Enter a world of magic and mystery, in my own head, where surfing and snowboarding are considered real jobs! Amazing feats of daring and skill are performed every day - and that's just getting the footage onto film!
Media anarchist, film guru, surf addict and web video blogger!
I have been playing with the little GoPro Hero cams for about a year now. They really are cool for alternate shots and rider perspectives. You wan to know what I mean? Well, check these two on board rides with their team rider, Eric Willet, at both the big air and slopestyle warm ups at this year's Winter XGames 15.
I often get told that there are no good looking ladies in surfing - I know it sounds ridiculous, but there is the feeling amongst some. So to completely dispell that notion once and for all, check out this video from the guys at Stab Magazine, featuring Alana Blanchard and Bruna Schmitz. Both ladies rip, are on tour and smoking hot! Nuff Said!
Just when you thought snowboarding had hit a plateau as far as progression goes, along comes Winter XGames 15. The sales line for the Games was, "You haven't seen everything!" How right they were. This year the guys took it to new heights, led up front by the man previously known as the Flying Tomato, he now goes by the moniker - The Dark Knight. Shaun White led the charge taking his four-peat in the Superpipe and blowing minds on route to doing it. He was running a 19ft Straight air out of the pipe straight into a double cork that defied description.Then, just to ensure he was winning, he busts out a double Mactwist -WTF!
Ok, so our minds are blown, lets take a breather and head over to the Big Air event. Nothing to exciting going on - oh shit, is that Torstein Horgmo trying a triple cork? He eats absolute crap, gets up and heads back up for another run, then lands the craziest air ever - I mean ever! The definition of impossible no longer exists.
So the love keeps pouring in from the Rolling Retro with RVCA and Vudu Surf event. I am quite speechless to be honest. Working on the video and should have some pretty moving pictures for you early next week. In the meantime check out these awesome action shots from Pierre Marqua from Wavescape and Ian Thurtel who shot the water pics.
One of the local Groms charging an old Country Rhythm!
Mike Grendon Soul Arching - The Oom would be so proud.
Jordy Smith doing his "Marc Wright" impersonation - just missing the shaka!
Just as I was starting to think competitive surfing in South Africa could not climb out of its self imposed depression, this little chunk of news hit my inbox and made me smile. South african surfers need more points available to them in local events in order to enable them to make a go at the World Tour. Now, lets hope O"Neill will follow suit with the Cold Water Classic event in Cape Town. Well done to Mr Price and the guys from the ASP. Their press release below.
Jordy has even more reason to defend his title in 2011 (Photo: ASP)
(Thursday, January 27, 2011) – South African surfing has received a massive boost with the announcement that the Mr Price Pro Ballito will be a Prime rated event on the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour.
The 12th edition of the event, which has continued the proud tradition of the long running Gunston 500, will be staged at the premium surf breaks in Ballito on the KwaDukuza coastline North of Durban from 4 to 10 July.
Offering a huge prize-purse of US $250 000 (approx. R1.7 million), with $40 000 and an invaluable 6 500 points on the ASP World Tour Rankings going to the winner, the elite 96-man field for the Mr Price Pro Ballito is guaranteed to include the majority of the world’s best competitive surfers.
“Our commitment to surfing in South Africa has grown continually since the inaugural Mr Price Pro in 2000 and so too have our relationships with the Association of Surfing Professionals and our event partner, the KwaDukuza Municipality,” said Mr Price Group CEO, Stuart Bird.
“Upgrading the Mr Price Pro Ballito to a PRIME ASP World Tour event will attract the top 96 surfers in the world to the event and we will once again have the privilege of watching the world’s best competing against our top South African talent.”
ASP International is equally excited with the upgrade of the Mr Price Pro Ballito and the boost it will provide to the South African surfing community.
“ASP has enjoyed an excellent relationship with Mr Price over the past decade and we’re thrilled with the event’s upgrade to an ASP Prime event,” Brodie Carr, ASP International CEO, said. “South Africa has long been a major player in the world surfing community and the Mr Price Pro will continue to be a major stepping stone in the development of young surfers onto the world stage.”
