History of Snowboarding online

Mike Ranquet

Mike recently made the move from the North West down to lovely Orange County. Aside from being a rich and famous super pro shredder, Mike is also heading up Electric Visuals Snow and Music Marketing division.

Denver, CO – Pioneer pro rider and all-around badass Mike Ranquet will receive TransWorld SNOWboarding’s Legend Award at the 12th Annual Riders’ Poll Awards Show, joining the ranks of snowboarding’s most influential people. As one of the early pros from the Pacific Northwest, Ranquet’s Mt. Baker-bred, skate-style shredding captured the look and feel of snowboarding’s rapid evolution. Under the tutelage of legend (and former Legend Award winner) Craig Kelly, Ranquet ripped his way into seminal movies and magazines as freestyle riding exploded in the late 1980s. Into the ’90s, Ranquet was influential, pushing the progression of freestyle and freeriding around the world while helping cement the mystique of the Mt. Baker scene. He rode pro model boards for G&S and Lamar and spun tricks in movies like Roadkill and Creatures Of Habit. He is currently the subject of the VBS.TV series Powder & Rails, where riders like Haakonsen and Jamie Lynn declare Mike’s influence. The enigmatic Ranquet has continued riding all through the years yet maintains his infamy by being spotted only at places like Tahoe, Baldface, or Baker. Join us in celebrating Mike Ranquet’s profound radness with this prestigious award.

VBS catches up with Mike Ranquet in Chicago after post-hip replacement surgery at Northwestern. Mike’s hip (only age 39) had deteriorated so badly that the doctors were shocked he could walk through the door. Ranquet gets to talking about why snowboard halfpipes sucked so much back in the day: apparently the midgets were to blame. We also find out that Mike, in the early 90’s, had the most significant vert ramp in the Seattle area, coined “The Nature Ramp” due to it’s proximity to the woods and commune-like atmosphere. There, Mike leads a one-man crusade of skateboard snobbery against all whack, non-skate related moves in snowboarding. Ranquet’s old Seattle buddies chime in, saying that teenaged Mike was basically like Bobby Budnick from “Salute Your Shorts”—a relentless troublemaker.

Powder & Rails Mike Ranquet 1/4.

Powder & Rails Mike Ranquet 2/4.

Powder & Rails Mike Ranquet 3/4.

Powder & Rails Mike Ranquet 4/4.