Ask anyone who follows the Freeride World Tour for the skier who best represents the future of the sport, and they’ll point you to Max Hitzig. Just a few years in, Hitzig has already garnered a reputation for seeing things in the terrain that his competitors don’t and doing things on that terrain that his competitors won’t. But behind this relatively unknown is a classic Austrian mountain boy who’s excited to show us his backyard: The Arlberg Massif. Max grew up with his Austrian dad and German mom in the Montafon with some of the world's best freeride conditions. He began freeriding at eight, which he learned from his mountain guide father. After his win in '22 and '23 on the FWT, then claiming the overall title in 2024, the Max seems only to be getting started.