- Andy Irons Remembered 4 Years Later
- Peru Wins First Gold Medal in ISA World Surfing Games
- Little Skater Girl is a Huge Inspiration
- Nate Yeomans Wins $50,000 Sponsorship from O’Neill
- HIC Pro Kicks Off Hawaiian Surfing Season
- Burton Presents … Mark Sollors And Alek Oestreng Ripping
- Meet the One-Legged Skateboarder
- Surf Legend Doc Paskowitz Slips into Coma
- Surfers Survive Croc Attack in Costa Rica
- Vasco Ribeiro Crowned ASP World Jr. Champion
Surfing’s New Frontier?
There’s a good chance that a world champion of surfing won’t actually come from the beach. He might come from a wavepool in the middle of the desert. He might come from Utah, or Arizona like Rick Kane in Hollywood’s classic movie, North Shore. But whatever the case, the sport of surfing will soon no longer be the beach’s best kept secret.
While wave pools have been around for over 40 years, they are only now starting to get better. The Wadi Adventure is Dubai is a multi million dollar facility that creates perfect waves thousands of miles from the nearest reef break. And others are in the works. Australian surfboard shaper Nev Hyman has been developing concepts for his “perfect” wavepool Down Under, a surf park unlike any other. And in Spain, the Wave Garden spits out a perfect little wave three feet high. None of these have salt water and all are capable of producing world champion surfers. Or so it would seem.
Yeah, the future for surfing is looking bright, but it’s also looking well outside the box.—Skip Snead, ASM