Our surfers need to compete with the best on home turf (Photo: ASP)
Current ASP World No. 2 and Durban local Jordy Smith, who last year became only the third South African to win the country’s longest running professional surfing, will be back to defend his title.
“Winning a world title will always remain my main focus on the ASP World Tour, however, one always wants to revert back to their roots and that’s why the Mr Price Pro Ballito is so special to me. The Mr Price Pro was my first ever WQS event, at the age of 12, and my mom even has a pic of me standing proudly next to the pier with my contest vest on,” Smith explained.
“Over the years I came close to winning the title and then last year I managed to win. It was such a brilliant feeling with the home crowd and my family there to cheer me on. I’m hoping to be back on the podium again this year but it’s going to be much harder now that the event has been granted PRIME status.”
The importance of the Mr Price Pro Ballito is enhanced by the fact that it will be the seventh of just 12 Prime rated events on the 2011 ASP World Tour. The points earned in Ballito count towards the mid-season rotation when the top 34 surfers on the ASP World Tour Rankings become the field for the remaining five ASP Dream Tour events of the year.
All the action will be webcast LIVE at www.mrpricepro.com
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
The new School of Llandudno go old School. (Photo: Stix)
It’s been an emotional three days for me, since we had the Retro contest on Sunday. The amount of positive messages and feedback, have been simply amazing. We started the event, because we wanted to bring back what was good and pure in surfing – the Stoke! No judges, results or competition, as Andrew “Roosta” Lange stated, we took the Con out of Contest. The result was one of the most enjoyable days on the beach, probably since the seventies hey day of hippy vans, mind enhancing narcotics and free love.
The Boys were having fun. (Photo: Surfers against Shark Cage Diving)
What was the point, one could be forgiven for asking – I mean what’s the point of a contest that has no results, does that not make it redundant? Simply put that’s right, but we wanted people to come down and enjoy a surf session with total strangers, not to compete, but to actually enjoy surfing together. We wanted people to experience the joy of riding a piece of surfing history, that rides totally different to the super expensive, light weight pocket rocket they surf normally. To just for a moment enjoy the same feeling a living legend like the Oom Whitfield, Johnny Paarman or Shaun Thompson felt on one of their surfboards from the 60’s, 70‘s and 80’s.
Roosta cross stepping where most are running. (Photo: Winston Kletter)
The God of surfing must have blessed us, because the howling, raging South Easter backed off, the supposed to be Flat Ocean was delivering perfect little 2-3ft peaks and over a 1000 people made the most of the idyllic day. “Well done man! I just called Spider and the boys back in Durban and told them today makes me feel like I am back at the old events at the Bay of Plenty!” some swarthy father of a local Grom tells me. It warms my heart. “That was the most fun session in ages!” local ripper, Michael February shouts with joy as he returns his board after the heat. Everywhere I looked on Sunday, people with silly grins, bright loud retro outfits and the sound of laughter met my eyes. The bar ran out of beer three times – it was exceedingly hot and thirsty work having so much fun – and even this was met by a shrug of the shoulders and the sight of men drinking pink fruit mixers instead. Ladies in bikinis were everywhere.
The Lawn was busy! (Photo: Stix)
Surfing wise the crowd got to enjoy some of SA’s top surfers caning it on retro boards. Jordy Smith, Royden Bryson and Michael February, the contest machines, were joined by big wave legends such as Mickey Duffus and Mikey Schlebach. Local rippers like Liam “Yeti” Wood and Logan Eales showed the crew how barrels get ridden in the Gat. The girls were going hard – local lifeguard Kirsten Kingma surfing her heat in a Bikini, real old school style even with the 10-degree water temperature. Roosta was not to be outdone at his own sponsor event and made one of the most ridiculous tail drop board shuffles ever seen. The Kat would have been proud!
