Home of, The Regular Guy and Adventure
Matt Bromley has been traveling to score the biggest waves on the planet for his current movie project. While putting in ridiculous performances at some of the world’s biggest waves, his exploits have been filmed and featured. HE also got 3rd place in the Mavericks Big Wave Awards, rubbing shoulders with the biggest names in the sport. Check out the video above and follow Matt to see his mind blowing new film soon…
Come with us and drive, ride, fight and surf; the athletes of the Monster Energy roster are nothing short of sensational. From conquering the highest jumps, fastest roads, and toughest opponents; it takes something very special to beast the sporting world at an elite level. What’s more few people ever get to witness the levels of focus and dedication needed to turn ambition into reality. That was until now…
Through an incredible six part series, Monster Energy’s Come With Us, charts the lives, careers and journeys of six very different athletes. Each striving to compete and win at the very top of their game, and within their chosen discipline.
Better still, it’s the raw behind the scenes access that fans love, and you have been waiting for; covering rallying, free skiing, motorcycle Grand Prix racing, big wave surfing, mixed martial arts, and freestyle mountain biking.
Strap in and hold on; because it is time for a wild ride into sporting greatness, that you definitely won’t want to miss…
The rise and rise of Oliver Solberg through the ranks has been as fast as the 19 year old on a twisting mountain rally stage. Son of 2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg, Oliver is so much more than just part of an off-road racing dynasty. His talent, focus, and results fly in the face of his relatively young years. Together with his co-driver Aaron Johnston, Solberg is determined and redline obsessed to become World Champion. With thousands of kilometres and corners laying ahead though; it’s going to be anything but easy. Delve into rallying and Solberg’s quest for victory like you’ve never seen before.
The pool of incredible talent in women’s Slopestyle skiing has been getting stronger every season and part of that new wave is Giulia Tanno. The 22-year-old Swiss skier has been competing on the world circuit since the age of 15 and has won some of the highest accolades in her field; including 4 XGames medals, Audi Nines wins and podiums at several FIS World Cups. While a lot of ladies show technical skill or stylish riding, Giulia is one of the rare few who are blending both, blazing a trail for a new type of women’s Slopestyle skier. With huge air comes huge risks and despite weathering multiple injuries and a concussion Giulia is as hardcore as they come. Take a fresh look at Free-skiing with her story.
Episode 3: Wake up in the morning. Charge some crazy slab waves. Welcome to Nic Von Rupp’s world. The 30-year-old surfing prodigy has already nailed a successful competitive career, and has now changed direction to focus his sights on becoming the best big wave rider in the world. For the uninitiated it is a sight to behold; waves that could dwarf apartment buildings; speeds in excess of 80km/h; the full force of the ocean harnessed in a single wave. Yet Rupp stares it all down with a relaxed stance and a sunbathed smile, and hours and hours of preparation. Don’t just take our word for it; Come With Us on a big wave ride like you’ve never seen before.
Adolf Silva: Ripping on a bike is what 23 year old Silva lives for. He risks his life for it; because it’s what moves him, what makes him feel alive. Knowing that every day he can improve and grow with his sport motivates him immensely. A true lifestyle action sport athlete, Silva’s career has already encompassed dizzying highs and total lows – not least when at age 17 he spent 10 days in a coma due to a crash, only to bounce back from injury to land the first ever triple backflip on a Slopestyle bike. If it’s got wheels he’ll ride it, and if there’s a ramp he’ll likely jump it. Come With Us and witness it all.
