"It's free. You can go up there and there's nobody telling you where you have to ski or what to do. You can make your own decisions and craft it to your kind of skiing and your strengths and I like being able to decide where I ski and how I ski it.
There's a really nice culture around it, positive people, there's a lot of energy in the community.
"You go up up the mountain and they choose a slope somewhere that has cliffs and drops and lots of natural features and you're allowed to decide anywhere on that face where you want to jump off and do tricks off.
There's a panel of judges that judge you based on things like speed, fluidity, your line choice, your air and style, control."
Hugo travels around New Zealand to train and compete in the freeriding competition series. Although one competition is on Mt Ruapehu, most of the others are in the South Island. Each rider's final placing is determined by their top three results in the series.
Hugo was selected for the junior freeride team after a season competing in Europe at the beginning of this year as part of the unofficial New Zealand junior team.
Along with three other riders he travelled between competitions in Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria and Andorra, snagging a couple of placings in Switzerland and Austria and having his best European season so far.
His goal for this season is to do well in the New Zealand competition and be selected for the World Championships in Europe in February 2018.
Hugo says freeriding can be a little dangerous, but there are measures riders can take to protect themselves, including wearing avalanche gear, back protectors and helmets.
He says while his mother worries about his safety, his parents are also big supporters who have helped him make it in the sport.
Next year he plans to study for a law and arts degree at Canterbury University - closer to the snow - and continue to compete in freeriding.