Jordy, Roosta and Twig jammin retro. (Photo: Stix)
jordy taking a retro board to new places, Pottz would be proud. (Photo: Winston Kletter)
Once it was time to reward the masses for their participation, every single entrant won a prize, from t-shirts, to deck grip, from ladies underwear to ding repair kits. Best wave of the day went to the Fool himself, Michael Grendan, who popped up from the deep south of Scar Barbaria to educate all of us on what is possible on an old, aircraft carrier of a John Whitmore surfboard. He won a collector’s “Life of LLandudno” book in honor of his skills. We had prizes for best retro wetsuit and board, won by stunning local girls, who refused to let the boys dominate proceedings.
The Fool took the best wave award! (Photo: Stix)
After the dust settled the bar took off with music from the local patch surfers. Twiggy poured the tequila, the bands jammed hard and we danced our feet off and away, like the carefree hippies of yesteryear. The day was done and we had just for a moment got rid of all the modern day worries and complexities, replaced instead with good vibes, good times and retro vibrations.
Captain Kai
Big thanks to RVCA, Vudu Surf, Roosta, Robby MacDonald, Debi Shabason, Sally Berold, Andrew Black, Gavin Wright, Hurricane, Llandudno Lifesaving, Pull In Underwear, Reef Wetsuits, Suikerbossie, Carey Ann, Wet Sack, the musicians and theGoodLife. If I forgot anyone, please forgive me - Everyone who came or was involved deserves a prize! ;)
Everyone was a winner, but the official prizes were:
Best wave - Michael "Fool" Grendon - for a long barrel on a old John Whitmore beast.
Runners up - Liam "Yeti" Wood and Sean Gibson, also for tubes.
Best retro wetsuit - Amy Kins
Best retro bikini - Leonie von Hase
Best retro boards - Robby MacDonald for the best collection in SA!
Ok, so we have the World Number 2 in surfing and there can be no doubt that sooner or later Jordy is going to be Number 1. But what comes after, in fact, who comes after? In 2010 we had three surfers finish in the top 16 of the ASP World Junior Tour. Dale Staples finished in third giving him a massive boost for his campaign on the World Tour this year with top seeding in the ASP Prime 6 stars. Tied for 16th were Shaun Joubert and Chad Du Toit.
Shaun mixes Power and Flair. (Photo: SJ)
Having watched Shaun surf for many years in and around the Southern Cape, I have always admired his surfing. Even as a Grom he wanted to put his board on a rail, a trait of old school power surfing that any potential world champion is going to need. Mixed with this is the ability to throw down new school, progressive tricks and airs - an ability that all three of these juniors have in bucket loads. These are the next generation of World Tour campaigners. They are the guys who are going to be Jordy's support act in the next few years. I caught up with Shaun Joubert to get the lowdown on our Next Gen.
Carbo Loading? (Photo: SJ)
Kai) What is the vibe in Junior surfing right now?
Shaun) The vibe is amazing. Everyone is surfing so good, really progressive. Everyone is trying to out do each other. It’s really competitive, but in a good way. I’m really glad to be a part of it.
Kai) We only have 1 surfer on the World tour this year, yet we had 3 surfers in the top 16 of the junior world tour, with a few more in the top 100. Do you think this will turn around into more SA surfers on the pro tour soon?
Shaun) Definitely. I think our surfers are good enough to be on the World Tour. It is really hard to qualify, but I believe we have what it takes to make it on to the tour.
Kai) Your self, Dale Staples and Chad Du Toit all gave the junior tour a good go in 2010. Whats the plan for 2011?
Shaun) I am hitting the WQS full time, making a real push to be on the WCT. I’m really looking forward to it, because I will be traveling with Dale, he always pushes me to be better. I can’t wait for it to all to get started!
Kai) Is the local junior tour in good shape?
Shaun) It’s not really my place and I am not in the Juniors anymore, but it would be really nice if we have more events. Like Australia has 12 events or something, that’s why they are so prepared when they hit the WQS. It’s hard though, with surfing being so small in South Africa.