Fabio Quartararo: They don’t call him El Diablo for nothing. If ever there was a rider on the very cusp of greatness then surely it is Fabio Quartararo. The son of a former French 125cc motorcycle champion, Fabio cut his teeth in motocross at a very young age before moving to Spain with his family aged seven. From there he quickly progressed through the Pre-GP Mediterranean ranks, counting off the championships with nonchalant ease. In only his first year of premier class racing, in 2019, Fabio scored an impressive seven podiums from 19 starts with the Petronas Yamaha SRT team. What’s more this season, the French ace replaces none other than Valentino Rossi at the factory Yamaha racing team. Come With Us to witness Fabio’s rise and blistering pace, now at the bars of factory machinery.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk: You don’t get to be a six time Muay Thai world champion, and a leading mixed martial arts fighter in the UFC without being truly and undeniably hardcore. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – or JJ to her fans – knows this, and the string of opponents she’s knocked out don’t need telling again either. There’s an incredible flip side to the 33 year old from northern Poland though, who pushes herself to the limit outside of the ring too. JJ recently said: “My biggest opponent is time because there are only 24 hours in the day and I have so many things going on. I’m just trying to live my best life. In or out of the cage, with or without the belt, I carry myself as a champ and work on my legacy, every single day.”
Having been involved with Adaptive Surfing for a couple of years now, I won’t bother to talk about the inspiration, bravery or positivity that comes from working with these surfers. By now it should be pretty self evident.
What I will chat about is that this event changed the game for the sport. Red and Milo, the organizers, told me they wanted to do an adaptive event that pushed the surfers and the sport. That is why they chose Bali as a location, they wanted to to show that adaptive surfers could compete in real waves and that they would rise to the challenge.
Rise to the challenge they had to. Day one was pretty challenging at 3-4ft and heaving over the Echo reef. Day 2 was called off due to it being way to big and the finals day required the use of a jetski for water assist, as the venue at Old Mans in Canggu was well overhead. Never mind the insane shore break the surfers had to get through, just to reach the ski and get out into the lineup.
The guys and girls rose to the occasion. No longer will they be happy to compete in “safe”, small and lets face it, pretty boring beach break conditions like those found at the World Champs in San Diego. These are real surfers, that want to compete in real waves. The Bali Adaptive Pro proved that the sport is ready for it and that these surfers not only can handle themselves, they excel in these conditions.
With a couple of other events being held around the globe and a growing crew of hard charging adaptive surfers, I would not be surprised to see a new world tour arriving on the surfing calendar very shortly.
The South African big wave community have been charging both at home and around the planet for many years. Surfers like Grant Twig Baker, who just won the Nazare Challenge, focused the eyes of the world on the spots in and around Cape Town. Sunset Reef and Dungeons are the focal point of that attention. Satori, the new film by Rick Wall, tells the stories of the surfers who have pioneered these spots and that of the new generation of chargers.
The big waves of the Cape have a fearsome reputation for good reason. Giant, powerful swells out of the Antarctic Ocean slam into the Cape Peninsula, the water is frigidly cold and the world’s biggest oceanic predator, the Great White, petrols the waters. The surfers who push themselves in these waters are a special breed. Satori will take you into their lives and their passion for big waves.
The movie does not just cover surfers who are famous world wide, like two time Big Wave World Champion, Grant Twig Baker, and adventure legend, Chris Bertish. It will also show you into the somewhat mystical pioneers, like Pierre De Villiers and Mickey Duffus. The new school of guys like Matt Bromley and Jeremy Johnson are also covered. This film will take you into the tight knit community and show you their lives.
You can watch the premier of Satori this Saturday in Cape Town – Go to this LINK
I watched this film and simply marvelled at how how big Bromdog’s balls actually are! He is not afraid to go over the ledge in big waves and thus this short film deserves your time…
Risky Business from Guy Mac on Vimeo.
“…the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved…” “Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” – Jack Kerouac
Step out of your comfort zone; explore new places, meet new people and throw all caution to the wind – you never know where you’ll land up! Risky Business is all about putting yourself out there, and the rewards found at the end of the road less travelled.
Risky Business captures the journey of South African surfer Matt Bromley and filmer Guy Macindoe while they travel to some of the riskier places on earth in their pursuit of surf perfection; from surfing between icebergs in Iceland, to charging massive mountains of water at Jaws in Hawaii, to dropping into near-dry tubes over unforgiving ledges in Africa. The idea was to produce a contemporary surf film, one that showed the risks behind the reward of chasing global swells on a shoe string budget, all the while living every surfers dream for a year between South Africa, Europe, Hawaii, Iceland and Indonesia. The hope is that Risky Business will inspire its audiences to stretch the boundaries of their own capacity, flee their comfort zones, and chase all things bigger and better. Matt and Guy both stretched themselves to make this film a reality; traveling in debt and in fear of not knowing what was around the next swell. All their equipment was stolen in Portugal and they suffered many other hardships along the way, but as Matt reports, “It was worth every moment of risk, and made the journey and experience that much more unforgettable.”
