So Jussi Oksanen has been cold killing it for years. But as many riders do as they grow older, thoughts turn to the future and how to make their cheddar after they are done chucking their carcasses off enormous cliffs for a living. Some start their own board companies, others clothing, some others make films and some others carve out totally unique niches for themselves. What, you thought Jussi would make a juice company? So did I. But no, he makes water bottles under the name Mizu. Founded by Jussi and one of the most renowned filmmakers in our industry, Brad Kremer, Mizu offers stainless steel bottles with no BPA's as a conscious alternative to reduce waste and keep us drinking water. But don't worry, Jussi is gonna keep tearing up the backcountry and charging crazy cliffs for the foreseeable future, he's just living with a little foresight, for himself, his family and the planet. Something we should all do, so please, read on, read on.

What is Mizu all about? What inspired you to start a water bottle company?
Mizu is about  product that will be around a long time and that is simply common sense. The whole idea to start mizu came from our concern at how many plastic bottles we were wasting all the time while traveling, yet we didn't really feel that there was a reusable product out there that spoke to who we were. So we just figured that if we could create a product that we would be into, chances were more people like us would be into it too. We also saw how much money we were wasting each year on buying water - a resource that we had for free and it just didn't seem to make sense any more.

What does the name 'Mizu' mean? Who came up with it?
Mizu means water in Japanese. Brad's wife is Japanese and she came up with the name. It ties in perfectly with our product as it's a big part of what we are about.

Put your feet in the air for water! Blotto Photto

What's so great about water anyway? With so many energy drinks out there, isn't water kind of played out?
Played out? Water will never be played out! It's an essential part of our existence. Plastic water bottles are definitely played out though, and it seems people are just starting to realize that. Energy drinks have their place, but if I didn't drink as much water as I do each day -(I drink about 2 liters a day) - I know I wouldn't be doing what I do for a living for sure. The biggest kicker is that people have just got into this habit of consuming and spending constantly every day, when water is essentially free, highly monitored and good quality straight from your tap. Add on a filter and you have better water most likely than what you are paying up to $3 a bottle for. The whole bottled water industry has been one of this century's best marketing scams ever.

So what's the big deal about using stainless steel to make the bottles?
Stainless steel is the safest material you can drink from. It is inert - doesn't react with its environment - and will last pretty much forever. There are different qualities in stainless steel, but we use a food grade one that is very durable and tough. It's great for applying different applications and most importantly, it doesn't leach anything into your water.

Turbo slash! Blotto Photto

Is BPA really that bad?
BPA is straight up bad. It's taken a while for governments to catch up with the science, but Canada banned BPA in any baby products a couple of years ago and it won't be long before it is banned everywhere in food stuffs. It messes with your entire hormonal system and is suspected to cause cancer at certain levels. We've never let our kids drink from anything with BPA in it. The problem with the aluminum bottles out there is that they need to have a liner as you can't drink straight from aluminum, and most of these contain BPA in the liner. The reason we chose stainless steel is for how safe and durable it is and you don't need to mess with those liners.

If I try to carry alcohol in a Mizu bottle, will it hold onto that taste and smell forever? I remember sneaking gin in a plastic bottle as a kid -- I could never use it for anything else after that since it would make everything taste like gin. That's the killer thing about stainless steel. It's like your cooking pans - they won't taste of garlic after you cook in them. I drink beer out of my water bottles all the time - I was carrying my mizu at ASR and I would just go fill it with beer at the beer garden and walk straight out and no one would ever ask anything. It's awesome!

Jussi turns on the boosters. Photo: Adam Moran

Any cool limited edition bottles coming out? Maybe some cool artist collaboration stuff? Seems like everyone does collaborations these days.
We have a full line of powder-coated bottles coming out - these are awesome. We will also have some limited artist/photograpy lines coming out, as well as some signature bottles from our advocates, which will be dope.

Snow is only frozen water. Photo: Adam Moran

What's with the POW edition bottle?
We did a limited-edition bottle with Jeremy Jones'  Protect Our Winters project, where we donated a percentage to their charity. They do lot of cool things, so it's great be involved with that.

Will having a Mizu bottle help me get girls? Girls like dudes who care about the environment, right?
It will help you to hook up with some smart chicks that know what's going on, no doubt!

Filmmaker extraordinaire Brad Kremer & Jussi, co-founders of MIZU

www.mizulife.com

Interview & portrait by Greg Miller