Kai) The local PST tour is in a shambles. What do you think needs to be done to save the local tour and improve our surfers chances overseas?
Shaun) That’s a hard one. I really don’t know. Like I said, surfing is small in South Africa, which makes it really hard. I reckon outside sponsors - massive companies like Coca-Cola, Vodacom and those companies need to get involved.
Kai) Can Jordy win the World Title in 2o11?
Shaun) For sure. He is my pick for the 2011 World Title. He surfs so good, wow. It would be amazing for him to win. I really hope he does. Him and Dane are on another level. He would be the sickest World Champ. I hope he does, seriously.
Kai) Your favorite surf spot and why?
Shaun) Kerammas in Bali, because when there is swell it’s the best barrel, and when it’s smaller it’s the funnest wave ever. It’s a Forehander's dream.
Thanks Shaun!
You can follow Shaun on his travels on Tour here - Shaun Joubert
At 2pm today, Euro time, our good mate and super style bandit, Marta "Smarta" Jekot, will be competing in the qualification round of the Slopestyle World Champs, being held in La Molina, Spain. This is a massive boost for SA snowboarding as she could be our first ever finalist at a World Champs in snowboarding.
That is one large Slopestyle Course!
Our man at the top, Olly, head of Snowboarding SA, sent us the following message from the slopes:
Hey Guys,
Today at 2pm is Mawa’s qualification run for the World Snowboard Champs and she’s riding in bib 2 in a field of 28 women. Our Afro-Molina jokes have died down because the weather turned and the temp will be around -16C with winds of up to 65km/h today which isn’t great for Mawa who must face quiet a gnarly slopestyle course as it is.
Win, draw or lose, today’s qualifiers are going to be an exciting day for us. We are waving the only African flag at the comp which is dominated by European and American riders. It’s also a bit nail biting for slopestyle itself because this whole format will also be under review by an Olympic panel to see if it’s worth introducing as a new Olympic discipline. Personally it’s also feels quiet good because we stand here on the shoulders of a really big and passionate effort of many of you guys at home and it’s good to be reminded that passion and hope still flow.
Mawa has shown big heart and composure to roll into this course in Spain because its pretty woes. This event was unexpected and not part of the plan but we’ve also got a great coach in Iztok who gave her a motivational talk last night that nearly had me strapping on a board to show the sceptics that Africa can compete in snow !
Hold thumbs for Mawa and I’ll get back to you once the craziness is over and we know how today went.
Oliver
Marta Stylin at practice!
If you wanna send Marta some love and support, check her website - Marta Jekot
So turns out the swell of the decade decided to be the almost swell of the decade and hundreds of people who made their way to the North Shore were left heartily dissapointed. Oh well, that's the whole point of this event, if it is not ball numbingly scary, over 20ft, monster waves, Eddie would not have paddled and neither will the contestants. There is always next year.
Plenty of people, not enough big sets. (Photo: ASP)
The ASP released the following:
WAIMEA BAY, Oahu/Hawaii – (Thursday, January 20, 2011) – George Downing, Contest Director of The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau, Fueled by Monster Energy, has called a “NO GO” for competition at Waimea Bay today, based upon the inconsistency of the swell. While there were definitely 20-foot-plus waves sporadically throughout the morning, the consistency of those large waves was deemed to be insufficient to run the two rounds of competition. The event still has until February 28 to run.
“What we see in conditions like this is just one or two true ‘Eddie’ size waves in the period of a heat,” said Downing. “With seven surfers in the water per heat, that is not the kind of playing field we need for quality, fair competition.
“It’s very easy to get caught up in the excitement when those huge waves come through and after all of the efforts of the crew and the spectators to be ready for this day. But what keeps this event the greatest big wave event in the world is never relaxing those standards. Eddie never did.
“We will continue to wait. The holding period runs through February 28 and we know that there is definite potential in the coming weeks for more extra large surf to arise. If that day comes, we will be ready to go again.”
The 15,000-strong crowd that had gathered under moonlight since the very early hours of the morning understood the call and settled in for the day, regardless. With the world’s best big wave riders making the most of the opportunity to put some time in at Waimea, they will be treated to spectacular rides throughout the day, without question.
2002 Eddie winner and 10X world champion Kelly Slater was in firm agreement with the decision: “It’s a good call,” said Slater. “There are big waves out there, but there’s not that many of them. It’s not what we need.”
Mahalo to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, and the City & County of Honolulu for their cooperation and support in bringing today together.
The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau is the world’s longest running and most prestigious big-wave invitational and is the only one sanctioned by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), the governing body of professional surfing.
This is one super sweet video of the Red Bull Nighshift with Jordy Smith. If you think the person interviewing the surfers etc did a good job, that's cause it was me! Now go tell Red Bull to hire me permanently - haha! No really!
The man is a living legend - no doubt - but does Kelly still have the drive to compete. He is both the youngest and oldest world champion in surfing, he has won ten world titles putting him in the same bracket as Michael Schumacker, Jordan and Valentino Rossy, he has won the surfer poll awards more times than I can count on two hands and lets be honest, he still rips the shit out of any wave he decides to grace with his presence. But, this is when he decides to surf. There were multiple contests in 2010, where he told presenters that he had not surfed for 3-4 weeks and was to busy with other stuff. The fact that he still paddled out and won events just proves the point that he is a surf freak. Does he still have the overpowering drive to compete - if he paddles out he wants to win - but does he want to even travel on the tour?
The Man (Photo: ASP)
My feeling is that Kelly will give it one more year. He has a new tour format to try, and why not just rub it in to everyone's faces with a title on the new tour before retiring. He has a large intake of some of the new school hotties, as well as Jordy, Owen and Dane to surf against. We know how much he likes a challenge. So my call - expect to see King Kelly back in action come the Quiksilver Pro in March.
What are your thoughts on Kelly, let us know, make a comment!
Here is a nice little walk down memory lane with 10x King Kelly:
A few years back myself and my good mate Robby MacDonald from Vudu Surf decided to utilize his extensive collection of classic and retro boards for a fun event at our local beach, Llandudno. The event was a massive success with everyone surfing a heat on a old board, everyone winning a prize and everyone having a bloody good time! One of the surfers on the day who loved the concept, was our gypsy surfer, Andrew "Roosta" Lange. He was so keen to do the event again that he got his sponsor, RVCA, to get involved and now we will be heading back down to Llandudno Beach this Sunday for another day of retro boards, fun, music and good times.
The girls are going retro - prize for best retro bikini.
The contest details are -
Rolling Retro, with RVCA and Vudu Surf.
On Sunday, 23rd January, all Llandudno, Hout Bay and Camps Bay surfers are invited to join us for a day in the sun, having fun and surfing classic and retro boards with our mates.
No Final, no single winner - everyone who enters wins! No ladies, no mens, no juniors, no seniors - we all surf together!
R10'000 worth of RVCA product ensures everyone walks away a winner!
Prizes for:
Best Retro board
Best Retro dressed!
Best Retro wetsuit
and many more...
Robby from Vudu Surf will have his large collection of Classic Boards on offer for you to ride in your heat, the R50 entry fee ensures that dings etc will be repaired.
theGoodlife will be on hand to take the shots and film the day!
The Llandudno Lifesaving club will provide cool drink, Boerie Rolls and cold beers for the elders!
Entry is on the morning - registration starts at 12pm at the Lifesaving Club.
Entry - R50
Limited places available - preference will be given to the local surfers!
While it is the middle of summer in the good old SA, I thought it would be pretty fun to have a chat with one of our top snowboarders. He won the best trick at our Snowboard Jam in December with a crazy 270 on 270 off. His name - Katlego Maponyane, but you can call him Kat. The guy is literally like Black Kat, excuse the pun, but I would compare him more to Chunky than ultra smooth. I often have my sphincter pulling just watching him decimate himself on rails for hours on end, but just as you wanna go up and say, "Hey Kat, how about a break?" (Oh dam another pun, sorry, it just came out, haha), he will absolutely pull the biggest trick of the day with so much style and grace you wanna cry.
Like I said, smooth, but actually chunky! (Photo: Jaimie Smith)
So down to business and a quick chat with the Kat:
[Kai]
Dudem, keen to answer some quik questions for me blog?
[Kat Maponyane]
umm ok cool lukka
fire away
[Kai]
Ok, first off, how did you get into the snow?
[Kat Maponyane]
In the far away hills of tiffendell, went to SA champs the one year for a party with no intention of ever getting strapped to a board.
[Kai]
What grabbed you about the sport - did you come from a board riding background?
[Kat Maponyane]
Nothing really to be honest. I'd seen it a few times on tv & it looked kinda cool,but never thought it would be realistic to ever try it seeing as we're in Africa. I was always the kid that had friends who could skate, but never really had any talent at it myself.
[Kai]
Haha surely you can skate now? I mean you hit pretty gnarly jibs on a snowboard?
[Kat Maponyane]
Have fun in the mini ramp is about as far as I can go.
Chunky Rail Slide! ooh the Steeeez! (Photo: Jaimie Smith)
[Kai]
What's your favorite aspect of the sport?
[Kat Maponyane]
The fun factor & amp; non team sport side of it.
[Kai]
You recently have been about SA playing beats - was this pretty connected to your snowboarding? Especially the type of music you are into.
[Kat Maponyane]
Not connected at all, we started dj'ing as a joke because we needed a "filler" dj for the night at a party.
[Kai]
Ok, so what are your plans for 2011
[Kat Maponyane]
Unfortunately all plans to do some riding this northern hemi winter have been dashed due to work commitments, so now all I can do is wait for the short SA season to come along.
But to answer your question - fun fun fun & more improvement & to keep staying on the podiums in one way or another
[Kai]
Do you have lots of groupies? (I had heard rumors)
[Kat Maponyane]
I have one die hard groupie!
[Kai]
Awesome, guess that puts you in the same league as the Flying Concords?
[Kat Maponyane]
Yip
Something like that.
[Kai]
Lastly any message for the peeps who wanna board in SA?
[Kat Maponyane]
Logon to snowboarder.co.za, get involved, do something different, come hangout & amp; have a good time while doing it!
[Kai]
Shot dude, you wont mind if I compare you to peanut butter hey?
[Kat Maponyane]
No, not at all captain.
So not only has cape Town got a massive swell headed our way, but it looks like the Northern Pacific Ocean is also going bonkers. When you see big wave superstars such as Greg Long and Mark Healey posting swell maps with statuses such as, "So beautiful it brings a tear to my eye!" (Greg Long), you got to know something big is about to happen.
This is where normal surfers are cucking their pants!
With this in mind I got hold of our own resident hell man, Grant "Twig" Baker, to get the lowdown on whether the Eddie Big Wave event could go and if he will be on the plane to get there. Twig has won pretty much everything there is to win in big wave surfing, but the Eddie is the one that has eluded him.
Twig and mates at the Bay (Photo: Twig)
Kai: Do you reckon the Eddie will go?
Twig: To early to tell Kai but that swell looks amazing on the long term!!
Kai: How big does the swelll actually have to be, in layman's terms?
Twig: 20ft @ 20sec from the NW for the bay to break at 20ft plus (Hope you layman understood that, it pretty much means "Farken Big!")
Kai: Are you gonna fly if it does?
Twig: If the forecast stays the same then yes I will go.
Kai: How is the Knee? (Twig had knee surgery a short while ago.)
Twig: The knee still needs another few weeks but for the Eddie I'll risk it
Kai: What will it mean to add the Eddie to your trophy cabinet?
