Evidence that surf great Kelly Slater has actually retired grows with release of sensual new photo book

"From his famous morning pancakes to strumming guitar with his friends."

It is certainly beginning to feel that Kelly Slater might be retiring from professional surfing. The 11x world champion has been on a “best life tour” of late, popping around Europe, golfing, attending college football games with famous friends. Of course he is taking some time to surf his various tubs, also with famous friends, and generally seems to be in a good mood.

That easy life.

To cap off the overall sense that the greatest competitive surfer of all time is moving gracefully into his golden years, a retrospective photo book by the legendary Todd Glaser has just hit the shelves. Forwarded by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, Kelly Slater: A Life of Waves “celebrates fifteen years of Slater’s exhilarating adventures, from 2008 to 2023: Slater’s most iconic surf sessions including the first-ever wave ridden at his Surf Ranch, as well as behind-the-scenes shots inside Slater’s home, from his famous morning pancakes to strumming guitar with his friends.”

The tome has raced up Amazon’s best-seller charts and is currently the #1 new release in surfing (#5 overall) and #5 in celebrity photography.

There are currently no customer reviews but the whole business certainly does have the essence of finality, no? That 2023 is, officially, the end even though Slater surfed through 2024. So, will you be sad, come Pipeline Pro, when he is surfing as a wildcard, also surfing as a wildcard in Abu Dhabi, J-Bay, Tahiti and a smattering of others?

The end of an era, certainly.