Mike atop the pipe at last year's Mt Snow Dew Tour stop.

Mike Riddle is a pipe charger. He took home top honors at the Breckenridge Totino's Open Dew Tour ski superpipe event last month, and now has his sights set on Snowbasin, Utah for this weekend's Wendy's Inviational. The Alberta-born freeskier grew up in a skiing family, raised on the slopes of Lake Louise and now calls Whistler home. BNQT had chance to catch up with Mr. Riddle, who despite his namesake is actually quite the straight shooter.

Pro File: Mike Riddle

Name: Mike Riddle

Age: 23 years old

Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta

So Mike, give us the background story

I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta and just recently moved out to Squamish, BC to be close to Whistler. I got into skiing because my dad was a freestyler in the 70 s and so my family are all big skiers and growing up my parents would take me out to Jasper {Marmot Basin or out Banff and we would go skiing every weekend or every other weekend so I got into it that way and then started doing a little bit of racing, did that for a couple years and got bored so I moved into freestyle and did a bit of moguls and aerials and even a little bit of acro [acrobatic} and got going I moved over into some jumping and rails. When halfpipes started to show up at the resorts I started doing that.

So being 23, the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary probably were before your time?

Yeah, I was 2 years old when they left town so they were definitely before my time.

Mike's trademark bow and arrow during his winning
pipe run at the Totino's Open at Breck, Dec. 09.

Who were some of the skiers you looked up to growing up?

Tanner was just starting to get going but it was more like JP Auclair, JF Cousson, Mike Douglas all the Canadian guys, and Vinnie Dorian, who else, Candide Thoureux in France those were kinda the guys that were getting me into it.

They make up Canadian Air Force and are credited for the birth of the free ski movement, when they developed the twin tips in 98 with Solomon, right?

Yah those are all the original charger guys. Well, Douglas is the Godfather of new school skiing pretty much, I mean, all those guys were the first ones to really do it that I knew of, so I saw them doing it and it looked like fun so I wanted in too.

Why not snowboarding?

I think it was probably just 'cus of my family were all big skiers, my dad was an ex-freestyler so naturally that's what I got into and then I just had so much fun doing it that I never really tried snowboarding. I have tried snowboarding recently and it's pretty fun. I have a lot of respect for those guys, but, I mean, I'm a skier. I always have been into it so that's the way it's gonna be for me. I'd like to get better at snowboarding for sure but yah I guess I'm just a skier first.

Within the ski world there's racing and mogul skiing and the traditional freestyle skiing that are all in the Olympics, what do you think is the cultural divide, if any, between those disciplines and the freeski movement?

I feel like the freeskiing movement just hasn't been around [long enough], if it had been around in the 70s then it would all be the same but it's just the new thing to do. I have a lot of friends that do the moguls and aerials so I don't see as much of a divide just because I've done both, so I see it all on an even playing field. But for kids coming up now, any kid can go to any hill and get on the terrain park and try a 360 whereas it's pretty hard to actually get onto a good mogul course. You gotta join a freestyle team and all that stuff to get all that training and especially for aerials; you gotta go on a water ramp to do qualified tricks and it's a lot harder for kids to get into it.

So the freestyle aspect is now simply more accessible and therefore becoming even more commonplace?

Yes

Take us through the difference between the competition scene and the backcountry filming thing?

I like to do as much as I can. I'm having so much fun skiing park and competing, that's what I'm doing this year. I'd like to get into the backcountry of course. If it snows a bunch of powder I won't be in the park, I'll be skiing the powder.

Who doesn't love a little celebration?

What are some of your favorite destinations for pow skiing?

Whisltler-Blackcomb just cus it's my home mountain and it had some pretty epic powder days when they had there record-setting November snowfall. But other than that some of the best I've ever skied was in Japan - just right off the lifts, just untouched, almost blower pow, so that was pretty awesome. Also in Europe it can be pretty awesome Chamonix area, the Alps, anywhere in there. I've got a couple favorites, but Whistler is definitely my number one resort.

How do you think the Olympics this year in 2010 is impacting the scene in Whistler and BC and Canadian skiing in general?

Well there's a lot more construction and it's harder to park but everyone that lives there it still hasn't really changed their skiing at all. I'm sure this year in February it's gonna be super hectic but it's gonna be a good time. I don't think it's gonna do anything bad for the towns, just bring more exposure and more people there but I think Whistler's got a ton of terrain and I think they can it.

Are you gonna be watching any of the events or paying attention?

I might make it out for part of it but it is going to be a bit of a pain. I live in Squamish and you have to drive up to Whistler and the road's kinda semi-closed, so I don't know how much time I'll be up there at the Olympics to watch. I'd definitely like to go and cheer on some of my friends on the moguls and aerials, and Josh Dueck a good buddy of mine, he's doin the para-Olympic downhill and he's a medal favorite so I'd really like to go watch. That's a break in my comp schedule and I'd want to get into the pow and maybe do some sleddin or some filming, too. So as long as it fits in my schedule I'll be there to cheer on some guys on for sure.

Mike ruling the podium - ski superpipe final - along
with Xavier Bertoni and Josiah Wells.

Are you going to be filming with a particular crew this year?

Yeah, a whole bunch with Level One and also with the guys from Voleurz that are Vancouver whistler based

How's is it working with Josh Berman and Freedle Cody and those guys?

Yah those guys are really good. There's no world cup this year for skier pipe so it gives us a lot more openings to film. Also the guys form Voleurz are getting a lot bigger. They make clothes but their movies are online for free downloads, so hopefully I'll get enough time to film with both of those guys

So this weekend is the Dew Tour again, you were in Breck - how are you feeling about this weekend and competing again with Dumont, Bertoni, Rolland et. al.?

I feel really good going in. I've got a run I want to do in my head so I'll work towards that and if I do it I'll be competitive. The thing is everyone there can kill it all those guys: Josiah, Simon, Kevin, Xav, Dorie - really anyone that makes it to finals has a shot to win on any given day.

What about just the general level of pipe skiing? The double flips and the amplitude is just going off. Where do you see it going from here?

Well I think it's gonna copy snowboarding a bit, we're gonna get more off-axis doubles rather then just the straight over double flip. I know I'd like to work on some double corks and some switch doubles, so it's just waiting for the right time to get that opportunity to hit either a really soft perfect pipe or a foam pit or an airbag, which I know both the Frenchies use and Josiah and all those guys have gotten to hit. It's a little bit unfair that not all of us do, but if you got the chance to do it, take it, so I think that's where it's gonna go, to more different doubles with better grabs and even un-natural doubles

This weekend is the second Dew Tour stop of three, Mount Snow is in Vermont and of course the X Games are upcoming; who's helping you get around to all these places ?

Dynastar, Smith, Rockstar, Booster Strap, Dakine, Skull Candy and Swix are helping me out and hopefully I can get some results for them.

Fore more on Mike Riddle be sure to tune into the Dew Tour on NBC and USA this weekend or check out Mike-Riddle.com