Meet Massi
Editor’s Note: this article appears in the May issue of Alliance Wake

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Sunset session, Massi style    Photo: Rutledge

Overnight Massi Piffaretti has become the most popular guy in wakeboarding. Okay, overnight is a stretch, but it was fast. In case you haven’t noticed, Massi has been everywhere the past year: magazines, video clips, contests, you name it. That’s not to say other riders in his generation haven’t done that as well, but Massi has done all of those in a style entirely his own. Plus, he has an Italian accent, which is way funnier and more interesting than the Australian drawl we’ve heard around pro wakeboarding the past 20 years. (Just kidding, mates!) The truth is Massi is at the forefront of the next generation of riders, which means the future of the sport is going to look really good.

AVE Producer Russell Spencer and Editor Garrett Cortese hung out with Massi and a couple friends to find out a bit more about the Italian export. He decided it would only be appropriate if he cooked up some pasta while doing the interview…

Garrett Cortese: Alright Massi, so we’re gonna do your interview while you’re cooking pasta for us. Should we have some vino, too?
Massi Piffaretti: Yeah! Might as well get turn’t up! (laughs) I got some Chateau St. something… Let me get all these ingredients laid out nice so everybody can see them.

(after a few minutes) Hey, Russ! Get the water boiling!
(after a few more minutes) Ok, so here we’ve got some Barilla linguine, this stuff is the best. Then we’ve got some ground beef, fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, and salt. That’s all we’re gonna need to make some good “pasta alla ragu”, which basically means pasta with meat sauce… I might need you to help me cut some tomatoes, make sure you dice them really small.

GC: So Massi, what’s your full name?
MP: My full name is Masimilliano Pifarretti.
GC: Do you have a middle name?
MP: Nope, no middle name.
GC: Where are you from?
MP: I’m from Lake Como, Italy, from a little village called Sala Comacina.
GC: How did you get started wakeboarding?
MP: Through my cousin. He was really good and he would do it every summer. I remember asking him one day, “Where are you going? Why are you never home in the summer?” He decided to take me and I loved it. It became something really fun to do every summer.

GC: What’s the best thing about America?
MP: I like that everything is cheaper (laughs). I love the people, the people are really nice.
GC: What’s the worst part about America?
MP: I think the thing that pisses me off the most is all the insurance stuff you have to deal with. In Italy if you get hurt you just go to the hospital and get taken care of, no charge. Everybody is covered.

RS: What do you miss most about Italy?
MP: The food and my family. My family is all really close, so I miss that the most. I don’t have any siblings, but I have a lot of cousins that are all like my brothers… (stirs the sauce) This sauce is gonna be good!
GC: How was spending Thanksgiving with Gunner Daft’s family in Oklahoma?
MP: It was a lot of fun. We got to eat his grandma and grandpa’s food, and it was really, really good. Turkey, ham, corn, veggies, pie… it was all really good!
GC: What’s your favorite English word or saying?
MP: It’s kind of rude… “See you next Tuesday!” (laughing) That’s my favorite.
GC: What’s your favorite Italian word?
MP: That’s a good question. I never thought about that before. Probably “ciao”.
RS: What’s “mierda”?
MP: Mierda is shit.
GC: That’s the only Italian I know (laughs). And “Ciao bella”.
MP: Hey, beauty!

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Somewhere in Florida…     Photo: Rutledge

GC: What made you want to move to America to pursue wakeboarding?
MP: I don’t know, I guess I was just sort of feeling it (laughs). I never thought I was going to be at a point like I am now. I just remember having so much fun riding when I was younger, and I remember having conversations with my friends about things we wanted to do when we grew up. A lot of them all said things like I want to continue my dad’s business or something like that and I would think to myself, “We’re all out wakeboarding right now loving it, wouldn’t you at least want to try getting paid to do it?”

(At this point Russell attempts to mince the garlic in an American way)
MP: No, no, no, no. Let me show you a trick. This is my mom’s trick. Give me a fork… You just hold the garlic clove like this and scrape it fast with the fork over the pan (the garlic comes apart minced, without the need for a “mincer”)
RS: You said you were going to strain the garlic out of the sauce when you’re done cooking, how are you going to do that now?
MP: I’ll show you. I’m Italian (laughs).

