22|23 March Pro of the Month: Moritz Fischer

Our Pro of the Month column celebrates the remarkable individuals within The Pro Collective. Enjoy inspirational stories shared by your fellow mountain professionals and see how Faction skis allow them to thrive on the front lines. To be featured as a Pro of the Month, fill out the form linked here.

Our March Pro of the Month is Moritz Fischer, a ski instructor and freeride coach based in Obertauern, Austria. Read on to find out about Moritz's perspectives on skiing, teaching and style.

WHAT DO YOU DO ON THE MOUNTAIN?

I'm a ski instructor and freeride coach working in a small ski school in Obertauern, Austria.

In my role as a freeride coach, I teach kids and teenagers the fundamentals of freeride technique, how to spot a line, and do tricks. I also place a big emphasis on teaching and instilling mountain safety habits.

I enjoy making my lessons fun to maximize my students’ enjoyment.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THIS LINE OF WORK?

Whenever I was in Obertauern, my friends and I would spend a few days getting technique tips from the ski school where I now work. This resulted in me establishing a strong friendship with one of my coaches. He taught me most of the things I now know and inspired me to become a coach. Whilst my friend doesn’t work at the ski school anymore, we still go skiing together and chase each other around the mountain.

CAN YOU TELL US ONE OR TWO STORIES ABOUT HAPPY OR NOTEWORTHY MOMENTS ON THE JOB? GOOD OR BAD

I teach a seven-year-old girl who is so stoked about freeriding. We started the winter building up a strong technical foundation. Now we have had a bit of snow, we are learning how to do 360s. Watch out for this little shredder!

WHAT DO YOU SKI ON FOR WORK? AND FOR 'PLAY'?

I use a FIS ski when instructing on the piste. When skiing off-piste, I use the Mana 2 or the Dancer 3.

The Mana 2 is the perfect all-mountain ski. It’s super light and poppy, so every roller becomes a jump and every cat track a playground. One thing I like about the Mana is that they are reasonably stiff, so you can carve on groomers without worrying about your edges washing out.

I choose the Dancer 3 for guiding because it’s ultra-dependable. I don’t need a super light touring ski for guiding in the resort when we often combine using the lifts and ski touring.

WHAT KIND OF SKIING DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME?

I love all-mountain freeskiing. Since we don’t have a terrain park in my home resort, I try to get as creative as possible in my skiing. I use natural features as take-offs and turn cat tracks and side hits into jumps. I like to do piste-to-powder runs and hot laps under the chairlift.

Skiers like Corey Jackson and Blake Wilson are real sources of inspiration for me. I also like the style of snowboarders like Rene Rinnekangas and Arthur Longo.

Freeskiing is about having fun and enjoying time in the mountains. After work, the other coaches and I like to do some short touring missions to relax and maybe catch a beautiful sunset.

HOW WOULD YOUR FRIENDS DESCRIBE YOU AS A SKIER?

They say they like my style and my line choice.

DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL SKI DAY. MORNING, AFTERNOON, APRÈS, ETC.

The ideal ski day starts with some stretching because I increasingly have the back of an old man. Then, I’ll eat a good breakfast, something like eggs and avocado toast.

After that, I’ll meet up with some friends for some fresh powder laps. We’ll skip lunch and have a break whilst building a kicker, which we’ll hit until it gets too dark to keep skiing.

To finish off the day, a BBQ sounds pretty good. I almost forgot the sauna, we definitely need a sauna session after skiing powder!

Have your own story to share with The Pro Collective? Apply to be featured as our next Pro of the Month!