Today was day 1 of the ECSC. The weather turned pretty nice at around 1 or 2 when the sun peaked out. Great turnout today and it was just a Wed so we are looking forward to the next 4 days and hundreds of thousands of people coming our way. We had our VB Atwater street team in full effect and will have them back all week to help out at the booth. Keep coming back for more.
Wedge Diaries 4/15/10
For me it’s been a passion since I was 6 years old and first laid eyes on the place. I watched carnage unfold during the big summer swells of the late 90’s. The place scared the shit out of me, but I was attracted to the place from the get-go and knew I wanted to surf there someday. When the place is dormant its one of the most beautiful spots to relax and take in sun, and with views like that of boats coming in the harbor entrance to the rocky outcroppings of the coast running all the way down south to San Diego. When there’s south swell though the whole tranquil vibe gets thrown out the door. There’s usually a channel 7 news van parked at the end of the walk path, parking is scarce, and on a real solid swell there’s up to a thousand people on the beach. It’s violent, unique, challenging, and I love it.
It’s funny how the first couple sessions of the summer season can truly rekindle the love you have for surfing Wedge. We’ve had an amazing winter of waves, but there’s something about southern hemisphere swells in Orange County. It was the afternoon of my maiden session of the 2010 season, and butterflies consumed me. The waves were solid overhead, and the drops were quite vertical. A lot of sand was still piled up. My first two waves consisted of me putting my head down and paddling as hard as I could, and then just as I thought it was time to get to my feet I was thrust over the falls only to endure another wonderful wedge thrashing. These two wipeouts allowed me to get the butterflies out and enjoy myself for the rest of the session. My board was working great (5’9” Dan Taylor pocket rocket), and although I did bite part of my tongue off during a bad wipeout, the session was a success. Burnham, Robbie Crawford, and Savoji were just some of the crew on hand.
The next morning I awoke at first light and headed back down. South wind had been expected, but we were greeted with pristine conditions and the south swell was still hanging around. A great session went down. I remember looking at Robbie Crawford and saying, “ Man I don’t want to be anywhere else in the world than where I am right now!” It was true. With a minor crowd on the beach, two water photographers, and several on the sand it turned into a gem of a session at the wedge. As I sit here writing this the weather has turned, its cloudy, rained last night, and most of the south swell is gone. Wedge is quiet once again, but I’m not dwelling on this depressing weather. I’m daydreaming of the cheap thrills I got last week, and of the many to come this summer.
-Spence
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Photos: Cozad www.newportsurfshots.com
Have you ever seen someone purposely set up their board upside down. I have seen someone put their trucks on backwards, throw the bird on the wrong mount but never have I seen someone ride a board upside down, that is until this morning when I checked my email and got a message from Devin Briggs. Devin works at Jokers skate shop and in their down time goofs around with the laws of physics. When I first opened the video he sent (which you can check out below) I figured he’d be doing some Rodney Mullen Darkslides not actually riding the board set up backwards. So take a look at Devin rocking his bizzaro board.
hipster holocaust from S stopnik on Vimeo.
Antoine is 18 living in Santa Barbara born in France. Currently sponsored
by Atwater Clothing, Globe shoes, West wetsuits and Sharper Eye surfboards.
“The multi-talented Frenchman has really come into his own this Winter. You
always knew he was going to be a great surfer some day, and the future is
now”, Jon Shafer.
Along with Antoines amazing skills in the water he is a very talented musician as well. Check out the little diddy he wrote below.
All photos Jon Shafer!
So last week after Slightly Stoopid performed in front of 3 million viewers on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show they jetted off to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah to perform at an event going down during the show.
What happens when you throw a Tiger and a Ratt in the same room together? Well if the Ratt has a tattoo gun and goes by the name Ratty Matty and the Tiger has an empty spot on his leg and goes by the name “The Brown Blurr” well then you have yourself a party. I heard from a pretty reliable witness that the brown blurr almost shed a tear during this process. How can a guy that surfs 75 ft pipe get scared over a little needle.
He’s reading a Vanitey Fair seriously, he brought it with him.
