We’ve had the pleasure to host on our pages a lot of riders from all over the world. Today we’re proud to have not only one of the best Italian snowboarders of the last decade, but also a friend and a local at our home spots. Kicker blower, street rail annihilator, party killer, drop in Max “Zeman” Galfrè!!!

1. Hi Zeman! Thank you for this nice talk! A quick intro: where do you come from, how old are you and how long have you been riding?

Hello everyone, I’m from Cuneo, ‘joyful’ town in the South of Piedmont, I’m 28 and already 15 years have passed since the first time I rode a board.

2. Sponsors and hook-ups?

Until a few time ago my sponsors were Head, Oakley, Granade and Lemon8, but today I’m the sponsor of myself. Considering the fact that I’ve been working for two years, I don’t feel like calling asking for material. Anyway, Head (Andrea) Oakley (Giovanni) and Grenade (Luca) are friends more than sponsors, and I want to thank them. I keep on using their material for affective reasons, Luca Angelucci was also my first clothing sponsor together with 2nd Sky.

3. Why does everyone call you “Zeman”?

Unlike what many people think, it’s not because I look like the football coach Zeman, but because I look like Ronald Koeman (a Dutch footballer). So from 6 to 16 years old I’ve been called Koeman and when I was 16 it turned into Zeman, cause I don’t know why, Olly and two other friends of mine began to call me this way.

4. You were already riding at a time when probably most of the people here didn’t even know the spelling of the word “snowboard”. What was that brought you to ride a board for the very first time?

When I was a child I used to go skiing every weekend with my parents, often we went to Vars in France, and when the trend of snowboards and monoskis broke out, I asked to my parents to hire a board for me. It was carnival day of 1996 and it has been love at first sight!

5. Can you remember the moment when you tought: “I did it!”?

I think that the most emotional moment, and also the one that made me understand that I was doing something good was in Val Senales. After having ridden all the day on the 30 mt jump I went to the pub with Giac and Filippo (kratter) and everyone stood up to cheer us, new and old generations of snowboarders. In that very moment I understood that I was doing something special and a few time later I became part of the Rookie International team of Burton.

6. You’re one of the most complete riders in the Italian scene, you showed you rock on every kind of structure, from scary street rails to monster-kickers in the American parks. In fact, you’re also one of the few that’s known even abroad. How did you reach such a high level?

I think that in life “where there’s a will, there’s a way”, I don’t wanna say that it has been easy to become a good snowboarder, but at that time, if you believed in it and you were disposed to slam several times, it wasn’t impossible to emerge. It was different from today, when you have to be a wonder to be noticed in the European/worldwide scene. It’s also true that at that time, most of the riders were already happy with a couple of free boards and some money, playing the bully in Italy…but I’ve always dreamt California, and in the end I married with a Californian girl (Lauren), hahah.

7. You’ve a reputation in all the greatest spots…from June Mountain, Hemsendal, Mammoth to the street rails of Roccavione. What’s your favourite one, the one where you’d like to ride every single day?

You’re touching my heart… I always tell to my wife that my dream is go living in June Mtn, but many times – to test if I’m still mentally alive – I ask to myself: “if in this moment I were in front of Hemsedal kicker, would I try it at the first run without making any speed check…?“ up to now my answer has always been YES, so Hemsedal is and will be the most funny kicker I’ve ever rode, that’s to say my favourite spot!

8. The rivalry between snowboarders and skiers it’s part of the past. Most of the time we ride all together in the parks. Nevertheless, many resorts are still unwilling to create and mantain decent structures. Do you think we’ll ever see a turnaround?

I personally think that things are going to improve, but as usual in Italy we’ll always be the lasts after the lasts, there isn’t the right concept and money is missing too. With some rare exception of resorts in step with the times. Every weekend I go to Vars, in France, and believe me, with their 35 rails, 20 jumps and 3 snowparks one after the other, it’s a reality that’s unapproachable for Italian resorts. Oh, I was almost forgetting to say that the skipass in Vars costs 23.50€ , and not 40€ without any snowpark, like in Italy.

9. Technical Difficulties: your favourite trick, and the one is causing you the most trouble?

My funniest trick was sw bs 7, while the trick I always think of is sw bs double 1000, cause I still dream to land it… even if I’m afraid I’ll never do it, unless I go on a diet!

10. In the years, snowboarding lost that component of rebellion and nonconformism of the beginnings…today the snow corps dictate business rules, and for many kids is more important to have trendy pants than learning new tricks. It’s not a coincidence that some riders like Scotty Wittlake and Joni Malmi left the snow-biz to follow personal projects, far from the footlights. What do you think about it? Do you think snowboarding it’s taking a wrong direction?

