Mattias Hargin

Mattias Hargin was born into a skiing family in Stockholm, Sweden. Both of his older sisters raced for the national team and went on to become highly successful freeskiers. Mattias ended up spending more than ten years racing in the FIS World Cup, competing in three Olympic Games for Sweden, scoring multiple podium finishes, and crowning his career in 2015 by winning the Hahnenkamm slalom race in Kitzbühel. In 2019, he retired from competitive skiing and shifted his focus to his other passion, freeride skiing.

These days, Mattias commutes between his native Stockholm and his second home in Engelberg, Switzerland. He works as an ambassador for several brands in the skiing industry, including The Mountain Studio of course, helping with product development, creating content, and running his own YouTube and Instagram accounts. When he isn’t being featured on covers and in images in international ski magazines, that is.

“During my ski racing career, it’s obviously when I won the World Cup slalom in Kitzbühel in January 2015. I had strived for so long to try to be the best in the world, so stepping onto the top of the podium and actually being that for a day was a powerful moment. Beyond that, I would probably highlight all the championships I had the chance to participate in – championships bring a unique feeling and atmosphere. I competed in 7 World Championships and 3 Olympic games in my career. I never earned an individual medal, but I won 3 World Championship medals in team competitions.”

“I’ve had countless, great powder days in Engelberg that are etched into my memory. As far as specific trips go, going to Svalbard to ski tour from a sailboat was definitely a highlight. I’ve never been to a cooler, more remote place, and getting to explore it by boat and then get the chance to ski was quite unique, and I would happily do it again.”

“The Urner Haute route between Andermatt and Engelberg is another great memory. Ski touring during the day and then spending the night in a mountain hut is magical. That’s something I want to do more of!”

“Another great memory is a last-minute trip to Mt Baker in northwestern USA in 2020. The conditions were very bad in the Alps, so Oskar Enander and I scouted the weather forecast and noticed that Mt Baker was going to get the most snow in the world in the coming week. 24 hours later, we were sitting on a plane, crossing the Atlantic, and then we spent 4 days in the unique and cozy place that is Mt Baker, with great snow conditions. After that, we drove the car up towards Whistler in Canada and ended our trip at the place of a friend who showed us his backyard. Altogether, it was a great trip.”

“Engelberg has become like a second home to me in the last 15 years. That’s where I spend most of my time during the winters, and where I’ve had most of my ski days in recent years. Engelberg almost always delivers good conditions. It’s one of the real powder holes of the Alps. I like the contrast of a relatively small village, with few people, and the enormous terrain and long runs that the mountain has to offer. The community in the village is great, with a lot of passionate and good skiers. The Ski Lodge Engelberg plays a big part in that, as it’s a natural meeting place most days in the wintertime.”

“Personally, I found it very comforting that I wasn’t leaving skiing altogether when I ended my alpine career. While I felt that I no longer had what it takes to win World Cup races, I was still passionate about skiing. So, I saw an opportunity to go on spending a lot of time in the mountains and adjusted my lifestyle accordingly. I decided to take on new challenges on the side, and gradually create a new life for myself without racing.”

“It was a major adjustment to give up on my competitive career, because from a young age, I’ve always been striving to be the best skier I could be, and always had very clear goals and objectives to strive for. Giving up competition also meant giving up some of that clarity. Now, I need to find new challenges for myself. My freeriding-related work hasn’t given me the same kind of obvious targets, and I feel I’ve missed that, in a way. It’s been an adjustment for me. But I’m grateful for all the skiing I’m still able to do every winter today.”