The calm after the storm

Surfed Southern Los Angeles County this afternoon. It was the calm after the storm, a week after the giant south swell pounded the west coast and left surfers content for weeks.

"It's more of a wind-sport kind of day," I tell the lifeguard after he points out the sailboats racing past the beach. "Well that's okay, after last weekend," he replies.

"If it were like that every weekend, well, we would just be spoiled."

He laughs and pedals away on his dorky lifeguard bike with life-saving-device wrapped over the handle bars. His pot belly tells me he witnessed most of the big waves from his lifeguard stand at the state beach.

The wind was blowing 1-3 foot waves. Occasional fun lefts hit the pointbreak for a couple of surfers to turn off the lip a time or two. I caught a set wave backside, tried to get around a section before I dipped out as the wave crashed onto the rocks.

The local guys were friendly, a dude tossed me a piece of wax when I showed up at the beach with a clean 8'0" (Forgot I cleaned off my longboard for the first time in three years.)

There was a shit-ton of kelp out there though. I don't know if it was because of the big waves (the side of the road was blanketed in tarps) but it seemed like the ocean was a bit stirred up.

After an action-packed weekend with all eyes on the ocean last weekend it's refreshing for a mellow surf session at a unfamiliar spot. Even if it did cost me $6 in parking...only in SoCal.

The End: How ending the ride matters most

Watch how Yadin Nicol, Bobby Martinez, Julian Wilson end a wave. While every maneuver and critical decision made during a ride counts toward the overall score, it’s the way a surfer ends a ride and kicks out of the wave that can be the most memorable, as well as amp their score into the next bracket.

Lakey Peterson scored a 10 point ride on the wave that she finished with an air at the NSSA Nationals at Lower Trestles this year. She was the first female to do so in NSSA competition. The last move is memorable, it’s exciting and it’s the last thing the judges see of a surfer’s performance. Once the people behind the panel know that airs are possible, they are looking to throw more points for them as well.

With young guns such as Coco Ho from Sunset Beach, HI blowing up the competition scene, more airs are likely to be seen in women’s surfing competition. She hucked an air for the sake of showing priority on a wave at the Roxy Jam in Hawaii in a heat against seven time world champ Layne Beachley.

This pushes women surfers to expand their range of maneuvers as well as cause great surfers to fall in competitive surfing. The future of the ASP World Tour will see more surfing above the lip, so who’s the next Air Jordan?

Moore Deals

Carissa Moore, the 16 year old young gun out of Honolulu, HI has added another sticker to her much-photographed surfboard. After leaving her long time partnership with Roxy, Moore signed sponsorship deals with mega brands Red Bull and Nike. On July 23rd she announced her new deal with Target, which will coincidently open two stores on the Hawaiian islands.

Letter to the Department of Transportation of California

Transportation is something that I am very concerned about as a citizen of California. I am a college graduate, I live where I can afford and I commute to any internship opportunity I receive.

Last summer I commuted an hour between Long Beach and Dana Point. This summer I commute 30 minutes from Thousand Oaks to Malibu.

Traffic and gas prices suck, but the answer isn't throwing more money into a bill to increase vehicle efficiency. I witnessed firsthand at Zero Air Pollution Vehicles (ZAP) that the problem isn't entirely the vehicles, but the amount of them on the roads.

We need to spend money on public transportation that is RELIABLE, CONVENIENT and COMFORTABLE. Transportation was awful in Hawaii, but that was to be expected moving to an isolated island. In the state of California we have one of the most dense populations in the nation filled with people with money in their pocket.
We also have people that need jobs.

It is essential to spend money to improve transportation in the state of California but it is not effective unless we construct researched, logical means of allocating that fund in helping reshape California's expectations of transportation.

Sincerely, a young Californian excited to participate in government,

Jenna Goldberg2009 CSU Long Beach graduate of the school of journalism

Lakey lands it: NSSA surfer goes above the lip to take the title

For anyone that doesn’t already know, the NSSA National Championship is an exciting event to witness. “It was unbelievable,” said 2009 champ Lakey Peterson. The last stop on the National Scholastic Surfing Association tour of USA was held at Lower Trestles surf break in the state of California and deemed the “Governor’s Cup.” The “Governator” was not the excitement within the event, but the astounding level of competitive surfing the young women showed throughout all rounds and within every heat (the only guns were biceps and the only bombs were the four foot sets rolling in from outside.) However there were a full cast of characters in the water as the best competitive surfers nationwide participated in the prestigious event, pushing the performance of women’s surfing in every heat.

Most imperative to note looking into the event lineup is title defender Courtney Conologue, 16 who turned out to fight for a repeat title at the NSSA national championship. With the last two year’s titles to her name, the Californian pushed through her heats and showed her strength at the Lower Trestles surf break. She positioned herself for several of the bigger waves of her heats and showed total commitment for every drop-in. She used the larger, set waves to full advantage, carving powerful turns from the bottom to the top of the wave and demonstrated her powerful backside. She couldn’t find the waves she needed to better her score in the finals however, and finished second in the event overall.

Advancing through different heats than Courtney was the record breaker, Malia Manuel, 15 of Wailua, Hawaii. The young Kauaian continued her success on the NSSA tour, after taking the US Open title last year, the youngest competitor in the event’s history. Malia saw high scores from the judges on every wave she rode in the semifinals, finishing with 8.75, 7.75 and a 7. Her smooth style and vertical maneuvers gave everyone a reason to watch, including the Hawaii ‘Ohana that cooked and cheered on the young surfers from the beach. Malia showed strength up to the last minute of competition in the finals. With five minutes remaining the excitement built as sets rolled in and girls paddled hard to catch their last opportunity to improve their wave score combination. Malia and Lakey jumped back and forth between the first and second spot before Courtney found a wave to better her score and secure second place.

It was the dark horse that took the 2009 National Championship title. Few people could identify Lakey Peterson, 14 coming into the event, but they will not forget her performance in the orange jersey. The excitement exploded in the finals when Lakey pulled an air on the first wave, sticking it and landing into history as the first lady in the NSSA Nationals to do so. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say she is the dictionary definition of “progression” as she ripped through huge turns and while landing the air Peter Townsend projected, “the progression of women’s surfing is truly amazing.” After her ride that scored her a 9.0, Lakey was driven to stay on top the rest of the heat. “I did that air and that gave me such a huge confidence boost through the rest of the heat.” She said, humbly adding how surprised she was she nailed it.

Lakey’s mother sat in the line up next to the contest zone as Lakey surfed in the finals. Sue Peterson wore a smile ear to ear as she arrived on the beach with a California flag draped over her shoulders.

“That was so sick! I really can’t even believe this is going on right now, I’m
still in shock,”

the surfer from Santa Barbara gushed after the heat as friends and family surrounded her.

It was the young women’s time to shine as they enjoyed several days at Lower Trestles with only a few other surfers out. The surf rat prodigies became humanized between heats as competitors accepted Gatorade and a towel from Mom, played Guitar Band under the Nike canopy and hid tear-swollen eyes behind dark sunglasses after a heart wrenching loss. On the beach, the scene was electric with stoke and passion. The surf riders exemplified their dedication to the sport and the camaraderie between competitors. See you back next year.

FINAL RESULTS OPEN WOMEN’S
NSSA National Championship
1. Lakey Peterson, CA - 16.75
2. Courtney Conlogue, CA - 14.75
3. Malia Manuel, HI - 14.25
4. Nage Melemed, HI - 13.75