In the world of snowboarding few individuals have made as big of an impact as Jussi Oksanen. The Finnish born, Southern California transplant is a living legend. Over the course of his 17 year professional career Jussi made an Olympic appearance in Nagano as a teenager, won seven X-Games medals, filmed countless iconic video parts—including three with Robot Food, arguably the single most influential film series in modern snowboarding history—and in 2008 co-founded Mizu, maker of BPA-free reusable stainless steel water bottles, mugs, cups, and more aimed at combating the consumption of single-use plastics.
Even after Mizu began to take shape Jussi continued to work his ass off snowboarding for six more seasons, traveling the world to get shots five days a week, then flying home to be with his wife and two kids on the weekends.
Only in 2014 did he finally “retire” from professional snowboarding. Though the move brought Jussi not to the golf course but a desk chair, as he now heads up Mizu’s marketing team, pushing the brand's ethos of living an adventurous lifestyle while leaving nothing behind. Assisting in this misison is Mizu's sister non-profit Protecting Where We Play, a foundation tasked with providing free-to-use water stations in mountain resorts, beaches, skate parks, and other recreation zones.
With so much to do we caught up with Jussi to learn more about his experience in snowboarding, co-founding Mizu, and what we can do ourselves to help curb the consumption. Read on to get informed.