can anyone share with me the point of riding the wedge (in any form)... i've watched lots of vids, and it seems to me the only goal is to make the drop. occasionally i'll see a stand up rider with apparent knowledge, experience, and skill do something with the wave, but mostly it looks like the goal is either to get a beat down or not. see the 5/4/15 vid up on this here site, which prompted me on this topic...the sponger at 2:20 is priceless
It's a rush man! It's pushing you forward like your a hood ornament on a freaking freight train or something!
If you ax me the wedge is boog wave...Rampy and breaking in no more then 3 ft of water I suppose it's mostly for the rush factor for stand ups When I was there last year there was swell running at around 4ft @ 14 secs which produced wedges anywhere from chest to a little over head..just like gas chambers if it's breaking it's always wonky and lots of backwash and if you take a digger at either one of these spots you'll feel it for a couple days
that's what i'm saying...cali seems full of options, and if there is a place 20-40 miles away that is peeling with open faces why get wedged...unless sheer boredom of the regular spots and a need to get thrashed
There's another break to the right of the wedge that is more friendly The rush and media coverage is the only reason I suppose
Also, I'm sure on the in between days there's barrels that are makeable and ramps worth boosting...from the perspective of a boog...
You would be correct SS There were plenty makeable barrels that put you right into a ramp the day I was there...getting tossed by the back wash is a blast too
If you've ever surfed/swam in big shore break, you should know... If you haven't... well you have no clue what you're missing
Ah HAWK your comparing swam to be a similar break to the wedge..MD shore pound does not compare The only place with similar qualities to the Wedge on the EC is Jenks
To prove to yourself that you can. I've ridden bigger waves, none of them were as viscerally scary as big wedge. From the beach at 15', it looks intimidating, but there's a lot of slope on the sand, so it looks smaller than when you're sitting under it watching the swell hump down the jetty and waiting for the set. There's regulars who hit it all the time and think nothing of it, but drive-ins like me just show up to clutter the water and get one or two glory drops. Paddling into it, it's m-f-ing fast, and you are sure to miss your first couple of attempts. The crowd forces you to go deeper than you'd want to, just to get something. Then, suddenly you find yourself deep--way deeper than you would want to be on a beast like this. 20 a-holes are hooting you in, and you know you have to commit. Don't look up, because it feels like you're hanging on the lip literally over the crowd on the beach, staring down at bikini cleavage, sunburnt tourists, and photogs. Watch the wave face stretch and go vertical as it jacks under you. You're stuck on the lip, stuck on the lip, stuck on the lip, then you break free and are air-dropping (feels like) farther than you've ever dropped before. Feel your bones pop as you hit, do. not. pearl. because you've gotta get off this hill before it hurls you all the way back to Jetty View. Go go go... here comes the brown tunnel of driving the wrong way straight into gas chambers, and you're thanking your lucky stars, because it seems like you're gonna live through this. Boom! You get crushed by a few feet OH sandmonster, but it's no worse than any normal beachbreak. Congratulations, you just rode the wedge. It's not really fun, just a thrill. I've never bothered trying it when it's not big--too far away, parking and the daytime bodsurfing blackball is a *tch. Getting pitched is actually not as bad as it looks. It's actually pretty soft with a lot of water between you and the sand. Or maybe I was just lucky. I never tried getting blasted going right, and the refraction launchpad wasn't working the day I was there.
This was on point BUMP. That refraction launch pad is bonkers when it's happening. The wedge breaks in deeper water if you make the drop and get down the line and get smashed in aboutz 1 foot of water when I was there Ah man I wish the New Jerseyian Wedge had that refraction sometimes..Nothing beats slamming a sixer and getting worked or doing the work in some shoreys
Yeah, Westies is actually heavier when it's doing it's thing, but I'm done with shorey. I'm old and I've still got a few functional brain cells that didn't get knocked out of my head from years of that s---. My goal in life is to never to get a bloody rash, through a m-f-ing 4/3, from getting bodyslammed onto stupid sand again.
Most surf there for the glamour!! Almost like being an airline stewardess years ago....all glamour, no brains....but fun!!
Nooo, I'm not comparing any break to the wedge. The wedge is the one and only, nothing compares to it... I have, however swam in 6-7ft shorey, bodyboarded 5 ft shorey... and it is a ton of fun. I know thats not nearly as big as the wedge gets, but I mean its EC... what can ya expect..
Well people hit it, opposed to other locales, because it's the biggest south swell monster there is because the jetty bounces a bit mo' size on the peak. It's a novelty-ish wave that attracts a circus atmosphere on the beach. It's like Southern California's Pipeline. Therefore, the lunatics come out from their holes or wholes and attack. Just another example of El Burro Mas Macho-ism portrayed by a subset of the surfing population. And someone has to fund Orange County doctors who specialize in neck and back injuries......Hey Newport Beach, beach-front homes don't pay for themselves. Ahh, Southern California. " AHHH, THE GREAT OUTDOOORS !!!" (Stawberry)
