Mike Nick is to the sport of freeskiing as NWA was to gangsta rap. He’s been there since the beginning. Over the past two decades, Nick has won X Games medals, starred in ski flicks, started his own business and served as co-owner of Orage. He’s seen all there is to see in the ski industry. Recently, Nick announced that he was stepping away from Orage to pursue other interests. The New York-native took some time to talk to us about his past accomplishments, present endeavors and future plans.

Nick says:

My favorite skiing memory comes down to a few that rank equally on the list. My first cab 9 on skis during the 2001 X Games in front of a hometown crowd at Mount Snow, VT is one. There’s a whole backstory about how that day ultimately turned out. Someday it will be one of those personal defining moments/inspirational speeches that I pass along to my boys and the grandkids when they need some motivation to just go for it.

[I also went] headlamp skiing under a full moon at Retallack Lodge, a life-altering experience.

Additionally, one day when I was skiing with my kids, I turned around, expecting my boys to be half way up the mountain playing catch up, but they were actually right behind me. The kids can shred now, it’s awesome.

Then, there are the good old days when J Lev [Jason Levinthal] and I would ski switch all day trying to learn and ultimately figure out the “proper scissor stance” to ski the “wrong way.” We took pride in never doing the “ass out” switch snowplow and made sure we carved real turns with tips facing uphill.

Some of the gnarliest ski stunts I remember seeing come from a session that went down way back in the day at Mt Hood. Jon Olsson was sessioning one of the early 100 foot gap jumps and Mike Wilson decided to step up to the plate. I believe some of it was documented in a film but I don’t remember which one. It was pretty awesome to see Mike step up and throw down the way he did at such a young age. And for those of you who need a history lesson in doubles, Wilson was one of the first originators.

The Liu-Kang grab became to me what the tongue out, legs spread dunk was to Michael Jordan. I’m not sure how, but I was unofficially crowned “King of the Kang.” [That was] most likely because I used to do them all day and preached the proper technique whenever I saw them being performed improperly—I was the “Liu Kang Policeman,” I suppose. A true Liu Kang is not just a safety grab with one leg slumped beneath you — you had to cork it out so your leg was pointing to the sky, or at least horizontal. I’ll never forget my first misty 5 Liu Kang at the old sand pit jump we built up at Jay Peak, VT way back in ’97.

Additionally, my favorite Kanger nowadays is Phil Casabon. He grabs opposite his rotation and styles them out big time.

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