Listen to the call of the road, and follow. Risky Business. This is their story in 25-mins.
First off, these guys have gigantic balls, brass ones! Secondly, they are either trust fund kids, or have really good friends, because dam, they have all the toys. Either way, I cant wait to see the final movie, though it may give me slab nightmares. Watch the trailer for, Society Unseen and be amazed.
Society Unseen from Rick Rifici on Vimeo.
Producer – Cinemachine / cinemachine.com
Executive Director – Rick Rifici / rickrifici.com
Cinematography – Rick Rifici Cinematography, Michael McDermott Cinematography and Michael Elsegood / transvision.com.au
Video Editing – Joel Taylor, Boogie Monster / boogiemonster.com.au
Sound Editing – Brainestorm / brainestorm.com
Aviation – Corsaire Aviation corsaireaviation.com.au
Equipment – HD Rentals / hdrentals.tv
Photography – Chris White Media / theoceanpeople.com
Management & Marketing – Black Sea Creative & Red Eye Productions / blackseacreative.com
Surfers – Kerby Brown, Cortney Brown, Bradley Norris, Luke Wyllie, Imogen Caldwell and Phillip Read
@kerby_brown
@cortneycbrown
@bradleynorris
@lukeyskywalker
@imogencaldwell
@choppa_read
All Media Enquiries – info@societyunseen.com
societyunseen.com
I met Ian Walsh a few years back in Cape Town. He was out for the Dungeons event and ended up on a few missions with myself and the local crew. He struck me as such a nice guy, very relaxed and always keen for a good time. In the interim, he has become one of the leading big wave chargers and on the mega swells at jaws, he is always a standout. I can wait to see his film!
In Distance Between Dreams, the most historic year in big wave surfing comes to life through the eyes of iconic surfer, Ian Walsh, as he sets mind and body in motion to redefine the upper limits of what’s considered ‘rideable.’ With massive El Niño powered swells building across the Pacific, Ian, Shaun, D.K. and Luke Walsh band together in a way that only brothers can to progress surfing to unimaginable heights.
Coming December 2016. http://DistanceBetweenDreams.com
Starring:
Ian Walsh
Shane Dorian
John John Florence
Greg Long
DK Walsh, Shaun Walsh & Luke Walsh
A Film By: Rob Bruce
Ok, so John John drops the second video in his new Twelve series with Hurley and I watch it and it blows my mind. From huge waves, to doing massive punts in big waves to surfing Pipeline, he rips it all. By the end I actually said to my mate, I wonder when Jordy Smith is going to drop a boss edit like this again and true as all hell, a few days later he drops a new web video, with some insanely progressive power surfing. Pound for pound these two videos will get you frothing for your next surf (Or maybe not frothing as you realise how far ahead these two gents are!) Either way, prepare yourself for 20 minutes of radical surfing from my two favorite surfers to watch…
Hurley Presents -Twelve– A New Series From John John Florence (2 of 7) from Alex Wang on Vimeo.
WOW, what an incredible day of big wave surfing. South Africa can be proud as we watched Matt Bromley charge one of the biggest tubes of the day before the contest started, followed by Grant Twig Baker charging into the semi finals – which will go down today! Check out the highlights video below, i know its 16 minutes, but it is so worth it, I promise!
PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Oaxaca/Mexico (Friday, June 24, 2016) – South Africa’s Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker started his campaign for the 2016/17 World Surf League (WSL) Big Wave Tour (BWT) title with a solid second place finish in his Round 1 heat of the Puerto Escondido Challenge in Mexico on Friday.
Held in monstrous 10 metre (30-foot-plus) unruly waves and challenging beach break conditions, the 2013 BWT champion from Durban showcased his big wave skills, finding several huge hollow tubes, and demonstrating his commitment and bravado by taking several bone-crushing wipe-outs.
