SURF RIDE CONTEST

Most of my weekends are spent judging high school and junior high surf contests. This weekend was spent on the other end of the spectrum; I was surfing in a contest. Surf Ride and Vans have put together an awesome pro/am event that has about $5,000 dollars at stake! Although I didn't win the contest, I did give it a heck of a shot with a few solid maneuvers that impressed the judges.

After squeaking through my first heat I looked at my next heat draw and was surprised. It looked like a semi final in a 1 or 2 star WQS event! With that in mind, I knew I had to go for broke. It was all or nothing. When I was in the water in my round two heat I found a few sections that had some scoring potential. I put my head down and smashed 'em. On one wave I was able to blow the fins and the other I just kept spinning which ended in a pretty gnarly reverse. The judges rewarded my efforts and I advanced on to the quarter finals. I tried to surf as well in my next heat but was held back by deteriorating conditions and poor wave selection on my part.

The 2010 Freedom Surf Series presented by Surf Ride and Vans also offers $10K to the overall winner of the pro/am. The contests will be held every month or two, so stay tuned for the next attempt at a $5,000 dollar check!

HERE IS A VIDEO FROM THE LAST COMP. I HAVE A FEW CLIPS IN IT!

Surf Ride $100,000 Freedom Pro Am by Vans Hits Ocean Beach Pier from Surf Ride on Vimeo.

KEAHANA TV

Having glanced outside during the last big storm I was surprised. Almost everyday I awoke to horrible south wind but, today was different, the wind had switched to "side-offshore". With the good winds blowing I better get my butt in the water asap. I grabbed my board, wetsuit, towel, and some wax then called my filmer friend Guto. Once the truck started, I was off to Swamis to battle the 15mph off-shore's. This is the footage that we used for a promo video!

Great Snow Conditions!

My wife, friends and I have been taking advantage of the great winter weather we've been blessed with over the passed few days. The first day we went up to Palomar Mountain and built a 4 foot kicker. The next adventure was off to Mountain High. They had more snow than I'd ever seen before.

Project Surf

My friend Russell Spencer included me on this project he did for school a few years back. I basically started surfing at north side of Oceanside Pier and to this day it remains my favorite spot.

Air Reverse Sequence

Airs are one of my favorite things to do surfing. Here is a sequence my good friend Russell Spencer shot and I want to run you through the setup approach for an air.

SHOT 1 - You want to have as much speed as possible. You want to be looking at the section you want to hit and remember to make the bottom turn enough to set you up for your pop and rotation.

SHOT 2 - This is where you should pop off of the lip and transfer your weight from your back foot to your front foot as you begin to rotate.

SHOT 3 - This is a perfect shot to show you what you need to do with your arms and upper torso. More often than not, it's easier to air if you try and throw a grab. Throwing your upper torso and arms in that position helps huck your board. You NEED to remember to stay centered above your board.

SHOT 4 - By the time you're floating on cloud 9, you want to be spotting your landing and release your body (if your compressed into your board) getting ready for the landing.

SHOT 5 - This is where you will be landing on your nose and transitioning your weight from your nose to your tail as you spin it around.

Airs are not the easiest thing to do. You need to get as much speed as you can and have lips to launch off and you should definitely learn turns before airs.