People will remember many things about the Rolling Retro this year. There was incredible weather, more hot girls in bikinis than the Playboy mansion, one hell of a party and of course there were insane waves! Stand out performances from the likes of Dale Staples, Josh Brodie, Robbie Schofield and Jacques Smit had the crowd on the beach screaming for makes and groaning for wipeouts. Enjoy the video and make sure that next year you dont miss this event…
Big thanks to the other sponsors: Red Bull, Billabong, Striped Horse, El Jimador, Hurricane Surf, Vudu Surf, Von Zipper
The Xgames Winter edition in Norway has been going down and there have been some insane performances. Mark McMorris coming from the death to take Big Air Gold in the snowboard, Henrik Harlaut absolutely blowing away the other men in the Ski Big Air, a last run win for Sven Thorgren in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle and then what has to be the number 1 pick, Shaun White, getting a perfect 100 score in the Super Pipe for Gold. Seriously, does this guy not stop? Enjoy the vids…
The inaugural Nitro World Games took place July 16 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Travis Pastrana changed the game so many times it only made sense that his dream event would do the same thing. There were 32 never before done tricks at the Nitro Games this weekend, from the likes of winners Colton Walker,Levi Sherwood, Elliot Sloan, Gregg Duffy and with the new formats and judging system we may just see even more very soon. What will be especially interesting is how this will effect the more staple events such as X games and Dew Tour. Of course some of the events had mostly Nitro Circus athletes, who are the only people able to hit the giant ramps with specially modified landings, but it dont change the fact that the guys made history! Check out the winning runs below and I have also put the entire event stream up for you guys. Make some popcorn, gran a cold one and blow your mind!
On a side note, it is very interesting to see the outcry online over why they did not show the scooter and inline runs. While both are almost non-existent in SA, scooter has one of the biggest fan bases in the USA. On top of this it was a scooter athlete, Ryan Williams, who won the BMX best trick with a never before seen trick!
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 cant tell you how stoked I am for my guy, Steven Steezy Sawyer. The kid has been on a serious roll, with the release of his first album, which rocks, winning the SA Longboard Title earlier this year and now he takes out the Jbay Supertrial against a stacked field of the best SA Supers rippers. I am also stoked because I know Steezy can cause havoc in the Jbay Open, he won the wildcard, and I promise you the top boys will be very nervous! Nice to see the old boy, Shaun Holmes in the final and still ripping the place apart. Check out this cool video of the day with an even cooler soundtrack…
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,
“Are you kidding me!” was the phrase of choice for the commentators on the final day of the Volcom Pipe Pro. After utter perfection the day before, Pipe and Backdoor were a little meaner and bigger on finals day, but there were some ridiculous performances from the likes of Jamie O’Brien, Bruce Irons, Makai McNamara and of course the winner, Kelly Slater. (All 4 made the final). Jamie’s one wave at Pipeline had Kelly quoted as saying it was the best Pipe wave he had ever seen. So sit back and watch the show…
Volcom Pipe Pro Official Results
Shown in order of 1st through 4th. Surfers from Hawaii unless otherwise noted.
1st – Kelly Slater (USA) $16,000 and 3000 pts
2nd – Jamie O’Brien (HAW) $10,000 and 2250 pts
3rd – Makai McNamara (HAW) $4,750 and 1680 pts
4th – Bruce Irons (HAW) $4,250 and 1580 pts
Light trade off shores, groomed lines, jumping whales and perfect pits greeted surfers on Day 2 of the Volcom Pipe Pro 2016. For those of us on the opposite end of the earth, it meant another sleepless night as we watched in awe as tube after magnificent tube were ridden. It was a truly flawless day at Pipeline with a few gems at the Backdoor. Stand out surfers were Bruce Irons, Chris Ward, Jack Robinson and of course the man who has won this event more than any other, John Florence.
In a nail biter heat, Bruce Irons (HAW) jumped from third place to first with just forty seconds left on the clock. Sitting on the Backdoor side, Irons pulled into one of the biggest right-hand barrels of the day and navigated an exit as an explosion of cheers erupted from the beach crowd. With a 9.40 score, Irons secured the heat win and a slot into Round 4.
“The conditions are as good as it gets,” said the Kauai surfer. “It’s definitely probably one of the best days of winter. Lefts, rights, 8-10 feet offshore, what more do you want?”
To be honest I was a little bleak we were on at the same time as the Jbay Open yesterday, but that feeling dissipated real fast as the Under 16 and Junior Boys heats took to the water at Magnatubes in Jbay and the level of surfing went through the roof! Top junior surfers like Matti Mcgilivray and Dylan Lightfoot battled with international super juniors like Seth Moniz and Griffin Colapinto. Matti landing a hail mary air in his quarter final to get a 10 point ride and Griffin getting the first perfect 10 of the event in his Round 1 heat. Check out the video and be impressed! Seriously I reckon you would have been more entertained at the Junior event than at the main event at Supertubes.
Red Bull X-Fighters stepped it up in a major way at the first event ever in Greece. Alley-oop flairs, 360 Supermans, and Bike Flips?! Guess that’s what it takes nowadays to compete with the world’s best in FMX. The level of progression has blown out of the water, and Red Bull X-Fighters Athens was proof in the pudding. Take a look back at the event recap, and big ups to Clinton Moore for his second consecutive win.
Remember that X_fighters comes to Pretoria at the Union Buildings on the 12th September 2015. Tickets start from R295 and are available at Computicket. For more information, please visit: www.redbullxfighters.com
