p. Scott Serfas/Red Bull Content Pool
£ Kelly riding MTB
Slopestyle at the Red
Bull Joyride in Whistler,
Canada 2014
C
heers for the chat,
McGazza. After a
frantic 2014 season it
must feel pretty good
to be home and have some
downtime.
Yeah, bro, it’s so good coming
home. I bought a house in
Queenstown only four days before
I left for the Northern Hemisphere
summer and my girlfriend Sammy
and I moved in when I got home.
It’s choice and so nice to have
a place to call my home. I used
to come home from travelling
and I’d still be living out of a
suitcase on someone’s couch
while I found somewhere to rent
and I never really felt settled. It’s
the best feeling to be able to put
some roots down and unpack
everything as soon as I walk
through the door.
I can imagine. So how did you
get into riding in the first place?
I started riding BMX when I was
11 or 12 and raced some moto
94 | FreestyleXtreme.com
at the same time. When dad said
he couldn’t afford motos, I got a
mountain bike as it was basically
a moto without an engine. I
started doing tricks that I’d learnt
from BMX and entered a few DH
and 4X races. I was still obsessed
with riding my BMX, but I was
ginormous on it. When I first
started riding I was kinda short,
but I just grew into this monstrous
bloke! I still wanted to ride and
not play basketball, and I found
the MTB was more comfortable
and roomier to ride.
When did you turn ‘pro’ as
such?
I guess it was around 2007. I
went to Whistler in Canada for
their summer in 2006 after I did
my carpentry trade in Nelson
(New Zealand). I ended up riding
Crankworx on my DH bike and
made the final somehow. I got
18th and after that I started going
to more comps and doing OK
at them. I probably didn’t start
earning money from riding until
about 2009.
Now I’m 32 and I’m still hucking
off cliffs; maybe I need to start
playing golf or collecting stamps
or something!
Hahaha. When was the last time
you experienced a winter?
About the same time, back in
2006, so I’ve lived through 16
consecutive summers. I like to
snowboard and stuff and it’d be
nice to experience another winter,
but that’s the way it’s worked out
and it’s far better to travel up to
the Northern Hemisphere and ride
their summer instead of trying
to stay based in New Zealand.
I usually live in Whistler for their
summer, b ut this year I was only
there for two-and-a-half weeks all
up; I was so busy travelling and
riding.