By Dave Cashen

October 1, 1998

What do you think about when you hear the name Devun Walsh? I think about this kid I met five years ago at Bear Mountain with silly braces, baggy pants, and an ability to go huge. The big frontside 360 tailgrab he did over the infamous Bear Mountain death gap will always stick in my head.

A lot of people think that snowboarders are some crazy Generation X kids who believe they have nine lives. True, some of them do. But every once in a while you come across an individual who makes you smile no matter what they say or do. Devun is one of those guys. Not only is he one of the best snowboarders in the world, but his passion for the industry is equal to his snowboarding ability. It's great to see Devun progress the way he has while so many riders in his position burn out. When the Snowboarding Hall Of Fame is finally formed, he will have earned his place with the likes of Craig Kelly, Terje, Jamie Lynn, and Peter Line. If you read one interview in your life, read this one.

-T. Wood

Dev, go ahead, state your age and full name.

I'm 22. I'm Devun Roh Walsh.

Where'd you grow up?

I grew up at 100-Mile House in B.C. 'til I was like nine. Then I moved even farther up north in Canada, way up there to Chetwyn, then Prince George, then moved out East to Ontario, and then Vancouver.

What made you go to Vancouver?

My stepdad. I followed my dad around to all his numerous jobs in the sawmills.

Who were the guys you got stoked on when you were younger, when you first got into it?

Sluggo, Morri [Marc Morisset], always the whole Mack Dawg revolution with the Joyride team and all that.

How long have you been snowboarding?

Like six years, seven.

Skateboarding?

Long-ten, maybe twelve years.

Why'd you first start snowboarding? Who got you into it?

Because I was skateboarding and I needed something to do in the winter in Canada, instead of skiing. I thought that snowboarding was kind of like skateboarding, so I might as well go up and try it.

Do you know all the same people now that you knew back then?

When I first started?

Like [Sean] Johnson and Dionne [Delasalle]?

No. When I first started I hung out with my friends John Harris and Alex, who I still hang out with quite a bit. I didn't actually meet Johnson or Dionne, or a lot of people, until a couple years into snowboarding.

Are you more into style or the difficulty of the trick?

More the style. I'm sure I could do a lot more tricks than I do, but I don't want to do it unless it looks right. Like a 900-anyone can do [a] standing-up ballerina, but who can do it with style and in control the whole way, not laid back when they land it? I really feel that style is the most important thing. Not doing the newest trick, but doing it your way-your style, and doing it because you think it would look good doing it the way you do it.

So you'd be hesitant to do a trick because it would conflict with your style?

Definitely. I just don't do everything, 'cause some stuff I just don't think looks right. I might look like a wiener doing it compared to someone else.

What do you think about all the rodeos, heelside rodeos, 900 rolls, all that kind of stuff?

Those kind of tricks, everyone does them different. Everyone who does it, it's a different trick for them. Most [of the tricks] are fun and easy. I've been doing them for a while. It's mellow, I'm kind of over it.

What's your favorite snowboard trick-one that every time you do it, you love it?

Ollieing is the best.

As long as you don't shifty, though?

Yeah. It's hard not to.

What about skateboarding?

Three-sixty flips-that's the most gratifying to do because your boards flips and spins. It's got to be popped and caught, too.

What do you usually skate?

Street. I try to skate street, but I usually end up in parks, 'cause it's the easiest thing to do. We have tons of them.

Who is your favorite skater?

Depends-Josh Kalis, Drake Jones and Rick McCrank have super sick style.

You said you had some things you wanted to talk about, about the industry. What's on your mind?

There're numerous things happening in the industry.

Obviously the most noticeable thing is that a lot of companies are going under. Why do you think that is?

I think that there is a big demand for snowboards out there, definitely, but I think only a few companies are really doing it correctly-in the way they are coming across to the public. Then there are people who are going for the quality, and they are doing fine because they have a quality product, but they usually have no team and are not willing to put their money into stuff where they really promote to the public. They just show that their boards are really good. And then there are companies that have crappy boards and crappy teams. I don't feel that they [the companies] are doing that well or are very smart about it.

If somebody has a super good team, it's going to sell product.

Well, that's the main key: selling product through the riders. I see riders as the most important sales point. I wonder how many other companies see that?

For example, when you first started riding for Shorty's, you guys had one of the sickest teams-what do you think happened?

What happened to the company?

Well, what made you want to leave Shorty's?

