THE NEW MILLENNIALS: Surfing's Post Modern Era Has Arrived
The best time to be a surfer?
“I think you can pick any era and be stoked. Like the ’60s was less crowded and there was a lot of character back then. But then again, I don’t feel like I’ve come at the wrong time. Surfing is at a pretty cool point right now.” — Dane Reynolds
“I think I’d like to go back to the very beginning, back to the ancient Polynesians and see them surf. See how they got into it, how they got their ideas, and just watch them surf.”—Evan Valiere
“I hear guys talking about how fun it was scraping and stuff back in the day, and that’s cool. But from day one, being a pro surfer was obtainable for guys like me. It’s pretty fun. I kind of like now.”—Andrew Doheny
“There’s never been a better time for female surfers than today.”—Stephanie Gilmore
What I’d change...
“Blow up all left-handers, eliminate the crowd at Snapper, and bring the old Kirra back! I don't ask for much do I?”—Stephanie Gilmore
“The judges. There isn’t much I’d change, but that would probably be the one thing I would. Some of them are stuck in the old school days, but even that seems it’s changing now too.”—Jordy Smith
“I’d make people disappear.”—Garrett Parkes
“People are trying to rate all these new moves on degree of difficulty, but the thing about surfing is you can’t, because every situation is different, depending on the circumstances. In some cases a big carving turn might be harder to do than a Kerrupt air. But what’s most important is just doing what the wave calls for. Right now there’s no format that allows for you progress your surfing in a heat. I’m always looking for the 10, even if I only need a 6.5, but I can always hear people on the beach saying I’m blowing it. I wish there were a way to fix that. ”—Dane Reynolds
“The Internet. Believe me, I’ve reaped the rewards of it. But it’s become impossible to just get lucky and score some sneaky swell all to yourself. It tells you absolutely everything about the place you’re going, except for how many people logged on and looked at the same information and had exactly the same idea you did.”—Mike Losness
Where to next?
“On top of the single maneuvers, we can expect bigger combos. Just look at the biggest progressive movies out right now. Dane Reynolds is throwing huge Alley-Oops into monster air reverses with nothing in between but a bottom turn. That’s becoming second nature.”—Patrick Gudauskas
“You really have to add your own little flavor to your moves to make them stand out, especially the airs.”—Julian Wilson
“I wouldn’t say that we’re rewriting surfing, but we are progressing it. Julian’s section in Young Guns 3 represents a whole new level in aerial surfing, and it’s a given that kind of stuff is going to be routine in the near future.”—Dane Reynolds
“To me, it’s just going to be big, slabby waves. Huge airs too! Guys are gonna be pulling flips in a few years for sure.” —Tyler Newton
“We want to see a guy get barreled, do a massive air, and a big carve on the same wave, all the while not looking like he is sitting on a toilet.” —Hank Gaskell
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