People of Powder: Max Ritter

The following interview is part of our 'People of POWDER' series in which we take a deeper look into the people behind The Skier's Magazine.

Read along as Ian Greenwood interviews POWDER's new gear editor Max Ritter to learn more about his childhood, his life spent skiing, goals, and more.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

POWDER Gear Editor Max Ritter Q&A

You're originally from Germany. How’d you end up stateside?

"I was born in Koblenz. It's a little city that's right where the Moselle and the Rhine Valley meet. It's in Western Germany, kind of near the French and Belgian borders. Both my mom and my dad's family are from that area. I moved to the States when I was one. So, I was super young.

I grew up in New York City. I went to school there and high school there. Spoke German at home. My parents are super German. It's pretty funny. I mean, they've lived in New York, probably for almost 40 years now—longer than they ever lived in Germany. And I feel like their German accents are only getting stronger."

Growing up in New York, were there any opportunities to ski?

"Obviously, there's no skiing anywhere really close to the city. There are a few really tiny ski hills that are probably an hourish away. But my introduction to skiing actually came pretty young. I was in third grade or something. My parents had always skied when they lived in Europe, and we went to Lake Placid, like upstate New York, Whiteface Mountain.

We would always ski there for a week or two a year until high school when one of my best friends and his family had a house close to Whiteface, so we started going out there pretty frequently. So that, you know, quickly turned into 15-20 days a year."

Was it in college that you started to get more into backcountry skiing?

"I did a little bit of backcountry skiing on the East Coast. Whiteface has this pretty cool side country area. You can kind of ski out the gate. It's probably the most Western-style side country access that you can find on the East Coast.

And then my dad and I actually took a backcountry telemark skiing lesson one day just cause we were bored, and that kind of really opened up my eyes to like, 'Oh, wow, you can earn your turns and get out there.'

The second I moved to Colorado, I was super interested in that. [I] bought avalanche gear, took an avalanche class, and fell into that community. I was super into rock climbing at the time and, like, you know, more traditional mountaineering.

I realized maybe I should figure this out a little bit more sustainably and kind of went deep on the education front there. I took more classes and just, you know, aligned myself with partners I realized had maybe a better understanding of that world and had a much lower risk tolerance and approached it with a much more, yeah, sustainable mindset."

How did writing fit into the equation for you?

"When I moved to Boulder, I was originally going to school there for engineering. I was in the aerospace engineering program there for two years. And I was convinced that that was what I wanted to do.

It took two years, four semesters worth of classes in that world, and it was like, 'Oh, s**t, no way. This is not for me.' Big reality check.

So [I] took a little time off school to kind of reassess what I wanted to do. And then, the whole time, I was always into writing. I did a lot of creative writing in high school, that kind of thing. And CU, at the time, was actually launching a new journalism school. And I decided that I was gonna go back to school for that.

My senior year final semester, we either had the choice to do a thesis thing or basically go get a job that counted as an internship credit. I ended up getting an internship at Climbing Magazine in Boulder. And that kind of just opened the whole outdoor media world to me."

Was gear always the focus for you, or is that kind of a thing that came after you'd been doing it for a while?

"I wouldn't say that it was ever the focus for me, but it's something that I've always been really interested in. So, in college, I actually worked for a ski shop and a bike shop as a boot fitter and a bike mechanic. I've always been pretty obsessed with what's on my feet and what's under my butt when I'm riding my bike.

Writing about it was just a really cool opportunity for me to combine two skill sets and two passions. Not to mention, it's cool to get to know all the people behind the scenes in our world."

What's your go-to backcountry snack?

"I think it depends on the day. I love a mix of sweet and salty or savory, especially in the backcountry when I'm working hard. I love brownies and chocolate chip cookies.

But I also love a good sandwich. I think there's nothing more satisfying than being on top of wherever you're trying to get to in the backcountry and pulling out a really sick sandwich. Like a turkey club, or I love a good Italian sub, too, you know, some cheese and salami and stuff. We like to call those 'mega snacks.' Just something crazy elaborate that's pretty heavy and totally out of place."

I assume you're spending more time in the backcountry than at resorts in the winter. Is that right?

"Not necessarily. I'd say about 50/50. I feel like right now, I'm probably writing a lot more about backcountry stuff just cause it's easier to talk about when there's no snow on the ground, but I love riding chairlifts.

Living in the Jackson area is really unique because it's one of those places where the backcountry riding is so so so good. But the resort riding is also so so so good. I feel like there's a lifetime's worth of skiing that you can access from the chairlift or the tram or the gondola or whatever."

I know that this is kind of a hot-button question, but would you rather have a pair of skis that are good on the uphill or good on the downhill?

"Definitely good on the downhill. That's really funny because this morning, I just wrote and published a piece about pairing, basically taking a resort ski and putting a pin binding on it because why not? Yeah, I am definitely a proponent of real skis. I've done a lot of big tours on big skis, and it's just so much more fun."

Do you have a favorite recent backcountry mission?

"Lily (Max’s wife and fellow outdoor writer) and I skied the White Salmon glacier on Mount Shuksan. It's right next to Mount Baker in Washington.

We were expecting to ski powder, but we miscalculated the timing a little bit because the evening before the storm had ended a few hours early, and then it got really hot. So it just cooked the entire mountain and formed this slick two-inch thick crust on top of three feet of really dry, cold snow.

You know, we were just marching up this thing, and it was breakable crust the whole way up and most of the way down, which was a bummer. But I think it was just one of those missions where we just kind of kept going because it was, you know—the conditions were, or the skiing was subpar—but the adventure was just there and felt really good to just put all the skills to the test."

Related: Fire Near Los Angeles Threatens Popular SoCal Ski Area

Be the first to read breaking ski news with POWDER. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of skiing. From ski resort news to profiles of the world’s best skiers, we are committed to keeping you informed.

Submit your best clips for a chance to be featured on POWDER. Tune in and watch handpicked, high-quality ski videos streaming all day long on POWDER TV , and subscribe to our YouTube channel .