Renaissance Man
By Chelsea Johns


Name: Ian Walsh   
Age: 24
Hometown:  Ku‘au
Homebreak: Ho‘okipa
Sponsors: O’Neill, Red Bull, Boost Mobile, DAKINE, Hi-tech, Gravis, go211.com, …Lost, HGA, Vertra


Ian Walsh is a perfectionist or, at least, an overachiever.  How many professional surfers do you know that, while nurturing their budding professional surfing careers, graduated as valedictorian of their high school? While Ian surely would have succeeded in the pursuit of academics, his true calling is clearly in the green room. He has brought his enthusiastic attitude to an industry characterized by a lackadaisical mentality and is shining bright. From his latest dual nomination at the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards for both Ride of the Year and Monster Tube Photo, the result of his big wave exploits at Teahupo‘o last fall that landed him on multiple magazine covers, including Transworld Surf, to his 2004 Billabong XXL runner-up finish on a 68-foot Jaws monster, you’d think his bag of tricks was limited to the tow-in arena. But Walsh excels in all conditions and is a competitive threat on his home turf, sporting the results to prove it: a 2003 Sunset Beach Xcel finals finish and 2005 Xcel win, a finals finish in the Monster Energy Pipeline Pro in 2006 and the honor of being named one of the 20 greatest athletes in adventure sports by Outside Magazine. On top of all that, for the last five years he’s held his own Maui contest, Menehune Mayhem presented by O’Neill. Ian’s list of accomplishments increases exponentially with the passing seasons, all while juggling the logistics of building his first home.

“Walshy” might be most renowned for going head to head with the heaviest waves on earth, but he’s equally proficient in every area of the sport: his progressive aerial attack, barrel riding, competitive capacity and free surfing repertoire are hard to beat. Not to mention, he’s an avid snowboarder. Developing all of his abilities as fully as possible, Ian is surfing’s renaissance man.

The first of four sons born to Peter and Kitty Walsh, Ian grew up in Ku‘au, on the north shore of Maui. He began honing his skills on Pavils’ windy reef at Ho‘okipa Beach Park. Pe‘ahi, also known as Jaws, was just down the bluff from their abode, but it wasn’t until Walsh was a teenager that he tried his hand at riding the behemoth break, coincidentally the same time the media and the professional big wave community descended upon the now infamous wave. Though he was only able to surf the break a few times a year, it was a welcome challenge for the daring natural foot and set the stage for his future big wave global tow-scapades. There’s a lot to learn from one of the best and brightest to emerge from the Valley Isle, so sit down, read up and delve into the mind of Ian Walsh.

How do you split up your time during the year?
I try to fit it all in there. I have a problem with sitting in one place for a while. I usually leave Hawai‘i in March for contests, magazine and video trips and squeeze in a few days [on Maui] here and there until about late October. Then it’s all O‘ahu for the Triple Crown until Christmas—not too much time on Maui.

What is your daily schedule like?
Lately it’s been a lot: wake up, bang out a bunch of emails, surf, deal with permits and product orders for our kids event and try to put the pieces together with the beginning stages of building a house. If the waves are on, surf all day and organize the footage with Justin, my filmer.

Tell me about your new land in Haiku and your future house. What do you envision for it?  
There is going to be a lot entertaining stuff up there. We are working on putting a par 3 in. It will just be a house to facilitate everything we do. The twins [Shaun and DK] will be holding it down while I’m gone.

How has being from Maui influenced your surfing and your personality?
I’m a product of our environment. There are big waves, small waves and everything in between, from slabs to point breaks and sand bars. Personality wise, where I grew up, you get taught respect and to never let someone push you around from a really young age. Maui has given me everything.

What is your favorite wave to surf and why?
Aside from the crowd it’s hard to beat pipe. You can go both ways and get a really crazy wave either way. Any wave that you have the potential to get the wave of your life at any time is pretty good to me.

Tell us about your first experience at Jaws.
I was 17, I think, with my neighbor and Ahanu Tson-dru. We left school early because we could see how big it was from there. It was scary, but that’s how we both got addicted to it. You keep wanting a bigger and deeper one.

What’s the most challenging wave in the world for you?
Jaws, Pipe, or Teaupho‘o—they’re all really fast, no hesitation waves and a lot can change in a short time at all of them.

What is your scariest memory out in the water?
When I was searching for Malik Joyeux at Pipe. I hope I never have to go through that again with a close friend.

What is the craziest thing you’ve experienced traveling the world?
Everyone has a handful of these. Running out of gas in the middle of the night in Mozambique in the middle of nowhere and having two guys walk out of the bushes with AK-47s, yelling. Luckily, our driver deflated the situation.

How about your worst injury?
My ankle got ripped out of its socket in Tahiti. Then, after it got put back in place we had to drive through a river and the car stalled from all the water, so I jumped out as it filled with water to push and slipped and ripped it right back out. That one took a few months away from me.

If you weren’t a surfer what would you be?
Maybe a chef or some sort of job that kept me entertained and busy.

What is something no one knows about you?
I love to cook.

Is there anything else you are good at?
I’m definitely not good at folding laundry.

Who is the biggest inspiration or role model in your life right now?
Shane Dorian—the guy has the best life ever. He spends a few months a year with his family in Fiji and Bali and in the winter snowboards more than most people that live in the snow. In between that, it seems like he has it pretty dialed on the Big Island. Everything he has now is from hard work. 

What’s the best thing about being the oldest brother of four brothers that rip?
You get more waves.

What is your biggest fear?
Maui’s population getting out of control.

Are you an “ambi-turner?” Just kidding, but would you say one side is your stronger side?
Yeah, my right side is way stronger.

Describe your perfect day.
I’d wake up and get drained all morning in warm water, then jump in a helicopter and snowboard powder all afternoon.

What’s been your most all-time surf trip?
Chile. It’s basically the same as my perfect day, but without the warm water.

How about the best words of advice you’ve ever received?
From my dad: don’t take anything for granted and enjoy everything you do, it could all be gone tomorrow.

What is the best feeling for you in the water?
Getting a big barrel, I can’t think of anything in the world better than that.

What is the future of surfing?
The kids right now are going to take this sport to a crazy level. I see some of them at Ho‘okipa when I come home and I’m blown away every time. They are doing what my generation was doing at 17 years old, at 11! There are some dangerously talented kids around here and they’re riding giant waves doing completely committed turns like it is eight feet.

What do you think is the best judge of someone’s true surfing ability?
How they act in the water, if they know how to wait their turn and show respect if they want respect and how they react and read the wave in really bad situations. The best surfers in the world adapt to any situation and make it look sick.

How do you challenge yourself in terms of surfing? In other words, what is your personal measure of success? 
To just keep progressing, never being content with where I’m at. If I set a goal and get to it that is success to me. As long as I’m psyched at the end of the day and the start of the next is what’s important.