What Is the Key Ingredient to an Epic Surf Session?
On Saturday I had one of the best surf sessions I’ve ever had. On Sunday I had one of the poorest sessions ever. (Granted I didn’t break any bones or boards, but as far as surfing went, it stunk (totally my fault).) So, naturally I started comparing and contrasting both days curious to figure out what the formula is for an epic day. The list is pretty simple:
- Wave Size – Without a certain amount of size there are no maneuvers which limits expression.
- Waves Shape – There’s some give in this requirement. But the waves are just walling out or storm chopped, even if the size is there, it’s a no-go.
- Ride Length – If I spend the whole of a momentary ride planning my exit strategy due to shore break or walls, not fun. I have to have some face time on the wave
- Wave Frequency – Are the set coming at a good pace, or do I have to bob for 20-30 minutes between sets? Can I collect a high wave count for the session? Having one or two great waves is wonderful, but if that’s all I catch, it can be dissatisfying.
- Friends – Do I have someone to share the experience with. This is a philisophical tree-in-the-forest situation. If a surfer dominates a wave, but there’s no friend to hear about it, does it count?
- Personal Performance – Am I on par, or am I flubbing the take-offs and bottom turns. Am I squeezing everything you can out of the wave? Am I pushing myself to new frontiers?
After I though up my list, I started looking at it from the other way around – what would be the bare minimum to have an epic day, which of these ingredients could I give up? Then I hit upon the latest EPF poll question! Of the epic ingredients, which most crucial to having an epic session?
[poll id=”13″]