Twig: Everything, it's all I need and then I can retire to a nice gentle point break in Mozambique
Ok, so the surf was flatter than the great lakes and the boys actually needed wheels to land on the shore break sand, at the end of the day, the Red Bull Nightshift was a rad event. Don't know about you guys, but its been a while since I saw around 5000 people rock up for what was literally a free surf at a non-surf beach!
Stan was in sterling form on the Mic.
Jordy pretty much took control of his own event landing multiple airs, including a monster Superman. I got stuck back stage doing interviews and meeting all the pro's girlfriends and groupies - someone had to explain the finer points of surfing to them - and sucking back Red Bulls.
Can you see? I see the moon...
After wowing the crowds, the boys moved onto Caprice on the Camps Bay strip, where everyone proceeded to get hammered, throw name, score groupies and end up at weird rich dude's houses with way to many men around - oh wait that's a story for another time, ask Wok.
The Party - Caps were in!
All in all a great evening at the beach. Check out some video highlights here:
I have been keeping my eye on Bianca Buitendag for a while now - stop it, not like that - this girl rips! She has long dominated the girls surf scene at home in South Africa, but over the past few days in Australia, she has been kicking all the international girl's asses too!
Bianca throwing it down! (Photo: ASP)
The guys from the ASP caught up with her after her historic win at the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships:
NORTH NARRABEEN, New South Wales/Australia (Tuesday, January 11, 2011) – South African dark-horse Bianca Buitendag (ZAF), 17, won the Billabong ASP Women’s World Junior Championships today in a hard-fought final over French talent Justine Dupont (FRA), 19, in two-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at North Narrabeen while Alizee Arnaud (FRA), 20, clinched the overall ASP Women’s World Junior Title with her equal 3rd place result in the event.
Buitendag quietly navigated her way through the early rounds of competition, tearing into several North Narrabeen lefthanders to eventually see the South African goofy-footer eliminate Arnaud in the Semifinals before topping Dupont in the Final to mark the biggest result of the rising star’s career.
“I’m very happy,” Buitendag said. “I don’t know how to explain it. I really wasn’t expecting this. I’m really happy about it and it’s the best result of my life. I’m stoked. My Dad has been supporting me since I was little, sitting on the beach and without him nothing would be possible, so thanks to him.”
To say I was dissapointed when Josh Kerr dropped of the elite surf tour is an understatement! If you watched the man free surf there was little doubt that he is one of the most freakishly talented surfers on the planet. The good news is, he killed the WQS this last year and is now set to scare the bejesus out of the tour guys again!
The rules of engagement are about to change for the WCT.
Now that’s he’s currently calling Carlsbad, California home base, local publication Transworld SURF caught up with Kerrzy to catch up on his previous years on the ASP World Tour and what he’s expecting in 2011. This… is their story…
Without a doubt, Josh Kerr is one of the most exciting surfers in the world to watch at work. Hard charging and an undisputed master of progressive surfing, Kerr has once again qualified for the ASP World Tour—his third go at the big leagues. Temporarily relocated to Carlsbad, California, we caught up with Kerrzy as he got ready for the 2011 World Tour at an undisclosed North County reef.
TransWorld SURF: When did you first qualify for the then WCT? Josh Kerr: 2007 was my first year on tour.
Was that the year you had that amazing heat against Mick Fanning at firing Snapper Rocks?
Check out Kerr’s full interview on - Transworld Surf
You don't believe me when I tell you Kerr is the King of Air - check out these videos from the Landscape Altered Series - you wont argue with me again!
What happens when you add spot lights, jetski and the world's best young surfer, along with a few of his mates? Oh, and all at night time on the Camps Bay strip.
Answer - a mix of Modern Collective and True Blood - haha - no, you get the Red Bull Nightshift!
Be plenty of this under lights!
