Bummer, Dude: Surfer Magazine Wipes Out

Shake the sand out of your baggies, stow your boards, and pack up the woodie. After 60 years, Surfer magazine is ceasing publication. And just when climate change is making more monster waves, too. Observers say it’s the ebbing economics of the pandemic that helped end Surfer‘s epic ride.

More:

“Surfer magazine, iconic touchstone of Southern California beach culture, shuts down,” Mike Freeman and Gary Robbins, Los Angeles Times

“Iconic SURFER magazine publishes last issue after 60 years,” Martin Wisckol, Orange County Register

Related?:

“UC San Diego virus expert pleads with surfers to stay out of the ocean to avoid coronavirus,” Gary Robbins, San Diego Union Tribune

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Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Surf’s Up — Inland

Surf’s up at the Surf Ranch, a hundred miles from the nearest ocean. Bryant Gumbel explains.

More:

“Surfing goes inland: Kelly Slater’s artificial waves push pro tour into uncharted waters,” Alex Dick-Read, The Guardian

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Longboards

The world’s best longboarders try to ride a wave as long as possible at Wategos Beach, NSW. A short film by McTavish Surfboards.

Cinematography by Nathan Oldfield and Andrew Gough.
Water Cinematography – Andrew Gough.

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Bummer, Dude. Global Warming Will Swallow Good Surfing Beaches.

“It may seem that stronger storms and swells would be a boon to surfers. But as with many aspects of living in a changing climate, the outlook is far more complicated.

As a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey predicts, by 2100 many of Southern California’s most popular surfing spots could be subsumed beneath rising seas. Others could simply wash away.” 

— “California May Lose Popular Surfing Spots to Rising Seas,” Marissa Fessenden, Smithsonian

West Coast surfers will have to hit the beaches of North Carolina, where sea level change is against the law.

More:

“Will Climate Change Wipe Out Surfing?” Sam Kornell, Pacific Standard

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Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Surfing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?

The organizing committee for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo has recommended adding five additional sports to the international athletic competition:  Baseball/softball, karate, sports climbing, skateboarding, roller derby and surfing.

More:

“One Step Closer: Surfing In The 2020 Olympics,” Jake Tellkamp, Surfing Magazine

“Surfing included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” Surfer Today

“Surfing In Line To Ride The Waves To Olympic Gold In 2020,” Jill Scanlon, HuffPost Australia

“World Surf League relishes chance to showcase surfing to Olympic audience at Tokyo 2020 Games,” Anthony Pancia, ABC News (Australia)

“Surfing as an Olympic Sport for the Tokyo Games?” Bill Dorman,  Hawaii Public Radio

“Surfing and skateboarding among proposed additions for 2020 Olympics,” David Wharton, Los Angeles Times

“Surfing makes cut for Tokyo Games but not squash,” Jacquelin Magnay, The Australian

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Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Climate Change and Surfing: It’s a Bummer, Dude.

Climate change means extreme weather. When it’s stormy there will be some monster waves, but there will also be long periods of flat water. The really bad news is that climate warming causes sea level rise:

“Even a foot change in the tide line can mean the difference between great and mediocre waves…. Researchers believe sea levels could rise six inches by 2030, and a foot by 2050, or more.”

Except in North Carolina, of course, where sea level change is against the law.

At beaches where the water has a sandy bottom, there will still be some slope and maybe some decent wave formation. Where the bottom is rocky or made of coral, the outlook is not so good.

More:

“Will Climate Change Wipe Out Surfing?” Sam Kornell, Pacific Standard

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Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Beach Boys Re-Play

Southern California has a new senior citizen employment program. The Beach Boys will embark on a 50-date 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour starting in February in support of “Celebration,” their new album. Group frontman Brian Wilson will turn 70 during the tour.

“Daddy, who are the ‘Beach Boys,’ and what’s an ‘album’?”

Surf Munich!

Germany has an active surfing scene, and its capital is Munich. That’s pretty amazing, since the Bavarian city is nowhere near the ocean. Wet-suited enthusiasts surf a well-formed wave in the Eisbach River in Englischer Gartens park. Munich has a surf festival, a surfing magazine, a surfer bar, and a surfboard company (be sure to get the right fin for riversurfing).

Big Wave Weekend

Spectators at Saturday’s Mavericks Surf Contest  in California came out to see big waves, and they got them — up close and personal.  50-foot waves crushed the awards ceremony stand, swamped the sound system, and sent a dozen spectators to the hospital.  Surf’s up, dudes.

South African Chris Bertish won the “Super Bowl of Surfing” and the $50,000 prize.

Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Spring Break Surfin’

College students: Spring Break is a good time for reflection, especially in the hours after your hangover lifts but before your parents wire your bail money. Take this moment to reconsider your life goals. The economy is at low tide, and who knows what jobs (if any) will be available when you graduate? Fight despair and follow your waves of passion. Declare a new major: surfing.

Giving fresh meaning to the phrase “college boards.” the folks at Surfline have hit the beach with a list of the ten best colleges for surfers.

The rankings: