvious in North America.”

Benedikt Boehm, Dynafit’s International Business Unit Manager welcomed him to the team. “Eric embodies the spirit of the snow leopard in his approach and descent. His spirit for the mountains and knowledge of terrain is perfectly matched with our vision for North America (WildSnow editor’s note: We are psychic, and can see an amazing boot in the future). We are honored to have Eric skiing our boots and bindings, and look forward to his input on design.”

Born and bred in Canmore, AB, Hjorleifson is a member of the infamous “Bow Valley Crew” of freeskiers who cut their teeth ripping big Rocky Mountain lines in and around Lake Louise, Canada. His specialty is ski touring to steep, challenging rock-studded faces and wicked couloirs around the world. Hoji’s skiing style is high-speed, technical racer-derived turns with the odd air thrown in for good measure. He has also has appeared in numerous ski films.

Hjorleifson’s first assignment is to work with Dynafit’s boot product manager, Federico Sbrissa, and the Italian design team on a new line of boots for the 2012-13 seasons.

Chris Sword, Dynafit’s North American President also welcomed Hoji to the athlete team. “Eric is one of the world’s most dynamic and visually exciting big mountain skiers. And just as important, his no-compromises approach to ski boot design, and how it can increase performance in the big mountain arena, aligns perfectly with our mission to build the world’s best backcountry ski touring gear.”