Peter Mathis/KästleThis is what it looks like when Hugo Harrisson scales it back.Like NFL running backs, big-mountain skiers have shelf lives -- no one jumps giant cliffs forever. The reasons vary as to why and when their focus shifts, but one of the variables to dictate that shift is parenthood. Whistler icon Hugo Harrisson -- who spent most of his career at the top of the game, winning three straight freeskiing world titles and filming for Matchstick and Warren Miller -- falls into that category. Shortly after the birth of his son, Sebastien, in February 2010, Harrisson made a conscious decision to scale back his skiing. He still charges, and he's still doing some filming (he just returned from a Warren Miller shoot on New Hampshire's Mount Washington), but by his own admission, he no longer wants to ski the way he once did. Now, at 34 years old, he explains why.
How much has Sebastien changed what lines you ski? Is it in your head?
Yeah, I don't take the same chances. I just wait for the perfect day. If the conditions are not right, I'm like, why bother? It's not just about me anymore. No more dust on crust, because now I don't make as much money from skiing, either, so I have to work in the summer. If I get hurt, I'm not covered. It's on my mind all the time.
Will you be pulling out of being a pro skier entirely?
Well, if my sponsors are keen to sponsor me in the way I want to ski, with taking less chances, then I'm stoked on that. But if they expect me to have the same result as before, I probably won't be. That's how it goes. [Sebastien] definitely changed a lot of things.
Have you had that conversation with your sponsors?
Yeah, I was straight up with them last year. I told them I didn't have a clothing sponsor and was like, "I can't afford to take the same chances skiing." I told them I'm probably not going to huck it big, but I'm still going to charge. And they were fine with that. They totally understand.
Can you think of a particular time when you decided not to ski something?
Last year during the Warren Miller shoot [in Austria], I was just about to jump a cliff in rough conditions. But I was like, why do that, you know? Might as well ski down and find a better one.
Who stands out as the best big-mountain skier these days?
I don't know. There are so many. I think Ian McIntosh is definitely pushing it every year. If conditions are bad, he's always making it look good. He's younger than me, but I look up to him. It's fun to see a kid charge like that. I ski with him once in a while in Whistler; we always hook up for a run or two. He's got good energy.
What have you been up to this winter?
I've tried to take photos and work on a film project with my buddy PY [Pierre-Yves Leblanc] around Pemberton. It's kind of nice because I can call him last minute and he's available all the time. My sponsor, Kästle, is going to use it as promo footage next year, and whoever else wants to use it probably can use it. Kästle will own the footage.
Any plans for this spring?
I'll just be around Whistler mainly. I'm going to Skeena Heli Skiing the first week of April for a Kästle Adventure Camp, and I'm thinking about a trip to Quebec late spring just to take some photos where I'm from, but there's really no point to go anywhere else. We have lots of snow here.
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