Surf gal with ass as precious as bone china hunts hurricanes, gets barrelled, ain't afraid to wipe out.
San Clemente by way of North Shore surfer Anastasia Ashley is known for many things. Twerking, half a million Instagram followers, pictures in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit edition and Playboy, sexy commercial spots for hamburger chain Carl’s Jr. etc. etc. etc. She is famous and will become more famous shortly. But at the end of the day, she is simply a San Clemente by way of North Shore surfer. Just like Laird Hamilton, (except very much better).
She hunts swell, she runs into hurricanes, she gets frothed over too scientific wave forecasts, she gets barreled. And while you are free to draw any conclusion based upon her social persona, I have known Anastasia for the better part of seven years and can say she is nothing if not a charger. First on a bodyboard (at age 4) then on surfboard (at age 7) and now, sometimes, on a big ol’ gun. She surfs Sunset, she surfs Waimea, she surfs thumping Mexican beachbreak. And right here, exclusively, she can be seen taking a thick lip to the head.
“It was bad…” she told me while we sipped happy hour margaritas. “…I took this one and got totally smashed. And when I came up, I got stuck in the impact zone. It wasn’t pushing me to shore. I wasn’t getting pulled back out. I just sat there and took wave after wave after wave on the head. It wasn’t very fun.”
I’ve never been smashed by a wave that big but can’t imagine it would have been. In fact, I would have retired from the surfs forever. Anastasia, though, is not me (and, thankfully not Laird). The upcoming Pacific forecast is for even bigger surf and she is planning on running back to Mexico to get some more. A charger, I tell you. And while Terry Richardson may photograph her (more on this later) and while her fame may exceed that of Julia Roberts, she is at the end of the day, a surfer. And our little world is better off for it.
Update: Back in July, and straight off the plane from Miami fashion week (rigorous!), Anastasia shot with Blossom Berkofsky for the sophisticated men’s title Maxim. The magazine is currently on the shelves in the US. Watch the vision from the shoot here!
not ready for steppys
OK that title is misleading
You don’t like to be pounded? I do! We all do! It’s the trampoline of life! Don’t be so square!
Nice work on the cheap and degrading headline. Maybe you could be half intelligent with your words rather than lower your level to that of chauvinistic pigs. I hope Anastasia Ashley’s mum reads this and is proud.
I once got pounded in the shore break at D Bah in front of Dane Reynolds.