Basically [Shorty's is] just skateboard oriented. They are really heavy into skateboarding, as everyone knows, and they really needed to concentrate on skateboarding. They really didn't need to do anything to sell it because they had been so strong from years past. But in snowboarding they actually had to work a little bit. It's not cheap to make a snowboard. It's not like making some T-shirts and some bolts, you know. So, [we] used a lot of money getting our boards made-they were really good boards, but kind of pricey. We couldn't hang on, I guess.

Then you decided to ride for Forum?

I just saw the opportunity there. The whole team is so sick. My other team was good, but everybody wants to work so hard at Forum and make our company the best. Everybody at Shorty's was just happy to be snowboarding and going out and traveling and doing stuff. They didn't really want our company to excel.

What about Iris [goggle company]? Are they coming out with a video?

Yeah. With Shorty's I got to help edit our video, and at Iris we're making a movie for this September, which is going to be a pretty damn good video. I get to help out with it, too.

How'd you get started with Iris-who approached you on that?

Chris Brown and I were riding up a chairlift in Chile, and our goggles weren't working too good at the time. We both looked at each other and were like, "What the hell? Our goggles never work. Why can't somebody make a decent goggle?" Browner came up with the name Iris. We approached Shorty's but they weren't interested, so it [the idea] got batted around for like a year and half. I didn't see Browner too much but was talking with Rob Dow. He knew this guy at a sunglass company in Vancouver that we could talk to. We met up with Jack Wang and asked him if we could get a goggle company going. He said that he thought we could start it another way; we got some help from some people he knew and got it going.

Why do people call you The Anteater?

That's not an official nickname.

You said your middle name was Roh, but I remember something about Devun "The Anteater" Walsh.

Ohh ... no, it's just 'cause ...

So you had an accident when you were a child, and they nicknamed you The Anteater? Can you expand on that?

There was no accident. I just never got cropped when I was younger.

You mean circumcised?

Yeah.

You call it cropped. I call it circumcised. You call it banana peel, I call it anteater. Whatever.

It is better in some senses. It is 38 times more sensitive than if you get circumcised, so I believe I have the advantage!

Do you ever read interviews?

Yeah I do.

Whose is your favorite?

Actually ... no, not really.

Can you read?

Yeah.

How would you like to see the snowboard industry go-how would you like to see it turn out in the next couple of years?

I'd definitely like to see more of the companies weeded out that are just trying to make it [money]. [We need] companies that have been there and are run by people who snowboard, not company execs. People who actually know what's happening, instead of someone that thinks, "This is the new thing-let's do it."

You've had a lot of friends in the past year who've lost their sponsorships?

Yeah, tons of them. I'm not happy about it. It's weird. It's kind of shocking how so many companies are breaking off their team saying they can't afford guys anymore.

When you first get into snowboarding with all your friends, everybody gets sponsored. You have a really good time going through the different levels, and then when people lose their sponsorships, you don't get to hang out with them as much.

No you don't. You don't get to go on trips [together], because there is no one to fund their trips. It's weird. A lot of people out there are sponsored and don't work. But still the company is draining money, putting it into this rider. That is what is really disappointing-someone who has it in the palm of their hand and just says, "Hey, here it is, I got it, I'm making money," but they're not riding.

It takes away from people who really want to ride.

I've been out there snowboarding and seen so many kids I've never heard of or seen sponsored or anything who are amazing-going off. I'm thinking, "Holy cow, where did this kid come from? He's insane." Everywhere I go, I see kids like that. There is definitely a future, and I wish there were enough companies to go around.

You've seen a lot of people in that position who were able to rip it up in the beginning and then just dropped off when they got a little fame. That sucks. We won't mention any names, but ...

I know, it's horrible.

What's wrong with you? Why aren't you snowboarding right now?

I injured my foot, like halfway through March. There is actually a crack in the bone. I found out two weeks ago, after having numerous X-rays and finding nothing wrong. Finally I had a CAT scan, and there is actually a crack in one of the bones. So I'm letting it heal.

Have you been hurt before?

Yeah, I have had a couple of injuries, but nothing major. Strained a ligament in my knee before, blew out my shoulder pretty much.

Who do you think is up and coming?

Every kid I see out there is ripping. There are so many.

What's you're favorite thing about being you?

My family. My mom comes over all the time and hangs out. I go and golf with my stepdad Gerry all the time. My girlfriend Radana is a huge bonus. She takes care of me and keeps me in line. I love her.

They're 100 percent behind what you are doing?

Hell yes.

Do they snowboard?

