We’ve all heard of the snowboarders’ snowboarder. A rider that not only has the respect of their peers, but is someone we all root for and want to ride with. There really isn’t a higher title in snowboarding, and yet, Mikey Ciccarelli seemingly holds court above the moniker. He is doing it all for the right reasons, his alter ego on a karaoke mic is legendary, and his riding isn’t hard to watch either. Anytime you bring up his name, people light up. He loves snowboarding so much, that instead of a honeymoon trip after his wedding, he flew out of the country to go meet up with fellow pros Brock Crouch and Red Gerard… in the middle of the summer. And not that it is any of our business, but don’t worry, his wife Emma was on board. They have known each other since they where eight.

The 30-year-old hails from Ancaster, Ontario (that little slice of land between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario to the west of Niagara Falls) but was adopted by the Whistler, BC scene at the age of 18. Mikey honed his edge control on the contest circuit, with podiums in each discipline, before stepping away a few seasons ago to spend more time filming around Whistler and beyond. That move paid off with parts in Torstein Horgmo’s Return, The King Snow Movie, Danny Davis’ Ark, Burton’s The Sun Came Out & Paved, Megafauna’s Realm, and Rockstar’s Carpe Diem over five winters. Oh, and Mikey won the Natural Selection Tour against the world’s best backcountry riders in that span as well. He has obviously been busy, but never too busy for a chat. After linking up with Torstein Horgmo again this past winter for their new project, we caught up with one of our favorite Canadians while he was volunteering on a golf course so he could play free rounds. Enjoy. – Mark Clavin

In over a decade of doing this, you might be the first rider to not only call me, but to call right on time.

I love that. I like to be punctual, you know. 

I was still getting ready with questions. You have the best explanation for landing in powder I have ever heard. Want to put it down in print?

I appreciate that! I’m sure there are different ways to land in powder, but from my experience, it is all about when the board bottoms out. It has kind of gotten passed down and is a talked about technique in Whistler. That’s the cool thing about riding pow, every day the density or that push level is always different, so you figure out where that is and you gotta be pretty, not tall, but knees bent just a bit. I call it a double land if you try to brace for when your board touches fresh snow. Arthur Longo is so good at it—he stays so stacked over his board and just lets it do its thing. 

When did you move out to Whistler? 

I moved out here when I was 18.

And how did this winter stack up?
People weren’t too hyped on the winter in Whistler, but I thought we had a great one, lots of good days… you just had to wait for them. That is kind of the lucky part of being a professional, we can wait.

You worked with Torstein Horgmo again this year?

Yeah, this will be the third project we’ve done. Got some heli days, did some sled days. We where in Whistler for a bit, Trout Lake, and Pemberton. He’s a creative mastermind—so good at knowing when to push and not to push. When I am lucky enough to be with him, I just say tell me what to do, you have the vision. He’s really almost like a Jedi. 

And you also signed with Smith?
Yeah, I was really thankful for Ashbury supporting me the last few years, right there in Squamish, I’ve always been looking for a company that had helmets, as well as goggles that were very high performance, so it worked out well. I’ve definitely been running helmets more than I did in the past. 

Why is that?
I mean, it makes sense to wear a helmet. Certain features with a solid jump and powder landing I won’t…but heavily treed and bigger stuff? I throw it on. On the resort too now, they are so light that I don’t really notice that it is there. 

Coming from a hockey family, does the helmet give you a little more credibility that it is a sport?
Haha, yeah, not just doing it in a toque. But no, they have always been supportive. But I swear my mom is probably the most proud, not of any of my snowboard accolades, but probably graduating high school.

What is the story there?
I was doing online school and I was on the honor roll. But I had an English course to finish when I moved out to Whistler. It was one course, and it took me five years. I graduated high school at 24.

You’ve talked about it publicly before, but you also lost your dad at around high school?
Yeah, right before I moved out to Whistler too. He had leukemia and fought it hard for 10 years. My dad was my super fan and the life of the party. I feel like he was always watching my videos, hyping me up. I get my rowdy energy from him. Everyone has their purpose, and I felt like my purpose changed a little bit after he passed. It was a crazy period. In a weird way, I just took all the sadness and pain and put it into snowboarding, because I was just like, I’m doing it for him, felt like I had a bigger vision.

What do you view as your biggest accomplishment in snowboarding so far?
I think Natural Selection was insane for sure, I felt like okay, I’m here now, and I’ll stay. I get to do this, you know? 

It really doesn’t feel like you left competitive snowboarding, besides Natural Selection, that long ago.
It’s funny you say that. It doesn’t, but it’s been six years since I left the national team. I thought it was all going to end after I quit competing, likethat’s where the value of my snowboarding was, but I think that’s what I’m realizing now. You can bring more value outside of that, and have a lot of fun. The whole point of why we get paid to be snowboarders is to inspire other people to go snowboarding, you know? And I’m still just trying to improve on my snowboard, which is really fun.

Is it harder to make a living outside of the contest world?
It feels like even for the younger generation, the guys and girls that can ride powder, and maybe they’re still competing, but it is switching. Maybe NST coming in, the next generation is kind of looking at that with a new light on riding pow. I think you can be just as successful filming video parts. But I think maybe when I was coming up, it wasn’t that case. That’s the beauty of social media, you can be anywhere, and if you’re putting stuff out that’s catching the right eyes, people are gonna react and be interested.

You post a lot of side hits on Instagram. When does a side hit become a main hit?
Ooh, that’s good — I feel like when you’re going more than like 40 feet.

How many times have you gone bigger on a side hit in a resort than a feature in the park?
Hahah a lot of times, for sure. They are great practice between film days. I am obsessed with getting a bunch of days on my board. Some guys can just go and film, but that’s not me. I just go up and rip the resort and know if I just go double the distance on something like it in the backcountry, it will be a sick clip. 

Solid day on the resort or getting a middle clip filmed for your part? 

I thought you were going to say ender. Then I knew my answer. But a middle clip? I’d rather lap with three or four buddies—nothing beats that. 

Highlight of the season?
Our last film day of the season for sure. It was April with a mega Burton squad, like the whole crew. Did some laps in the morning and went to check a jump I hit with Mark Sollors back in February but didn’t land. It looked good so I ended up building it myself. Hit it once, and got the shot. Definitely the biggest jump I hit all winter and the whole crew was watching from the sidelines hyping me up.

Sounds like a combination of both. 

Exactly.