I agree with this tought, and I also think that’s more true in Italy than abroad. In Northern Europe or in the USA there’s still the idea of nonconformism similar to skateboarding. Talking about the wrong direction… I think that with the double and triple corks we’re going the right direction, and I’m really upset for having left everything when the first doubles arrived. My dream would be to make doubles everywhere, just like you see at the X-Games.

11. Lemon8 has been of the first crews in Italy. And the project is stil growing with parties, shredding and snowmobile runs. What does it mean to you? On what are you working at the moment?

Lemon Eight is, was, and will always be the same concept, that’s to say having fun with friends and trying to push everything to the next level, both riding and everything concerned with. Lemon8 means to me friends, the proud to be Piedmontese, snowboarding, our mountains, snowmobiles, the willing to emerge and let everyone know that we’re always hyped and so on… Lately we’ve been working on nothing special, but the aim is always the same. We simply develop everything that comes to our minds, could it be a party or a t-shirt and usually we need less than a week to pass from the idea to the realization.

12. The best moments of your career, up to now?

One is surely the one I mentioned above, the kicker of Val Senales. Another is certainly Hemsedal and every moment spent in America with the crew. They’re unforgettable moments and only now I understand and appreciate them to the deepest, cause at that time, unfortunately, I wasn’t conscious of how lucky I was!

13. Last year the triple cork of Torgstein was the “next level sh*t”. Now it has already been overcome by the sw bs 1440 triple cork of Pat Burgener. Do you think there’s a limit? Then there are more “hardcore” riders that consider this super technical tricks as “ballet moves”and they prefer to do some huge super stylish bsl. What do you think about that?

I think there’s no limit in the difficulty of tricks and probably in 20 years there will be riders able to do 4 backflip plus rotations. And this doesn’t frighten me at all because I’m not among those who think that more technique = less style. I think that if someone is able to do a clean and huge triple cork, then why not? I’m sure it gives you tons of adrenaline and self-esteem more than a huge and stylish 180. Anyway, as dear Notorius B.I.G used to say, Sky is tha limit… and I hope there’s no limit for the boards.

14. I’ve always appreciated your willing to work hard to achieve results. And between a trip and the other you even graduated. Who’s Massimo Galfrè when not riding?

When I present myself to people who ask me about snowboarding, I always tell them I’m retired since when in 2006 I decided to put the word ‘end’ in my snowboarding career and to get back to school to create for myself a different future from the one offered by snowboarding. 5 years later, I have a degree and I’ve been working for two years here in Genoa, ten hours per day except for the weekends and I even wear a tie.

To be honest, it’s not like being on the board 300 days a year, but it’s not even a nightmare as many people think! So, except for the weekends when I ride, the other days I am the Broker of FFA (financial derivatives on sea freight). From the mountains to the sea, nowadays is important to be multifaceted.

15. Do you think you’ve lost something during the years of snowboarding? Was it always positive and funny or sometimes it was a bit stressful too?

I think I owe everything to snowboarding, or at least, I owe it a lot. Thanks to snowboarding, in fact, when I was 18 I already had a good salary, I learnt two languages, I found the girl of my life and many friends I’ll always be in touch with, even if we live so far. Thanks to the devotion I was used to, I think I’ve been advantaged in studying and in working too. Moreover, snowboarding teached me to hold on in any situation to achieve some results. On the other side, I must say that I never found it stressful, but a bit boring yes. I mean, just like any other job, if you do something for a long time and every single day, you get bored after a while. That’s why I realized that it was time for me to leave my place to someone younger and more motivated than me, when I hoped it was snowing in the morning not to go filming!

16. What about friends? Who’s with you when you go riding?

I’ve always spent the cooler moments of my life with Olly (aka my best friend) and when I began to travel I spent a lot of time also with Giacomo and Filippo. I lived with them for a lot of time in the States and we had some epic moments that I’ll never forget. Now I spend every weekend with Olly, Abi and Lauren, and together we explore all the valleys of our mountains by snowmobile. They’re my super crew and they’re always – and I say always – hyped doing whatever that gives us adrenaline.

17. Chill out: best song, best video, best book of the year !

Song: Damian Marley & Nas, Strong We Will Survive

Video: I love the films from the crews of kids in the States, the ones that you sometimes see on tws and snowboarder, I don’t remember any title but I get mad watching them. I love them way more than the mega pros because I see in these guys the same spirit that Olly and I had 15 years ago. The difference is that these kids are more skilled than the 75% of the pros!

Book: Conqueror of the World, Renè Grousset, Adelphi

Thank you Zeman!! See ya soon on the slopes!

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