Profile

Mikey Rencz Stomps Twice

Mikey Rencz: Sunrise Cab 5 in the BC backcountry.
“Sunrise Cab 5 in the BC backcountry—pinch me. We pulled up to a massive prebuilt gap with Mike and crew. A quick speed check, and they were off. This session lasted all of 30 minutes, then we had coffee and donuts while reminiscing about a great morning in the backcountry… at 7:30 a.m.” Photo: Dean “Blotto” Gray
Words: Mikey Nixon

Mikey Rencz in a parking lot in BC’s Sea to Sky, prepping to hop on a sled and put his deep regional knowledge to work. Photo: Aaron Blatt

 

Head down, dragging my Noah Nub along the deck, I kicked steps toward the top of a hand-built half-pipe on Mount Norquay, AB. It was 1993, and I was on my way to an abysmal result in the Alberta Snowboarding Association’s first contest of the year. I’d just moved into a division where I had the honor of being trounced by Mike Michalchuk, Andrew Hardingham and dozens of other riders whose names have receded into the pre-internet darkness.

But I don’t need the internet to remember seeing a 9-year-old grom boosting airs like they’d been sent off the coping of a half-pipe that hadn’t been invented yet. “Who was that?” was the collective question among the ditch-dwellers. It was Mikey Rencz, born and raised a few minutes up the road in Canmore.

Back to Issue 24.1