Eiki and Halldor Helgason interview

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Halldór and Eiki Helgason cannot be properly understood in just one interview. Eiki especially is someone I have gotten to know well over the last year, working on his personal project, Island Born, in Iceland. My perceptions of the Helgasons have changed dramatically as I have gotten to know them, and my respect for them grows with each conversation. At first glance, I took them to be party animals that fearlessly sent it on tricks considered impossible to most. While the latter remains true, I now have a deeper understanding into the minds of these two Icelandic legends. They possess an immense knowledge of the world, and they have applied it to style, brands, and successful careers for themselves in an industry where many cannot. I sat down with Eiki and Halldór in a hotel room in Poland to discuss snowboarding and the world at large.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_single_image image=”68280″ img_size=”1080×720″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]Where are we right now?

Eiki: We are in Krakow on the premiere tour for our movies.

Halldór: This is Poland, if you didn’t know that.

E: Yes, for all the American’s out there. [laughs]

Do you think the Russian portion of the tour is going to be different than the eastern European section? I’ve never been to Russia, does it feel different?

H: I’ve been there two times and it’s always been really sick, but I’ve never partied there. We were trying to be sober when we were filming for NeverNot. I will say that Denis Bonus [Leontyev] went to this insane party last time we were there. He still talks about. We have been regretting that decision for years. [laughs] Also everyone always tells us we should go to Russia, they say it’s a different level of mayhem. So we will see.

Do you guys feel obligated to party? Like, do people expect it from you?

E: I think people assume Halldór and I are the same, offering me shots and stuff. I am really good at navigating my way out of that. If I do get forced to take a shot, I just instantly drink water.

H: You’re smart! I’m not that strong. I just get super pumped when I get drunk, it’s fun to get on that level. But then I sleep the whole next day, and I feel bad about that.

E: He hasn’t been a part of the actual bus tour the whole time actually. [laughs]

H: I time travel through the day, and when the night comes… I do my night shift again.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_single_image image=”68283″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][ultimate_fancytext fancytext_align=”right” strings_textspeed=”35″ strings_backspeed=”0″ strings_startdelay=”100″ typewriter_loop=”off” typewriter_cursor=”off” fancytext_strings=”We kind of just, sit back and watch what happens, and keep doing what we want to do.” strings_font_style=”font-weight:500;” strings_font_size=”desktop:30px;” fancytext_color=”#fa0900″ ticker_background=”#ffffff” strings_font_family=”font_family:Cabin|font_call:Cabin|variant:500″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]Eiki, you told me once that you were denied entry to a nightclub in Iceland because of your last name. Can you tell me about that?

E: I was going to this fancy bar in Reykjavik. I had never been there before, or even partied in Reykjavik before. So I stood in the line, and then the guy at the door was like “Hell no! No Helgasons in here!” I wasn’t even drinking at all during this. I called Halldór and said as a joke, “Thanks for ruining the night!” I told him the bar’s name, and he said “I’ve never been there either!”

H: The story is even more random. Our friend, Gunshow [Gunnar Viðar Gunnarsson] was claiming to be us all the time going in there. [laughs]

E: And now he works there!

H: Pretty ironic.

I listened to the Not Snowboarding Podcast where Halldór mentions that Eiki had a hobby of catching wild cats as a child. What was that about? Are we talking about house cats?

E: Yeah, but they are wild. They are like mean lions that scream. My cat that I have now is a cat that just came to our door and we let it in.

What were the traps like?

H: So high-tech!

E: There was a rope connected to a falling door over a box. The cat had to walk on the switch to drop the rope and the door would fall and trap it. I had them all in cages and at one point I had like 10 cats. [laughs] If you put your hand near them they scream. They are pretty much the wildest animals in Iceland.

H: You can never get close to them.

E: We had thick leather gloves to pet them, or try to, and they would just attack your hand.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_single_image image=”68282″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]Can you tell me about your history as an Icelandic track star?

E: Ahh, that was a team for our farm area. I tried it because I was trying to find my sport when I was younger. I tried soccer. Hell no. I tried handball. Hell no. Then I did high jump, long jump, running, and all of that stuff. I was like “Man, I really hate to show up to these practices.” I don’t like to be on a schedule, so the coach was like “Well, do you still want to compete?” I said, “Sure.” They would call me when there was a contest, I would show up, and jump as high as I could and as far as I could.