Will Skudin (USA) claimed the heat win with a 22.07 heat total over Baker by only 0.74 points. Rogercin Ramirez (MEX), event wildcard and local favorite, opened Heat 2 with a huge barrel, pulling off a technical exit to earn an authoritative 9.00, which brought the large hometown crowd to their feet.
Ramirez held the lead against the field, but with 15 fifteen minutes left in the 75 minute heat, Skudin and Baker fought back to secure the first and second positions. Skudin, Baker and Ramirez advanced to the Semifinals while BWT heavyweights Billy Kemper (HAW) and Damien Hobgood (USA), along with local wildcard Coco Nogales (MEX) were knocked out of the competition.
“It was hard to find those corners out there,” Skudin said. “It was big and heavy, and I just put my head down and kept on going. I was hoping that eventually I’d lock one down and make a good barrel. Unfortunately, I didn’t make a really good barrel, but I made it through the heat.”
Reigning BWT Champion Greg Long (USA) led the field with back-to-back solid scores in Round 1 Heat 1 and was the first surfer to secure his place in the Semifinals. Long set the pace for the opening heat of the event by picking off multiple right-hand barrels to earn a 20.01 heat score (out of a possible 30).
Albee Layer (HAW) secured a 12.83 heat score and the second position. Kai Lenny (HAW) and Gabriel Villaran (PER) battled for third place, but it was Lenny who showcased full commitment as he pulled into a deep barrel and edged out Villaran by only 3.10 points.
“The waves are really good right now and there are a lot of corners if you know where to sit,” Long said. “I actually deliberately rode a much bigger board than I ever do out here. There is a lot more volume so I could cover the ground that I needed to. It is something new for me, but in a heat if you can’t catch a wave, nothing else matters. My strategy was to keep moving around wherever it was clean and I locked in four waves.”
2014/15 BWT Champion Makuakai Rothman (HAW) charged through Heat 3, with Pedro Calado (BRA) and BWT veteran Carlos Burle (BRA) close behind. Rothman, last year’s BWT runner-up, locked in a near-perfect 9.50 and a solid 7.80 back-up score. Calado fired with an excellent 9.07 and 6.93 to earn the second position. With only 0.29 points between Burle and event wildcard Angelo Lozano (MEX), Burle’s 23.56 heat total was enough to advance to the Semifinals.
“This is my second time to Mexico and the waves are really fun,” said Rothman. “I was just in the right place at the right time. I am not thinking about the end result. I am just thinking about my first wave tomorrow morning and hopefully I am in the right spot. The local boys charge.”
Jamie Mitchell (AUS) netted the highest single-wave score of Round 1, a perfect 10.00, with an extremely technical barrel ride in Heat 4. Mitchell’s final heat tally, a near-perfect 29.03, was the highest of the day, earning him the heat win and a place in the Semifinals. The bout also saw high-scoring rides from local wildcard Jimel Corzo (MEX) and Rusty Long (USA), who will also progressed to the Semifinals.
“I think we were all worried about the fourth heat with the wind coming up, but I think we scored the best conditions of the day,” Mitchell said. “The tide was dropping, the winds stayed glassy and the swell was peaking. I found an early right hander and nearly made it out, which put me into a good rhythm. I found that left and didn’t think I was going to make it, but somehow I pulled out of that. It was an historic day. Incredible surf and incredible barrels.”
Event officials will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. local time (about 3pm SA time) for a possible 7:30 a.m. start.
For more information, log onto WorldSurfLeague.com where the Puerto Escondido Challenge will be webcast LIVE.
I could go into a whole lot of expletives, rants about the WSL banning their surfers and of course the sometimes brilliant, sometimes absolutely terrible commentary, but what you really need to know is that a bunch of surfers charged some of the scariest slab ever witnessed in a competition and it was awesome!
An 18 year old took the win, see the cover picture, Russel Bierke showed up all the old chargers with a huge smile on his face. Watch the video, be amazed,
Red Bull Cape Fear Stomach-Turning Highlights from MSW on Vimeo.