Last year, at Summit East, I was skiing in the powder, through the trees. I skied through some branches, then all of the sudden, there was this cliff, maybe 10 feet high. I fell off, but there was a tree sticking out the side of the cliff. I straddled the tree. It wasn’t too good hanging there three feet above the ground.”

These words are vintage Eric Syrjala. He generally carries himself with a sort of stumbling charm; evidently, he’s no different on the slopes. Reckless, comical, yes, but despite it, Syrjala is a wizard on skis.

Syrjala started going up to the mountains when he was 7. Since he began racing competitively in 7th grade, he’s skied all over Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and even qualified for a meet at Sugar Bowl in California.

“Other kids have been racing since they were like 6, so I don’t do all that well at races,” says Syrjala. “I have to wear those spandex suits. They’re cold and uncomfortable, especially around the groin. It’s really awkward standing in line when everybody’s staring at you.”

Syrjala’s primary events are the slalom (slicing around single poles) and giant slalom (gates). Despite where he says he finishes at meets, Syrjala is ranked high enough that he is eligible to purchase a pass that allows him to visit nearly any ski resort in the Pacific Northwest. Besides, he doesn’t just race; he tricks it up like no other. He recently mastered the mysterious but impressive-sounding cork 4 – 5. Backflip? Pssh. Syrjala mastered the backflip years ago — even if it took him a try or two.

“The first time I attempted a backflip, I closed my eyes,” says Syrjala. “I landed on my shoulders, and slid into a tree well. When I opened my eyes, all I could see was white. Some kid had to come over and dig me out.”

Syrjala attributes much of his proficiency as a skier to the fact that he goes to the mountains as many as 100 times a year. During the winter months, he skis four days a week at various resorts around Washington; during the spring and summer, he skis at places like Mt. Hood and Mt. Bachelor in Oregon.

“Of course, I also skied in Switzerland,” says Syrjala. “I skied from Switzerland to Italy. In August.”

Syrjala’s passion for “hardcore” skiing mixed with competitive racing often leads him to hybrid courses like skier-cross. Of course, that doesn’t mean he exactly rips up that terrain.

“Two years ago at Mt. Hood, I was heading down the skier-cross course,” says Syrjala, “and there were two rollers near the end. I went off the first one, and my goggles flew up so the foam was covering my eyes. I went flew sixty feet off the second roller and broke my skis. Stupid goggles.”

Syrjala is the type of skier who is enjoyable to watch. He doesn’t methodically weave his way down the run; he smokes it with reckless abandon, like Kobayashi demolishing 50 hot dogs. It may sound ugly, but you wish you could eat like Kobayashi…or fly like Eric Syrjala.