Koa Rothman Wins Backdoor Shootout!

Michael Ciaramella

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After riding maybe the best Pipe wave... ever!

First and foremost, let’s take a moment of silence for Koa Rothman’s Pipe bomb.

A video posted by Da Hui® (@dahui8o8) on

This ride disrupts every notion I had about tuberiding. When you pull into a wave that deep, the internal shockwave rips out the floor and brings every ounce of flesh and fiberglass along with it. That Koa somehow rode through or above that turbulence defies all laws of surfing.

The only conceivable explanation is that he got slightly airborne off the initial foamball bounce, allowing him to more or less levitate over the explosions (see 2:23 on the video below for a channel-view). I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense. No point trying to intellectualize a fluke.

Now to the event. The Da Hui Backdoor Shootout has no website, nor can I locate any concrete info on the format or scoring system across a host of surf sites. I did watch it for an hour on a random Youtube link, and here’s what I gathered:

Brands buy into the event and present a four-man team in order to compete. Those four guys surf empty Pipe together for an indeterminate number of rounds, trying to accumulate as many great rides as possible. Waves are judged on a 12-point(?) scale, and at the end of all the rounds the team scores are accumulated and a winner is decided.

This year Weedmaps captured the team win with a crew of Bruce Irons, Tyler Newton, Mason Ho and Nate Fletcher. Dirt Nasty had to miss the event for “personal reasons”.

Meanwhile, Koa Rothman nabbed the individual title and a forty-thousand dollar bank coupon. Im still unsure whether that’s based off a cumulative event score or the singular ride, but if the latter, then he’s gonna end up pocketing close to $75k for one over-sized wedge.

There’s the $40k winner’s check, the $25k Wave of the Winter prize that he’s bound to win, plus whatever sponsor kickbacks he’ll receive for editorial coverage. That would make it not only one of the best-ever Pipe rides, but maybe the most valuable single wave ever ridden.

…Warshaw?

Click below for final day highlights.  It was big and west, just how Pipe should be but rarely is.

Former co-owners argue about name!

Chas Smith

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...in my dreams! But how will the bond 'tween Dane and Craig fare now that they are biz partners?

Still Japow. Snowing. Deep. Powder. Every morning I wake up and another foot plus buries the world. Today two feet plus I think. Mick Fanning blew it by leaving. He is going to be doubly mad next time we meet.

Very jealous. Very internally upset.

Anyhow, my surf writing has been on a big hiatus due the snow but my surf dreams have been firing! Every night I have very detailed visions of non-important surf detritus. Last night, for example, I dreamed that Dane and Craig got into it over their wonderful new brand’s name. Dane had empowered Craig to set up the Instagram account. Craig chose @luxury29.99. Dane didn’t know until people came up to him with congratulatory back pats saying, “Sick new brand. Luxury29.99 is going to smoke it!”

Dane went to Craig and said, “First rule, bro, is we need to have one name. One identity. The consumer gets confused with multiple brandings.” (this was in fact a lesson taught to Derek by Matt Biolos early on in BeachGrit‘s life when we were rolling out the Bitchy Crab as our mascot.)

Craig apologized but it was too late to change the Instagram account and then I woke up.

In real life, from my perch, the way they chose the name was collaborative and beautiful. Everyone throwing ideas at the wall until one stuck.

Moving forward, I wonder, how the friendship will fare?

Running a biz and being pals is an almost impossible task. I’ve seen the strongest bonds crushed by commerce. I hope that the two break the mold though. Surf needs a fresh perspective like almost never before. It needs Dane and Craig to shine.

Go get it boys! Go get that pow! I mean money!

Question: Would you ever stop surfing?

Limbless Jack

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What would it take for you to give up the great game?

My cousin killed himself over the Christmas break. He left no note, so no one really knows what was going on.

He did send his sister this video a while back and said it explained him:

I watched this and immediately thought about his surfing. He started before going off to college and quit in his late-twenties. I never asked him about it. I started surfing around the same age and still surf.

Could you quit surfing. Is it easy?

Maybe at this point in your life you have different goals, different ideas that lead you away from the surf. Like giving it all up and moving away from the water. You sell your gear to some kid on Craigslist and move to the Midwest. Then you go through a series of hobbies and sports chasing the high you used to get from surfing.

Maybe a slow but continuous growth of responsibilities and commitments makes it happen. Perhaps having a child and gaining weight does it. Maybe the end comes when your wife asks why there are surfboards lying around.

Would you still consider yourself a surfer as you slowly grow apart from that part of your life? At which point do you stop identifying yourself as a surfer?

