Free Surfing rapes, kills, eats and then sh!ts out the WSL. JuliaeP what about if the WSL is filled with 20 something white males. Then do you like it?
Nope--never have. But I have seen many films of contestants getting caught inside. Now, the reason I never have surfed there, is because I hate crowds way more than I love surfing. I only surf mostly the week, very early, when there are no or hardly no surfers out. Weekends, if there is a large swell running (that is a joke here in NH), I will get out early or not at all. I do other things I enjoy to do as well. But I agree it would be nice to see Puerto escondido as a contest place on a big swell. that is the one place I would like to surf, but once again, on a gigantic day?? No, not anymore; 20 years ago yes. 10-12 ft faces (not swell) would be fun there. And then timing would be everything.
I have surfed there at size. the getting caught is from poor wave selection. or putting yourself too deep and west set licks you
my favorite videos are when they call off events due to unruly/ unpredictable conditions... for example they called off the pipemasters last year because pipe was going nuts, there were dudes going out there pulling some of the heaviest surfing ive ever watched... free surfings the way to go
guys face it, Julia is the typical 'fan' and they have wallets and the whores win....by a landslide!!! Julia, the whole WSL is owned by a shale oil jackoff who WRECKS the great barrier reef. it is a corporation!! why cant you understand that??!?! they corporatize a spiritual activity how dumb are you!?!?! AARRGGGGGGSSSSSS the cognitive dissidence with this yatch hurts my brain pan
http://www.surfermag.com/features/the-new-asp/#7mkjzjoclU5Obrdu.97 here you go girl read this..are women allowed to learn to read? make sure you ask your man first dont want you to get in trouble.
sunset, I enjoy retreating to the channel when the horizon goes black, dont have that option at puerto
Oh yeah, a channel is nice for a safe breather; no doubt. Tres Palmas has similar arrangement. Used to surf that at size when younger, but at age 64 one loses a lot of pulmonary capacity even with normal lungs. I don't smoke thank god. Functional lung tissue declines starting around age 30. But I still go out at Tres Palmas when somewhat large. Last December I went out on a nice day, defined as 12-14 ft faces, rare 15 footer. Only 5 of us out. About 2 weeks later a surfer from Washington State drowned in surf of similar size. It was nice growing up there. Unfortunately, NH does not get anything like that; perhaps every 6 years, but most breaks close out.
In what way do you guys think professional surfing 'ruined surfing'? I feel like professional skateboarding may be 'ruining' skateboarding right now. But in reality, there is still a ton of space within skating for expression. This ain't the NFL, and the WSL ain't the NFL either. But also, it's reality that professional skateboarding isn't really negative, the marketing and industry bull**** is. I'm not saying WSL isn't corporate scum. I'm just saying, what 'ruined' surfing isn't the WSL, it's capitalism and the hordes of shameless marketing drones it produces. Fiji was still awesome, and I'm still gonna watch the Superbowl every year, even if it makes me feel a little disgusted. The reason the comps can be sick to watch is the same reason it's sick to watch people shred in real life, you're acutely aware of the impossibility of what they pull off; it's impressive and inspiring. But I wouldn't even pass up waist high waves to watch a comp. Free surfing ... that shouldn't even be a term, when .02 percent of the surfing population competes.
I am a fan of free surfing because i feel that is the spirit of the sport, to have fun and share the stoke with a few friends, not to make money off of it.
Even as "dye-in-the-wool" capitalist myself, I agree with you assessment 100%. The profit motive has indeed ruined surfing. I guess it is a backlash of the culture we live in. But I simply ignore the marketing. Admittedly, I know I have benefitted from companies being in surfing, i.e., better boards and wetsuits, etc, which usually emerges as a function of market competition. But pendulums swing both ways. Witness tennis as an example--when McEnroe, Borg, Connors were playing, all of America watched every match. Not so much today. It has subsided; many community tennis courts remain empty most of the days. In the 80s, it was waiting lines and people actually fighting for access to the courts (sound familiar??) Of course, as for myself, by the time this surfing spurt subsides, I will be lucky if I can chew my Pablum.....ha!!
I'll watch the contests when I have the free time, not because I like the contests but because it's surfing. The whole idea of surfing being a competitive sport goes against everything that surfing is to me. BUT I do enjoy watching because it's the pros surfing unedited, and sometimes in more average Joe kinda conditions. I find that interesting to watch sometimes. But visually, the lines guys draw out in video parts and the overall better/diffrent style allot of them, that's much more pleasing to me. Summary- Free surfing. When I was little and I had the Kelly Slater pro surfer game, if only play as Donavon because he was a soul surfer and didn't do contests. Even at age 12 I knew what was up
I have a hard time watching any one surf because it makes me crazy if there are no waves for me to surf. Me no like surf contest. Whores. I agree with all the soul surfiers comments in this post. Surf for the pure stoke.