Loïc Isliker - Freeride Skier Netherlands

Hometown: Amsterdam, Netherlands | Active: 2018-present | Disciplines: freeride, steep skiing

Deep snow filled the trees above Tarvisio in 2024 as Loïc Isliker, Silvia Moser, Max Kroneck and Joi Hoffmann moved east with skis and camera equipment carried between railway platforms and mountain approaches. The same journey later reached high alpine terrain in Romania, with the four skiers documenting themselves instead of travelling with a separate film crew. Trains, buses, trams and walking linked the ski days across a three-week journey through eastern Europe, turning the transfers between mountain ranges into part of the footage rather than something left outside the film.

Amsterdam and Verbier shape two homes

Isliker grew up in the Netherlands and spent winters in Verbier from the age of three because his father is Swiss. Amsterdam remained his summer base while Verbier became his winter base. He began filming ski edits while young and later studied film in Amsterdam. In 2018, when the Dutch blackcrows distributor was looking for a rider, Isliker contacted the distributor himself, linking the skiing and camera work that would later occupy the same projects.

Kappl 2019 rewards the first title

Fresh snow followed a warm period before the 2019 Dutch Freeride Championship in Kappl. The final used a steep face where sections exceeded 40 degrees, with softer snow on skier's left and larger cliffs exposed to the sun on skier's right. Isliker finished his run with a 360 in front of the judges and scored 88 points, ahead of Alex Hooftman on 85 and Remco Mensinck on 82. The result gave him the Dutch men's ski freeride title.

Kappl 2020 keeps the national crown

The snow was markedly heavier at Kappl in March 2020. More than 20 centimetres had fallen before temperatures rose, and the organisers abandoned the planned two-round format because of the conditions. Isliker defended the men's ski title with 94.5 points. Timo Hermeler followed with 92.5 and Simon Gommers with 79, giving Isliker consecutive Dutch championships on the same Austrian mountain.

Hidden Faces takes Verbier beyond contests

Isliker and Paul de Groot started Hidden Faces in 2020. The series was built around climbing and skiing individual peaks, couloirs and faces while the pair carried their own cameras. Isliker handled much of the filming and editing, while de Groot concentrated more heavily on finding lines and organising trips. The episodes included failed objectives as well as completed descents, with decisions about snow, approaches and turning around left inside the finished stories.

TEETH followed in 2021 as a 13-minute Hidden Faces project in the Dents du Midi. Isliker directed, edited, filmed and skied in the documentary, with de Groot producing and sharing cinematography. The pair climbed and skied two couloirs in the seven-summit Valais massif after conditions allowed them to attempt lines they had considered for years.

Kappl 2022 meets La Forteresse

Saharan dust coloured the snow at the 2022 Dutch Freeride Championship in Kappl, and the snow surface was poor enough for the safety team to reconsider whether the event could run. Isliker entered as winner of the previous two editions and took the men's ski title again. Abel Pothoven finished second and Peer Aldenkamp third, giving Isliker three consecutive Dutch championship victories across the editions held in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

La Forteresse was released the same year through Hidden Faces. Isliker directed the 15-minute film and shared camera and skiing duties with Paul de Groot. They approached the Dents du Midi by e-bike before taking on the Couloir La Forteresse, while local guide Jacky Pochon supplied the narration. The film placed their self-documenting method inside a single steep-skiing objective near Champéry.

Japan 2023 becomes Lexicon's common language

Lexicon moved Isliker's filmmaking to Japan in 2023. Run The Woods produced the 13-minute film, with Isliker and Austin Hopkins directing. The cast brought together skiers from six countries, including Tom Peiffer, Maude Besse, Edgar Cheylus, Taiyo Nakanishi and Stinius Skojskift. Isliker also appeared in the film, which used Japanese powder skiing to connect athletes who did not share the same spoken language.

Romania 2024 gives POGO a trophy

POGO took Isliker and Paul de Groot to Romania with local skier Paul Pogo. The 13-minute documentary focused on Pogo's attachment to his home mountains, with Isliker directing, filming and skiing. At the 2024 Alpin Film Festival, POGO received the Zsolt Torok Trophy in the Best Short Climbing Movie category, adding a festival award to the Hidden Faces film work.

Eastern Europe carries Going East farther

Going East followed in 2024 with Isliker, Joi Hoffmann, Silvia Moser and Max Kroneck travelling through Europe without using a private vehicle. Isliker directed the film, Hoffmann produced it, and all four contributed to its self-documented cinematography. The journey accumulated more than 140 hours in public transport while moving through Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Türkiye.

The same period also produced Above Arolla. Isliker directed and edited the 2024 Hidden Faces film, with Paul de Groot as co-director and producer. They climbed and skied the north face of the Pigne d'Arolla, connecting their descent with André Anzévui, who had first skied the face 50 years earlier. The project used Anzévui's memories alongside footage from the contemporary descent.

The remaining selected projects are TEETH (2021, Hidden Faces), La Forteresse (2022, Hidden Faces), Lexicon (2023, Run The Woods) and POGO (2024, Hidden Faces).

Tegernsee 2025 rewards Going East

Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival awarded Going East the Otto Guggenbichler Young Talent Award in October 2025. The prize went directly to Isliker as the film's 27-year-old director and carried €1,000. The jury singled out the way the film placed the athletes inside a broader travel story instead of making athletic performance the sole subject.

By September 2026, Isliker's professional profile still lists him as a skier and filmmaker working between skiing, cinematography and editing. His portfolio includes collaborations with Arc'teryx, The North Face and Sease, extending the same combination of mountain travel and camera work that grew from the earlier Hidden Faces films.