Tom Ritsch

Profile and significance

Austrian freeskier Tom Ritsch is one of those riders who has quietly become mandatory viewing for anyone who loves modern freeski, especially the blend of slopestyle, big air and playful backcountry. Born in 1993 and raised in the village of Niedernsill in the Salzburg region of Austria, he grew up at the foot of the Kitzsteinhorn glacier, a setting that practically guaranteed a life on snow. He started out in traditional alpine racing before following his older brothers into freeskiing, trading gates for park jumps and sidecountry lines. Over the past decade he has built a reputation as a Völkl team rider with a rare mix of technical park tricks, deep-powder confidence and an unmistakably playful on-snow personality.

Ritsch is best known in the wider ski world through his work with film crews and brands rather than through headline-grabbing podium streaks. As part of the Völkl freeski program, he was closely involved in the development and showcase of the Revolt series, featuring prominently in the Legs of Steel movie “121,” a backcountry-heavy project built around the Revolt 121 platform. With segments and edits filmed in Japan, Switzerland and Austria, and later backcountry shoots in British Columbia with Teton Gravity Research, he has come to embody the kind of modern freeride-freestyle hybrid that many progressing skiers aspire to emulate.

Competitive arc and key venues

Even though Tom’s name is more associated with films and projects than with overall titles, his background in structured competition is real. In the mid-2010s he appeared on the FIS Freestyle calendar in slopestyle and big air, scoring several solid European Cup results and a FIS podium in slopestyle at Kaprun. Those starts, often in Austria at venues like Kaprun and St. Anton, show that he did the grind of judged runs and ranking lists before shifting his focus more towards creative projects and athlete-driven events.

Within the core freeski scene, fans first took real notice of Ritsch through his games in the SLVSH Cup at Grandvalira, where he went trick-for-trick with names like James “Woodsy” Woods and Quinn Wolferman. Those head-to-head park sessions highlighted his technicality and originality on rails and jumps, particularly his comfort spinning both directions and adding subtle style details rather than just stacking spin count. Later, appearances at showcase events such as Audi Nines and the Nendaz Backcountry Invitational underlined his ability to translate that same creativity into big, purpose-built features and freeride-influenced backcountry jumps.

Closer to home, the snowparks at Snowpark Kitzsteinhorn have been a long-term training ground and showpiece for his riding. Backed locally by Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG, he helped present the Central Park and South Central Park setups to the public, explaining how the long lines of varied features, the glacier elevation and the sun exposure create a near-ideal environment for slopestyle-level progression.

How they ski: what to watch for

Watching Tom ski, the first thing that stands out is how relaxed everything looks. His approach to freeski is rooted in smooth, often understated style rather than forced theatrics. On park jumps he tends to favour well-grabbed spins in the 540–900 range with clean axis control, late tweaks and confident landings, instead of chasing the absolute biggest rotations at all costs. His background on the Revolt park and backcountry skis from Völkl is evident in the way he uses the full length of the ski—nose butters onto features, tail-heavy landings that are still under control, and buttery, slarved turns into take-offs that keep him loose and centred.

On rails, Ritsch leans into technical tricks that still read clearly to the viewer. Expect to see surface swaps, backside switch-ups and directional changes that make use of the whole feature without ever looking rushed. In the backcountry he carries that same intelligence into his line choice. His segments with Legs of Steel and his edits from trips to Japan, Switzerland and his home mountains show him picking rollover spines, windlips and natural hips that let him add spins and flips without sacrificing flow. Rather than simply charging the fall line, he looks for places where he can draw creative shapes in the terrain.

Resilience, filming, and influence

The public side of Tom’s career is dominated by films and web edits, but that path demands its own kind of resilience. Instead of building a profile via national teams and big sponsorship contracts from day one, he carved out his niche through smaller film trips, SLVSH games and consistent appearances in European media. The breakthrough with the “121” movie from the Legs of Steel crew, where he shared the screen with established stars, came after seasons of quietly stacking shots and making himself a dependable part of any film crew he joined.

