From the outside looking in, all is well in the life of JP Walker. An illustrious career, an immaculate social media presence, respectable sponsors, a lifestyle bookended with good surf and deep pow. The quintessential pro snowboarder. For 20 years, JP has been living the dream. Well, the one that he wants you to see. The man that helped shape snowboarding as we know it, who can claim 20 video parts, and who is one of the most successful pro riders ever, has creeping doubt that all but consumed him and started a spiral that sent him into the depths of his mind.
On December 23rd, 2013, JP broke the navicular bone and tore the spring ligament in his right foot, which basically removed all support in the arch of that foot. While injury may be nothing new to JP, this one was different. It cracked his foundation. You see, there’s more to JP than “The Don.” There’s more than chains, slang, and the man you see on screen. Beneath his carefully managed image is vulnerability that anyone can experience after trauma, especially if it’s something that can completely alter life’s path. This injury was about more than snowboarding. It was existential.
But the very thing he began to question is what got him through years of criticism and flux. He is determined to always be JP Walker, the snowboarder, no matter what. To him, this life is everything. Age and injury can never take away what JP has done for this simple sport that we all love, and there is no doubt that he will be here for many years to come.
All photography by Rob Mathis, Pasi Salminen, Ville Vappula, Blair McKinney, and Jeremy Jones.