JP WALKER
“To this day, the best trick I have ever seen was JP’s 180 to switch nosepress on a flat rail in Mack Dawg’s Decade,” states SNOWBOARDER associate editor Joe Prebich. “The song, the part, the trick…everything fit, and I wanted it all. I spent hours playing and replaying that part. I bought the goggles and the board and the jacket; I had everything I needed but the trick.”
Home Mountain: Brighton UT, Big Bear CA
Sponsors: Oakley, Nixon, MiloSport
Board: ??????
Regular or Goofy: Regular
Boot: ???????
Binding: ??????
Career Video Credits: Mainstream, Warriors, Kingpin Chronicles, Gas Money, Simple Pleasures, Decade, Technical Difficulties, Resistance, True Life, Nixon Jibfest, Shakedown, Chulsmack, That.
Career Contest Results: 1st Place MTY (???) Triple Big Air, 2nd Place Nixon Jibfest (three years in a row), Somewhere in the top 8 at a couple X Games.
Who do you feel is the most influential rider of the last 20 years? Why?
Peter Line. Well I know he heavily influenced me and my friends. Mitch Nelson and I lived in this tiny room together when we were comin up and we had this thing on the wall with all kinds of photos and ads of Peter. We called it the Line Shrine. He was one of the first dudes that really started to take freestyle riding to the backcountry terrain and just stomp stuff. Big stuff. Before that it was okay for people to ride away in powder dragging their whole body. He was the first snowboarder to be an X Games icon, winning slopestyles and big airs. He filmed lots of video parts and he invented a couple new tricks. He held it down for a long time.
When did you start riding?
93ish?
What was the highlight of your career?
When my career is over ask me.
Most memorable session?
Filming in the public city park in Stockholm, Sweden for THAT was good. But I think that any pow session with my homies with no cameras is the best.
When did you realize that snowboarding wasn’t just a fad?
I never thought that is was a fad. I never cared what other people thought about it. I just knew that it was what I wanted to do.
What is your take on snowboarding and how far it has come? Did you ever think it would progress to the level it has?
I think its amazing. I never really had envisioned a limit as to how far I thought it would go, and I still don’t. I think the possibilities are endless.
Where are your favorite places to snowboard?
My home in Utah, Brighton. It will always be the best because all my friends ride there and its where I learned a lot. Away from home, I like Big Bear, CA for fun slushy park days and Whistler, BC for deep pow and large backcountry jumps.
Which photographers captured your riding best?
Rob Mathis. He was the first guy I ever shot with. In fact he is the first person that I ever did any kind of snowboarding “work” with. He was there shooting with me and Jeremy when we started to get down with heavy rails, and the whole street rail progression. I think because of our long history he has captured my riding best.
Favorite filmmaker to work with?
Sean Kearns. Its kinda the same thing. I have been working with him since 97-98ish, so a long time. He knows what kind of stuff I like to film and he is on the same page as me when it comes to knowing what is legit and how to make it happen. You have to build a trust with these photogs and filmers. You have to have confidence in them. You can’t second-guess the guy holding the camera when you are about to do something gnarly.
Which product innovation had the largest impact on our sport?
Bindings.
Are the values that our sport was founded on still apparent in the riders today?
I don’t think its as apparent but I think the values are mostly there. There is a lot of commercialism and exploitation but that’s what happens as snowboarding grows. There are still riders that are core that just want to ride and progress.
What do you feel is your legacy in the snowboard world?
Come on man, these type of questions are impossible for me to answer. I just hope I have one. Let the people and fans speak on it.
If you could change one thing about snowboarding today what would it be?
That it would snow like it used too.
Who is the unsung hero of snowboarding that people should celebrate?
The kids that work all summer and eat Ramen noodles all winter just so they can afford to ride everyday all day, without interruption. They are the ones keeping snowboarding hardcore. All my friends and I used be like that and we had some of the best days ever because of it. Never forget.
What has snowboarding taught you?
Everything man. Lots about people and places. I think the main thing is that if you want something you have to work hard for it. Snowboarding sounds like a dream job and it is, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t hard work.
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