Published in Whitelines Magazine Issue 95, February 2011
Devun Walsh is wiser than Gandalf the Grey, Aslan, and Professor Dumbledore put together. Seriously, what this dude doesn’t know about snowboarding simply isn’t worth knowing. This month, he’s returning to the pages of Whitelines once again to put your minds at rest and answer your questions.
Hey Devun. There was a video on the Whitelines website recently of you and Iikka in St Moritz. Do you come over to Europe often? Where else in Europe have you visited? Ellie Lloyd
Hey Ellie – I came over again that same year and went to Lech, Austria with the whole DC team. Amazing trip. Après ski was awesome… We are coming back this season – not sure where we’re going but shit, I can’t freaking wait!
Hi Devun. I didn’t start snowboarding ‘til I was 20and I’m 30 now. If I was a pro I’d be considered ‘over it’, but I still feel like I’m improving every year. Watching people like Romain de Marchi and DCP this year, they look like they’re getting better all the time, but they both got dropped by Burton. It seems to me experience plays a massive role in how good you are, especially if you’re riding powder, so why are there not more older pro-riders? Do you think the industry is too obsessed with youth? Or is there a genuine reason (like in football – I mean soccer) that older riders are not as good as younger ones? Richard Evans
Rich, dude your telling me! I know I was wondering the same thing, where are all the old dudes? I feel much too young to get out yet. I feel that I’m like a fine wine, I get better with age haha! Definitely the youth of today are dominating the competition side, just cause they have no fear and are willing to go all in. But riding pow is a whole different animal, I feel like you can keep doing it for many years. Here’s to shredding pow into our 60’s!
Jibbing’s such a major part of snowboarding and snowboard movies these days, especially with younger riders. Do you think powder and natural terrain riding is going out of fashion? Dean Bryant
Dean – Hmmmm, let me think about that one…ummmmmm, NO!!
Alright Devun? Here’s my question: When you’re hitting cliff drops or powder kickers do you spend time probing the landing to test the depth? Adrian Gormley
Adrian – I don’t know where you’re from, but where I live it is usually so deep that you have no worries about hitting anything. If you are ever unsure about depth, it is way better to probe your landing to be on the safe side.
Devun, I’ve been saving for a while and I’ve now got£2,000 burning a hole in my pocket – where should I go, Alaska or Japan? Dan Cohen
Dan – Japan is soooooo expensive and Alaska is not. I would go all in, in Alaska!
Got a question for Devun?
Email [email protected]
Devun Walsh is a genuine snowboarding legend. Hailing from the west coast of Canada, he first rose to fame in the 1990s as a founding member of the Forum team. With his uncanny ability to soak up heavy landings, Devun’s backcountry prowess is un paralleled, throwing down super smooth freestyle tricks in powder. These days he is still charging hard for DC snowboards, in between sharing two decades of accumulated riding wisdom with the Whitelines readers.