One-hundred percent. My mom was kind of into it a little bit last year, then this year she went over fifteen times and picked it up so hard. My dad went so much last year, too. It's insane how good they've gotten at it. They charge on snowboards. After my mom went like ten times, she called me up and said, "You know what? I can snowboard now!" She was freakin' out. Now all she wants to do is snowboard during the winter.

What do you think your parents would have been like if they had tried snowboarding when they grew up?

I don't know. It would have been insane for me growing up. Instead of skiing I would have been snowboarding. I think my parents would be the same people they are today. We always skied, but I really don't think that there is any difference in attitude between a hardcore skier and a hardcore snowboarder. I talked all this shit about ski companies, but a lot of people I respect are hardcore skiers at the same time. If you are hardcore at skiing or snowboarding, it's the same shit. Skiing is a much harder sport, I think.

Why do you think it's a harder sport? Do you mean it's harder to be successful at it?

I don't know if you've ever done it, but it's way harder-way more technical. I skied for years before I snowboarded. You could be the best skier on Earth in the hardpack and hit powder and you're on a whole new level. It's a lifetime sport, whereas snowboarding is easy to pick up and do. There are a lot of kids out there who dis on skiing, and they don't know 'cause they've never really tried it. It's interesting.

Would you ever consider riding for a ski company?

No.

Why?

I'm not interested in that. I don't care about the big money really, not that I'm doing horribly. I'm just saying, big money to ride something that isn't really true isn't right.

In other words, if Joe Schmoe came up to you and said, "Hey, I'm from Joe Schmoe skis, and we'll give you a million dollars a year-all you have to do is ride for us," you'd tell them no?

I think so. The ski companies, they are coming in and offering so many people all this money just to buy up all the best riders-it doesn't seem right.

And they really don't care about the sport?

They don't. They don't care about the process of it. They just see it making money.

So a ski company starting a snowboarding company would be like a Rollerblading [in-line skates] company starting a skateboarding company? You put it in those terms, and it's really simple.

Exactly.

But they do know the technology.

They know how to make quality skis. I don't argue with that. But, morally, they shouldn't be in snowboarding. I don't know about all of them. One or two make decent boards, [but] I know some of them don't. They were the ones that objected to snowboarding when it was beginning.

But you have a lot of respect for the guys who are the hardcore skiers?

Yeah, I do. One of my best friends, Dionne, his brother Matt, and his friends are amazing skiers. Amazing. They hit all our jumps and pull the biggest stunts.

So you think the hardcore skiers are rad, but the ski companies are ...

That's the thing. It's the ski companies that are trying to jump on snowboarding. They should just stick to their own shit. They have dissed snowboarding for so damn long, saying, "don't allow them on the hills, don't let them do this." Now [that snowboarding is making money] boom! It's bullshit.

You're not allowed to say shit-this is a TransWorld interview.

Are you serious?

So what do you want to do after snowboarding, Devun?

Uhhh, you mean I can't snowboard forever? No, I don't know.

Just live for the day?

Just wait and see what happens. I don't have any future plans yet.

Shout outs?

I would just like to thank everyone who has helped me along my way in life: my mom and dad, my stepdad Gerry, who had some big shoes to fill; my babe Radana (the best); all my sponsors and friends; Raul, Steve, and Travis at Forum and Special Blend (everyone else there rocks too); Markus and Ken at DC shoes; Randy, Adell, and Stoue at Division Skate and Snow in Vancouver; Dave and Brian at Duratech; Jack, Russel, and Roger at Tech 58; Jaime at ASS Industries; everyone at Iris (Jack, Cathee, Jacob "Killa Shippa" McIntyre, Carl "Mad Packa" Fury, and Jason)-I love you guys for putting up with me every day; Kevin at Bakoda. Also thanks to everyone else along the way who has helped me: Dave Suzuki, Sean Brennan, Jay Guudzik, Chip and Marco, Randy Friesen, Jon B., Morri, Sluggo, Johnson and Kearns, Mouse, Scott S., Derek K., Dano, Jody M., Dogger and anyone else I've shot with, Heine, Ross Steffey, John B., Tony and Ape at Shorty's, everyone at Option, Roberta (for always being a friend), Rob Dow, Whitey, Murray S., Garret, Brad McGregor, Seymour Kids, RC Clan, Mice and all other cliques, and Vinnie, Shane, and Alex from Ezekiel. Thanks also to the new Forum team-everyone best watch out 'cause we will take over. Hope I didn't miss anyone, sorry if I did.