And where you, in fact, a champion?

E: I was the Icelandic champion one year for long jumping in my age group. [laughs] I got two silvers, two golds. I was never happy with that though. I never really liked doing that stuff.

And Halldór was allowed to do it because of you?

H: I, of course, didn’t train either, because I didn’t think I had to. I would always get last place. And when we ran I would get second to last and I was super pumped on that.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”68279″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]Eiki, you have filmed with a large amount of film crews in your career. People, Standard, Transworld… Who has it dialed? Who had their shit figured out?

E: They all did, but I feel like Standard was the most professional, maybe? They were on it. The weather reports. All different areas marked out. I always trusted that they knew what they were doing.

H: They were mainly in Tahoe and they just know that area. So if they knew snow was bad in one pocket, they would know the spot where the snow was good.

E: And for all different conditions they would know a spot that was good for it.

H: I heard they had a full on map somewhere with every single thing marked off.

Do you think people are still putting in that level of planning into videos?

E: Not like that. Although, I haven’t filmed with Absinthe.

H: I feel like they have it dialed as well. They are all over the world. But a lot of those classic film companies aren’t making movies anymore.

E: Everything changed really quickly, it seems.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][ultimate_fancytext fancytext_align=”left” strings_textspeed=”35″ strings_backspeed=”0″ strings_startdelay=”100″ typewriter_loop=”off” typewriter_cursor=”off” fancytext_strings=”I time travel through the day, and when the night comes… I do my night shift again.” strings_font_family=”font_family:Cabin|font_call:Cabin|variant:500″ strings_font_style=”font-weight:500;” strings_font_size=”desktop:30px;” fancytext_color=”#fa0900″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE1bqFGngrk” el_width=”50″ align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]And through that change, has your perception changed? Do you feel like you have to be able to change with the times?

E: I feel like what we are doing is just… doing whatever we want to do.

H: We are always trying to not be too serious.

E: We kind of just, sit back and watch what happens, and keep doing what we want to do.

H: Yeah, and it’s the most fun that way. When it’s all planned, you get stressed.

I hear you, but it’s obvious you work insanely hard on things once you get them in your mind. How do you go about filming when you have one thing you are itching to get done?

H: You can definitely film other stuff in the meantime, but there are always a few things you get in your head every year that you really, really, want to get.

E: Some of them for years. Like, I can’t sleep at night sometimes just thinking about a thing I am trying to get. What’s weird is that once you do it, you feel like, whatever about it because you had thought about it so many times in your head that it’s not that crazy anymore.

H: We definitely both write down a bunch of tricks and ideas that we want to try to get done. It makes it nice to be able to cross something off your list.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_single_image image=”68281″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]Eiki, I know you keep it mellow these days, but will you describe your original intentions when drinking alcohol?

E: Ah, yes. That was back in the day. I never liked the mental state of being drunk. You just get a headache. My plan was to just drink really fast so I could puke on something funny. That was my only goal for years, but I finally decided it wasn’t working.

H: I looked up to that so much! You got some sick ones, like the one on the limousine! We were at the Transworld awards.

E: Oh yeah, I pulled my head out of the limo and just puked back over the whole side of the limo. The thing about Iceland is that If you were out in public drinking a beer during the weekday, you were looked on badly. But during the weekend, everyone sends it Friday and Saturday, full on.

H: It’s pretty expensive to drink there too, so they pick two days and go all in. But we never really understood the idea behind drinking one beer.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/185748447″ align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]You’ve told me beer was illegal in Iceland until recently?

E: Since 1989. When I was born, beer was still illegal in Iceland. Only strong liquor was legal. They said that people went abroad to Spain or whatever and would start drinking beer and found it to be such a drinkable drink, that they would go crazy and drink so much. When people drink liquor they just pass out.

Do you find Iceland being influenced by America more and more now? Is that annoying?

H: Yes, and I don’t like it.

E: I think we take the best from USA and Europe and put them together.

H: I don’t know man; you can see that people are getting way fatter! It’s destroying the girls! [laughs]

Why did America have that influence?

E: Back in the day, people were all about the American dream. Going there and making a life.

H: For sure, everything in the US, you wanted it so bad. I remember there was this one kid who almost died because he was so hyped on this American gum that he choked on it. It was all about the candies and stuff. [laughs] We wanted them so badly.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column][cq_vc_parallax images=”68286″][/cq_vc_parallax][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]Is leaving Iceland for a vacation common?