GC: How old are you now, Massi?
MP: I’m 19.
GC: Did you finish school in Italy?
MP: Nope. Screw that (laughs). No, I just wanted to do wakeboarding all the way and I knew I could focus on it. I thought about doing some school here (in Orlando), but I just wanted to focus on one thing and give it everything I can and not be distracted.
GC: What are your goals for this year?
MP: My goal is to have as much fun as I can while progressing my riding and hopefully win some contests. My main goal is to make it through a whole season and be as prepared as possible for everything.
GC: Are contests important to you?
MP: Yeah, they help put food on the table, you know? I definitely like freeriding better, who doesn’t? But I really want to bring my own style into the contests. I want kids to realize that style is important, it’s not just about landing a hard trick. You need to grab your board and make tricks your own.
RS: Would you rather win a tour title or get a cover?
MP: I would rather have a cover, just because it’s something that stays around longer. I don’t know, a cover is something that has meant a lot to me for a long, long time. I don’t know how to say it, but it carries a lot of weight for me. At the end of the day there are more people seeing that magazine than remembering who won the tour.
GC: What do you think of all the changes and additions to pro contests this year?
MP: There’s a lot of stuff going on, it’s going to be one of the busiest seasons in a long time, and that’s good. But… I don’t know, I think we need to get out of some of the places we go to. Last year there were some places where there was almost nobody there watching. We gotta find a way to bring the sport to more people, we gotta find a way to make contests a big deal and find a way to build the excitement, we gotta get the crowd involved, we gotta change some (judging/riding) formats, we gotta make it so everything is better all the way around. I’m actually trying to organize my own event with Red Bull for 2016 in Italy, so hopefully give everybody a spark in their eyes and they can realize they need to change… And with that we’re about ready to cook!

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#JA-PAN!     Photo: Rutledge

GC: So what exactly are you making?
MP: (as he’s pouring salt on to the sauce) It’s pasta alla ragu, or pasta bolognese; basically the same thing.
RS: That’s a lot of salt…
GC: Is that your secret? Tons of salt?
MP: No… just… don’t worry about it. We’re gucci (Massi likes to use the word Gucci for “good”)
GC: What’s your favorite Italian dish?
MP: Dish?
GC: Like a meal. Your favorite meal?
MP: Risotto with a native fish from my region. You gotta try it if you ever come.
GC: What’s your favorite food in America?
MP: Chipotle (laughs). I love that place!

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Tastes like trophy… Massi at the 2014 Less Than 5 contest     Photo: Cortese

RS: Pick one, Buggati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Maserati.
MP: Give me a Ferrari Enzo and I’ll be fine. (to Russell) Give this a taste.
RS: That’s what she said… Mmmm!
MP: Actually, if you’re going to give me a car…
RS: The Fiat 500? J-Lo edition?

GC: If you weren’t a wakeboarder what would you be doing right now?
MP: I’d probably just be working my ass off at my dad’s hotel making some money.
RS: What would you be doing if you weren’t a wakeboarder but still in America?
MP: Working at McDonald’s. Or Taco Bell.
GC: Why not Chipotle?
MP: I’d get fired for not working and just eating.

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Italian night moves     Photo: Garrison

GC: What do you think it takes these days for a rider to have a successful wakeboard career?
MP: You just gotta do what people aren’t expecting. And you gotta be mellow. Don’t be extreme.
RS: What do you mean by extreme?
MP: Don’t be a dick. Be cool.
GC: What do you want people to remember you for?
MP: Being a nice person and having good style.
GC: What’s good style, to you?
MP: Making a trick look as good as possible in a different way from anybody else.
GC: What influences your style?
MP: There are a lot of riders I enjoy riding with, all the guys from the California side, and then guys like ChrisO, JD, Brenton… But what inspires me the most is snowboarding. Before wakeboarding I came from snowboarding. Being in the Olympics was my dream.