More recently, his collaboration with Teton Gravity Research, including segments filmed out of the heli-ski village at Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing in British Columbia, has pushed him into deeper backcountry terrain and bigger features. These projects highlight his capacity to adapt—translating park-bred trick vocabulary onto natural take-offs in complex snow conditions. For many freeski fans, his career path is influential precisely because it feels attainable: build strong fundamentals, say yes to creative opportunities, and let a distinctive style speak louder than rankings.

Ritsch has also invested back into the scene by helping to shape rider-first events. The backcountry invitational “Ritsch’s Roll” on a secret zone above Kitzsteinhorn was designed in the same spirit as classic freeride-freestyle hybrids: a high-consequence jump line in natural terrain, athlete-driven judging and a focus on progression and good vibes rather than a strict contest format. This kind of initiative strengthens his standing not just as a rider, but as someone helping to grow the culture around modern freeski.

Geography that built the toolkit

Geography is a huge part of Tom Ritsch’s story, and it shows in the way he skis. Growing up in Piesendorf-Niedernsill in the Hohe Tauern National Park region, with the high-alpine glacier of Kitzsteinhorn looming above, meant that access to varied terrain came early. Long laps through Central Park and South Central Park, mixed with freeride lines off the glacier, created a natural training pipeline from park kid to all-mountain freestyler. The proximity to other major Austrian resorts and training hubs, within the broader Zell am See-Kaprun area, only added to the diversity of terrain at his disposal.

As his career developed, Ritsch’s skiing expanded well beyond his home valley. Film trips with Legs of Steel took him to deep powder zones in Japan and various alpine locations in Switzerland, where he learned to read different snowpacks and terrain types while still skiing with a freestyle mindset. More recently, his time in the Monashee and Cariboo ranges of British Columbia on heli trips has exposed him to bigger, more remote backcountry lines. Those experiences show up in his skiing today: a more mature sense of risk management, better speed control in complex terrain and a calm, centred stance even when features get large and consequences escalate.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

For skiers interested in the gear side, Tom’s long-standing partnership with Völkl is more than just a logo on a helmet. He has been involved in the athlete-driven design process behind the Revolt series, including the wide Revolt 121 powder ski and the versatile Revolt 96. These skis were developed with direct input from riders who wanted tools that could be driven hard in the backcountry but still feel lively and playful in the park. Watching Ritsch ski is a live demonstration of how to use twin-tip shapes, centred-ish stances and modern rocker profiles to transition seamlessly from rails and jumps to natural hits and deep-snow landings.

Beyond skis, he rides for partners like Dakine, whose packs and outerwear are designed around big-mountain and backcountry needs. For progressing skiers, the takeaway isn’t that you need the exact same setup, but that thoughtful equipment choices matter. A balanced twin-tip ski with enough width for variable snow, bindings mounted to encourage a neutral stance, a backpack that carries avy gear without restricting movement, and outerwear that keeps you dry during long park or backcountry days—all of this supports the kind of skiing Tom showcases in his segments and edits.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Tom Ritsch occupies an appealing middle ground in the freeski ecosystem: he is clearly one of the most capable riders on any session, yet his persona remains approachable and unforced. Fans gravitate to his segments because they combine high-end tricks and sizeable features with relatable, joyful energy rather than an intimidating, hyper-serious aura. For riders coming up through park programs or local snowparks, his career path shows a route that doesn’t depend solely on national team selection or contest wins—consistent progression, strong style, smart project choices and a willingness to travel can open other doors.

For viewers and skiers alike, the most compelling reason to follow Tom is the way he makes skiing look like play, even when the features are deadly serious. Whether he is linking technical tricks through Central Park on the Kitzsteinhorn snowparks or dropping into backcountry booters on heli-accessed ridges in British Columbia, his riding feels like an invitation to see the mountain as a creative canvas. For anyone learning to blend slopestyle skills with freeride awareness, watching Tom Ritsch is an education in how far you can push that fusion while still keeping the focus on flow, fun and long-term progression.