E: Most people go to Europe for that. Spain, I think. It’s just so different there. We were a big family with four brothers so we couldn’t really afford to go anywhere. I didn’t leave Iceland until I was 13 or 14.

Did you find yourselves wanting to get out of Iceland? Was that a goal?

E: Yes, that was a goal. You could see other places in the movies, and everything seemed so crazy. But now looking back at it, Iceland is a crazy place.

H: People always think everything is better than what they are doing, it’s weird. But, Iceland is always going to feel like home.

Eiki, your film project this year is filmed almost entirely in Iceland, did that give you a new perspective of the island?

E: Yes, actually. We had only filmed on the northern part of Iceland. This was the first time I’ve really done the full tour of Iceland. I had always wanted to do it, but hadn’t. And there was so much that I had no clue existed, so it was definitely fun to see.

H: It’s insane, I feel like we were just stuck in the north of Iceland. I have never done any tourism there. When a person goes to Iceland for a week of vacation, they have probably seen more of Iceland than me.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”68288″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]Iceland is a very progressive place in a lot of social situations, including the acceptance of homosexuality. Why are its people so progressive?

H: I think it’s because such a small population lives there. When something gets popular in Iceland, everyone gets on it.

E: I just feel like a lot of people in Iceland don’t care what other people do. And it’s just that. They do their own thing.

There has been a discussion of homosexuality in extreme sports lately with Brian Anderson coming out as gay. Is it possible more extreme athletes are hiding their sexual orientation?

E: It’s possible. I think In America there is religious shit going on. Iceland is the least religious country in the world. So little of the population believes God created the world. I think some of it comes from people associating being gay with a feminine type; people don’t expect that from extreme athletes. Bottom line, it’s the worst thing to try and hide yourself.

H: It’s so weird that there are only two openly gay action sports athletes. Gus Kenworthy and Brian Anderson. It doesn’t make any sense, really, when you think about how many professional athletes there are.

Speaking of being inclusive, Halldór, the atrip brand has also announced a Special Interest Club, including several team members who aren’t pro snowboarders. What inspired this decision?

H: Everybody wears outerwear and streetwear, and I like more than just snowboarding and skateboarding. I like fun people. Cool people, you know? So I wanted to have it wide open to everyone, if that makes sense.

It most certainly does. The line is tame too, design wise.

Yes, it’s pretty funny. If you were to look at my early days in snowboarding, I probably had—no, I had the worst clothing of any snowboarder in the world. My theory was the more colors I had on me, the more likely I was to get a photo published. You were supposed to pop as much as possible for the photo. I had that going for a while and then I started to get mellower and mellower year after year. I just like clean, nice looking stuff that works well and isn’t crazy looking. I got over all the crazy design things.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_single_image image=”68289″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]Is it possible you are calming down, Halldór?

H: In my snowboarding?

In your life!

H: I think I know my limits better than when I was younger. I would say yes to everything people asked me to do. And now I know my limits more. I don’t want to say I have peaked though, I just know myself better.

Halldór, what is Eiki’s worst habit?

H: It used to be candy and coke. Coca Cola, to clarify. [laughs] But he does still eats a lot of candy. Probably eating unhealthily.

Eiki’s best habit?

H: When he gets an idea for something he always gets it. So many times’ I’ve been like “Fuck man, you are not going to get this. It’s just not going to happen. You have been trying for days.” And then he always ends up getting it done. Every time. He’s way more patient than I am.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1rthOHA8Bg” align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”8/12″][vc_column_text]Eiki, what is Halldór’s worst habit?

E: Maybe getting too pumped up at the wrong times.

What’s his best quality?

E: He makes people so hyped. I think it’s his smile and his laugh. He can make everyone go along with him. [laughs]

Totally! I have this theory that there is something about the way that Halldór talks that actually hypnotizes people. He could become the president of Iceland and start World War III because he could convince anybody that it was a sick idea.

E: He’s got that smile on his face always! He could definitely be a leader.

H: Wow, thank you guys.

Do you have any questions for me?

How does it feel to be slowly turning into a European?

I like it! You grow up thinking America is the best goddamn country in the world, but then you find out the teachers were lying to you about everything![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Watch Also:DAYUMM! Full movie from Sage Kotsenburg and Halldor Helgason[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]