GC: Why didn’t you pursue that more?
MP: I don’t know… I was riding at a resort by where I grew up back in 2010 when I broke my leg. I’d won every single Italian contest that year, too. Before I could fully walk again I was wakeboarding and I got good at it. I won the European Championship, even without training that much. So I decided I would try to come to Orlando to see what it was like. My dad did some research and found out that Phil and Bob used to get coached by Mike Ferraro, so we arranged it for me to come over here – that was around 2011 – and I started staying with Cobe and Tarah (Mikacich) and riding at OWC a bunch.
GC: I think I remember seeing you back then, riding the boat with Cobe and Tarah.
MP: Yeah, I was always there.
GC: You were like a hyperactive little Italian kid who barely spoke English.
RS: Yeah, sort of like now, but with more English (laughs)
MP: Yep, pretty much! When I first got here I couldn’t ride very good. It was probably the board… it was a Harley board (laughs). Then I got a Watson Classic, started riding good, and started learning a bunch of new stuff.
RS: Speaking of good stuff, more vino!

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Tucked and loaded     Photo: Rutledge

GC: What’s it been like being on the Ronix team and having access to Lake Ronix?
MP: It’s really awesome because we have an opportunity that nobody else in the world has. We can build whatever we want and try all sorts of things – the progression is crazy. But the thing I really like about it is how it brought the whole team together and we’re like a family now. It’s just awesome to be able to ride with some of the best rail riders in the world, like Dom. When I ride with Dom the energy is awesome, he’ll tell me to try something new and it gives me so much confidence. I think he’s my favorite rider.
GC: Did you know him from Europe?
MP: Yeah, he’s a little older than me. He used to compete against my cousin in the same division.

RS: What do you do for fun here in Orlando when you’re not wakeboarding?
MP: I go golfing, skating, ummm I party. Tinder! (laughs)
GC: How many times a day do you check Tinder?
MP: Quite a bit… but that’s just because I have a friend who likes big girls. So I check it for them and invite them over for him (everybody laughs)… Sometimes I check it for me.
RS: What’s your craziest Tinder story?
MP: I don’t have one.
RS: Yeah you do!
MP: Oh yeah! This dude messages me and was like, “Hey!”, and I replied, “Sorry, dude, I like the puss-puss.” And he goes, “Too bad, you’re handsome.” I’m thinking, “What the hell dude?” But I think I handled it pretty good, but he kept liking my moments… (laughs).

RS: Oh man, we need to make the garlic bread!
MP: What do you mean “the garlic bread”? We have bread.
RS: We gotta make the garlic bread for the pasta.
MP: This isn’t Olive Garden bro, you just need bread and olive oil.

GC: What’s a day in the life of Massi in America like?
MP: Lately it’s been we wake up, hungover… No, just kidding (laughs). I wake up, I gotta wait for Gunner (Daft) to get up, then Marc (Kroon) comes over, and Gunner finally gets up. We go get some food, because Gunner can’t do anything without food and a shower.
GC: Is Gunner high maintenance?
MP: What’s high maintenance?
GC: He’s gotta have a lot of things just right…
MP: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely (laughs). Then we go ride, head back to the house for some lunch. Then we’ll go to the gym or go ride again, depending on what we feel like. Sometimes we go golfing.
RS: And then you find big girls on Tinder for your friend to party with?
MP: (laughs) Well I try not to go too crazy during the season. We’ll have people over to have a good time and stuff, but nothing too crazy.
GC: Let’s be honest, the worst thing about America is the drinking age. You can drink legally back home but you can’t here.
MP: No, actually it’s good. I don’t have to worry about going out downtown with everybody and spending a lot of money. That just sucks (laughs). I’d rather have somebody go to the gas station for me and pick me up a few beers. I can drink as much as I want when I’m home, but I’m here to wakeboard. I’m not here for drinking.
GC: What’s your favorite kind of wine?
MP: I like white wine, compared to red. Depends on what I’m eating. My dad loves white, too, we’re kind of the same. I don’t like red as much… I had a bad experience with it (laughs)… I was 14 years old and I told my mom I was going to my buddy’s house to do some homework. We probably wrote down six words and we started drinking wine (laughs) and then it ended up pretty bad.
RS: Wine hangovers are the worst.
MP: It’s wine, you don’t gotta go crazy with it, you just gotta enjoy it. I’m Italian, I like having one glass with my meal. Just keep it classy. My dad can’t even eat anything if there’s no wine. If there’s no wine out, “That’s it, I’m not eating!” (laughs).
GC: Wine makes everything better.
MP: After a couple of glasses it makes the girls better, too… (laughs)
GC: You know what we call that in America? Beer goggles.
MP: Beer goggles?! (laughs) That’s awesome.

