Vernon Deck’s long, graying hair hints at his adventurous spirit. Same goes for the lines on his 42-year-old face. He’s been shooting snowboarding for two decades and sailing the world’s oceans for nearly as long, and it shows.

Originally from the idyllic farm town of Motueka, New Zealand, Deck’s passion for snowboard photography began in 1997 when he shot the ISF World Cup Halfpipe in Laax, Switzerland. At the time, he’d never strapped in. He’d just moved to Laax, and engaging with the world’s best riders inspired him to buy an old Hooger Booger and a pair of hard boots and point it downhill. It only took him three days to break the board, but he was hooked and got a new one. “In most sports, the photographer just sits on the sidelines and doesn’t take part in the action,” Vernon explains. “In snowboarding, I saw right away that the photographer played a big role—it’s a team effort to go and shoot in the backcountry.”
Only a year later, Vernon met young Laax locals Nicolas Müller, Alex Schauwecker, Jamie Philp and the Buvoli brothers—Mitch, Gianluca and Dado. By 1999, they were off to New Zealand. There, Vernon and Nicolas landed their first cover shots—not one, but four. “Suddenly, magazine editors were calling me and wanted my work,” Vernon says. “It gave me confidence and a drive to seriously pursue snowboard photography as a profession.”…

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