Maybe at this point in your life you have different goals, different ideas that lead you away from the surf. Like giving it all up and moving away from the water. You sell your gear to some kid on Craigslist and move to the Midwest. Then you go through a series of hobbies and sports chasing the high you used to get from surfing. Eventually, you land on running and whatever the latest craze might be, like rock climbing.

Is surfing even good for us? I’m in my thirties and am only just starting to figure out my career after a string of menial jobs. If I gave surfing up now entirely, would I be free to chase a real career? Is surfing keeping me at the blue-collar work level, like so many of the other surfers we see in the lineup.

I need to keep moving to feel like I am accomplishing something. I feel better when I surf. I am less agitated and it keeps me in shape. Studies have even shown that surfing helps people deal with PTSD. It keeps kids out of gangs, teaches people how to cope with anxiety and builds solid communities of people dedicated to the ocean.

On the other hand, I hate any job that keeps me out of the water or inactive. I need to keep moving to feel like I am accomplishing something. I feel better when I surf. I am less agitated and it keeps me in shape. Studies have even shown that surfing helps people deal with PTSD. It keeps kids out of gangs, teaches people how to cope with anxiety and builds solid communities of people dedicated to the ocean.

Jean-Paul Satre, the French philosopher, once said that we are “condemned to freedom.”

We have to have a purpose in life and I wonder if surfing is mine.

I don’t know… fuck fish.

Cold: Snowy Tubes Are Best!

Michael Ciaramella

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What would it take for you to surf in sub-zero conditions?

What’s the coldest weather you’ve ever surfed in? Was it thirty, forty, fifty degrees Fahrenheit?

This particular session took place in sub-zero wind chill conditions. ‘Twas the morning after a fresh snow in New Jersey, and the system responsible for the pow left a few ripples in its wake. Post-storm offshores are a consistent meteorological pattern this time of year, making tube time a foregone conclusion. This is what New Jersey surfers live for.

East coast surfing is unique in its reliance on local storm systems. Waves come not from massive low-pressure systems in a far-away corner of the sea, but from the sideways gales of a coastal squall. Because the wave-inducing storms are so close to the receiving shoreline, swells are quite fickle, often coming and going in a few short hours. If you miss the window, you might be out of the water for another two weeks.

This means preparation and an undying commitment to forgo school, work, and familial duties. It’s not a great way to maintain relationships or a functioning bank account, but what are you gonna do? Not surf?

For guys like Sam Hammer and Rob Kelly that’s not an option.  They’ve constructed their lives in a way that caters to a swell’s unpredictability, and as a result they get more barreled than most. I won’t try to tell you that the waves in this clip are tremendous, nor that the surfing is a spectacle. But it’s an interesting piece that gives a little insight and a lot of credence towards their chosen lifestyle.

You don’t gotta love it, but you damn well better respect it.

Rip city: Japanese man makes adventure!

Chas Smith

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Have you ever been caught in a vicious rip current? Did you survive?

I’m still in Japan etc. Snowboarding. Pow. Turns. Miso. Edamame. Etc. but did you read the story about the Japanese man who is in Australia and drifted 6 kilometers out to sea whilst surfing Bulli Beach south of Sydney?

6 kilometers!

Let’s read about him!

He got into trouble in a current, tried to paddle back into shore, but the waves were too big, he told police.

“He was attempting to paddle back in for six hours before he ran out of energy and drifted at sea,” Inspector Darren Wood from the Marine Area Command of NSW Police said.

He spent the night clinging to his surfboard and it is estimated he spent about 16 hours in the water.

Luckily, the eagle-eyed crew of the 300-metre long container ship MSC Damla spotted the man on top of his yellow surfboard.

As he drifted alongside the ship, the crew threw him a life buoy, and were able to pull him aboard.

He was given food and drink and warm clothing, and the crew contacted authorities. A boat was sent out to the container ship to retrieve him.

He was taken to Wollongong Hospital where a doctor said he was in surprisingly good health with high spirits, and he was discharged Friday afternoon.

Police said there was no active search conducted for the man, as he was not reported missing.

The surfer told the police he had travelled to Australia a couple of times before.

“He appears to be travelling by himself, and that was why no-one was alerted to the fact that he was stuck in this rip and that he was out there,” Inspector Wood said.

And what a feel-good story!

Have you ever been caught in a really bad rip current? I was once in Oregon and had to cling to a rock whilst my Nev potato chip got ripped off my leg and probably went all the way to Japan.

Photo: Jack English
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