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Still tucked….     Photo: Cortese

GC: Is this season going to be your busiest ever and longest away from home?
MP: Definitely.
GC: Do you feel more pressure now that you have some bigger sponsors like Red Bull and Malibu?
MP: I actually don’t feel pressure, I just feel excited. I want to kill it. I want to prove myself this year.
GC: Do you feel like this is a big year for you?
MP: Sure, yeah. I’m not worried about winning or losing, I just want to be in good shape and mentally prepared and let it go. If it works out, it works out. If it doesn’t, we’ll make it work out.
GC: What has you stoked about wakeboarding right now?
MP: A couple of young kids are coming up strong. Like Tyler Higham, and Sam Brown from Australia, and Tyler Worrall. It’s good to see all these kids enjoying it and ripping. I really want the sport and the people and stuff to focus on the young kids because it seems like sometimes everybody wants to focus on the guys who have done it forever. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but I think some of the younger kids should get a lot of attention to because they’re the future.

GC: What’s it like riding on Lake Como?
MP: It’s huge, and it’s really cool, but it’s not easy. There are lots of boats and tourists and stuff.
RS: Like George Clooney?
MP: He’s come to eat at my dad’s hotel before. There are lots of celebrities and soccer players and stuff around Como. AC Milan has training around Como.
GC: Is soccer your favorite sport?
MP: No, I hate it.
GC: (laughing) You just told me you want to play on my pickup team the other day!
MP: I mean, I like playing it, but there’s too much money in it. There’s a lot of bull crap that goes on when you deal with that much money.
GC: Do you have a favorite sport?
MP: Bocce (laughs). I can drink some vino and play! I should start a bocce business in Orlando. Set up some courts, serve some wine. I’d be gucci!

GC: My last name is Italian, does “Cortese” mean anything? I’ve heard it’s a type of grape for certain wines…
MP: Possibly… “Cortese” means you’re really, how do you say? Gentle? No, courteous! It means you’re really likeable – you’re courteous.
GC: What are some things Americans do that you think are funny or weird?
MP: Drunks! I’ve seen some crazy stuff because you guys drink like crazy (laughs). Like some guy who got pulled over while he was wearing a Santa suit… took him forever to get out of the car, so funny!
RS: What do you call Santa in Italy?
MP: Babbo Natale.

MP: Russell, why does your dog’s tail curl up like that? (Russell has a pug)
RS: That’s his style, it’s how he gets the babes.
GC: It’s like your ponytail, Massi. How long are you going to grow your hair for?
MP: I don’t know, I might shave it… Actually I’ve done that before, it didn’t work. They used to call me Chemo…
RS: Garrett did you know Massi and I have the same birthday? April 2nd.
GC: That’s coming up! What are we gonna do for a 32nd / 20th birthday party?! (laughs) (to Massi) What do you do in Italy for your birthday?
MP: Get wasted (laughs). On that note, let’s eat! Bon appetito!

(the recorder was left on for the whole meal, which was mainly small talk with a few jokes, but afterward Massi noticed it was still recording…)

MP: Has this been recording the whole time?
GC: Oh yeah, I forgot about that…
(Massi picks it up and holds it like a microphone)
MP: Hello, this is Massi speaking… We are all hammered!
RS: Yep, on half a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon…
MP: Don’t say that! That’s a reputation killer…

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Keeping the reputation strong     Photo: Soderlind