Camps Bay Beach in Cape Town will play host to a unique surfing event in early 2011. Red Bull Nightshift is a speciality ‘tow-at’ event, where surfers are towed towards waves at high speeds enabling them to ramp into the air and pull off some spectacular moves. Red Bull Nightshift will be featuring the number one surfer in South Africa and number two surfer in the world, Jordy Smith, along with 7 of his carefully selected surfing friends
The South African skate scene has gone through good times and bad, more so than even the international scene. Popular through the eighties and early nineties, then taking a large dip in popularity in the late nineties, to find itself on the way up again in 2010. One element that has stayed constant over all this time is, Dallas Oberholzer.
Dallas Oberholzer (Photo: Barry Tuck)
Dallas has long dominated skating in SA, holding titles and wins in Vert, street, Bowl and even Downhill racing. He recently won the Quiksilver Bowlriders again, fighting off the valiant efforts of the young whipper snappers to solidify his reputation as South Africa's head master of skating.
Taking the Bowlriders (Photo: Barry Tuck)
But, there is another side to this guy, the role of developer and giver. A couple of years back, Dallas started the Indigo Skate Camp, in the very rural Valley of a Thousand Hills, about an hour outside Durban. His goal was quite simple, to bring the joy and ease of skating to the poor and underprivileged kids of South Africa. You can check out the camp at - Indigo Skate Camp
Indigo Grom charging hard! (Photo: Indigo)
So, I thought to myself, what better way to start a new year, than getting the low down from the grand master of SA Skating on where we at and where we going in SA:
Kai - First off congrats on the Bowlriders win - how many is that now?
Dallas - A couple.
Kai - Would you say Bowl Skating is where it is at right now?
Dallas - It seems to be catching on here in SA, good thing is that concrete disciples are into DIY parks, they are very cohesive, willing to get dirty, broken and mostly keep shit underground.
Kai - You have pretty much done well at all aspects of skating, from bowl, to vert ramp, street and even Downhill. Do you think skaters should be able to do it all?
Dallas - I feel Its good to do it all if you just out to enjoy, but if think you're a young gun and acknowledge that a certain aspect of skating is your strength then focus on that until you raise the bar, get recognized, create your reality and then when you feel like you're hitting a plateau return to doing it all and you will discover a lot in everything.
Kai - What is your favorite skate?
Dallas - The one I recently lost to a canal in the N.Cape, it was 8.5 inches, with Indy's, park formula wheels..I just about risked my life wading in the depths looking for it and I swear to return to look for it again, that boards got soul.
Kai - Many people see skaters as a pretty loner group of guys, what are your thoughts on this?
Dallas - We do our own thing down in the drainage ditches of society
Kai - Not many skaters are putting back what you do, tell us about Indigo Skate Camp and the development of black rural skaters?
Dallas - Skaters thrive in adversity. Indigo is rooted in a harsh community in the Zulu hills, there is now work for skaters there, hope and pride in what we co-create. It's a bubble of happiness. Trying to get the rest of society to understand this would have been too large an undertaking
Zulu Kids frothing on skating. (Photo: Indigo)
Kai - Who are the top young guys coming through - are any of these from your development program?
Dallas - There are many young rippers from the Indigo Skate Camp, come visit if you wanna choose your favorite!
Kai - What advice can you give the younger generation, if they want to travel and skate?
Dallas - Look after your body, easy on the booze, connect with a guiding force, find peace and the rest will find you.
Kai - Excited about the Maloof Cup being in SA next year?
Dallas - Yeah I'm optimistic, its what we need to let skateboarding rise again, even if it is for a short while.
Kai - Do you think there will be any Saffers in the competition?
Dallas - Sure we'll be on the grandstands, sometimes its just better to be humbled, to watch and learn.
Kai - What are your plans for 2011?
Dallas - Indigo Skate Camp turns 10! The skaters I have connected with in the valley are to take our program to new destinations.
Kai - What is theGoodLife to you?
Dallas - Create and destroy!
Do yourself a favor and check out Indigo and get involved! Check out this clip to see how committed Dallas is:
