As the son of a 1970s freestyler, it’s pretty easy to figure out why Mike Riddle is as good as he is. When some of your earliest memories are family ski trips to local resorts, a career as a professional skier isn’t much of a stretch.

He got his start in racing, but Riddle quickly moved to freestyle, then moguls, then aerials, then some acrobatic skiing until he finally started hitting jumps and rails. When halfpipes started to crop up at his home resorts, Riddle switched focus to pipe and a star was born.

As part of the Canadian Halfpipe Team along with top skiers Matt Margetts, Sarah Burke and Justin Dorey, Riddle started competing on the professional circuit when he was 20. In part because of his background in every style of skiing known to man, Riddle quickly made a name for himself with his style and ability to make the most difficult trick look easy.

Riddle moved from his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta to Squamish, British Columbia to join his teammates on the Canadian Halfpipe Team. He began picking up podium finishes at the US Open, World Superpipe Championships and the European Open. He took fourth at both the X Games highest air and X Games Europe superpipe. Wise competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he won silver in the inaugural freeski halfpipe competition.