Westbound Boarder

I’m new to this whole surfing thing.  I’ve lived in LA for more than a year now, and the deal I made with myself before I moved here was that I was going to learn to surf (to make up for the fact I couldn’t snowboard as often).  But countless surf sessions and YouTube videos later, I wasn’t getting much further.  Yes, it was time for a lesson.

Last weekend I hooked up with Bill Sharp at the Huntington Beach Surf School for a little “Surfing 101.”  As much as I love LA, I always enjoy the opportunity to leave my little Santa Monica bubble every now and again.  And if you’ve ever been to Huntington Beach, you’d know why.

I arrived to my lesson a few minutes after 10am (normally I pride myself on being timely, but I had a little incident with a flat tire on my way down.  Luckily, I a guy I met on the side of the road knew a thing or two about fixing flats, and I was well on my way to surfdom in no time).  When I arrived, I walked down to the pier and the little surf shack behind Duke’s, and there was Bill waiting, a surf board in each arm, ready to get the day started.

Now Bill’s a pretty sharp surfer (yes, pun intended, thank you).  He spent his childhood years learning to surf in Durban, South Africa and began competing at age 14.  In Bill’s words, us California’s don’t even know big waves (what?! You mean the wicked 3 foot white waters I mastered last weekend are considered… small?!)  Bill turned pro at age 25, but before long he was back coaching in Durban, both aspiring pros (he coached the South Africa national surf team for years) and African kids who were part of development programs.  The African kids he taught didn’t know how to swim, which caused Bill to come up with an alternate method of teaching - a method that he still uses with beginners quite often today.

It’s called the “push-in technique,” which is where you start in waist-deep water and literally push off the sand and onto your board when a broken wave comes your direction.  Bill believes it is important to take baby steps when learning to surf, so learning on small, broken waves first before you progress to more advanced waves is absolutely key.

Bill began the lesson in a small room with a simple white board.  He went over the push-in technique before he took me out to try it first hand.  He also went over several other topics every surfer should know, such as understanding tides, where to stand on the board, and safety and etiquette.  Over the next week or two, I’ll share some of his top tips for success in the surf.

Now that I knew the ins and outs of surfing in theory, it was time to try it in the water.  Bill likes to work his lessons around the tides and shoot to head out on tides that are better for learning (typically lower tides because you have a higher chance of having nice, long, rolling waves).  So we paddled out to waist-deep water and he got me up and surfing in no time (and of course, he made sure to put instruction in terms of “snowboarding” - just to make sure I completely understood.)  By the end of the lesson I was exhausted, but happy to say that I have now mastered Surfing 101!  Bring on the 15 footers.

Overall, I learned that the key to learning to surf is comprised of three components - you have to have the right board, the right conditions, and the right instruction.  And while my conditions were a little less than ideal, I had a great board and perfect instruction to round out the package.  Now let’s see how I surf…

Just when I thought that we have told you about each and every board camp possible, I searched the web just to be sure. Boy was I wrong! I found a plethora of camps for wake, snow, skate, skim etc. that all sound equally incredible! I narrowed it down to the camp that had it all, and as summer is rapidly approaching, that was a camp that offered water sports instruction.

EOS Board Camps is the topic of conversation this evening as EOS offers skim, surf, wake and even skate instruction. On top of the variety of board sport camp options, EOS also offers a variety of camp locations including Hawaii, Washington, Nor Cal, So Cal, Utah, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Minnesota! Now that right there are EIGHT states where you can improve your summer board skills through EOS camps!

On top of the board and location variety, EOS offers a variety of camp package’s - one of which is bound to fit your pocket book. Most camps are day camps that run for various lengths of time, so check out the site as dates and prices vary depending on what it is that you want.

EOS takes pride in their professional coaches who are the best available people to teach you all the board essentials. EOS classifies them as a place, “where a rider can easily find help to excel in the board sport of their choice.”

As we at Westbound Boarder emphasize group instruction as a great means to improving your board skills, EOS is yet another great opportunity to get out there and push you and your board to the next level. From the mouth of EOS CEO himself, “grab your board and let’s ride!”

As the European Girlie’s put it themselves, ‘do you have a passion for action sports, adventure, meeting new friends or improving your language skills? Then welcome to Girlie Camps 2009!’ Girlie Camps features Ski, Snow, Skate, Surf and even Kite Surf Camps; which range from Surf camps in the South of France, and Spain, Snow Camps in Les Duex Alps and Skate Camps in the UK, Germany and Spain.

Girlie camps bring you everything you need to partake in the joy of snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding and skiing. With camps available for all levels and all ages, each girlie has her own opportunity to attend one of the many Girlie Camps. The cost of your camp includes everything you need from lodging, lift tickets, gear and even meals. The exact items included do vary slightly depending on which camp you select, although one thing is for sure; world class instruction is included!

The Girlie Camps were born when creator, Marika, decided to create an outlet for all women who share a passion for board sports. As you have already heard Andrea and I discuss in our Wicked Wednesday Camp Posts, the key to improving your board skills lies in learning with the girls. Riding with other ladies who are there to encourage you, challenge you and cheer you on is the best way to improve your skills, hands down.

Whether your skills are non existent or you want to take your spin to the next degree, there is room for improvement. Just listen to Girlie Camp enthusiast Cathrine Stiller, “This [camp] has been the most developing snowboard riding ever! Just chilling with girls and learning form each other has done so much for my confidence as a rider and as an individual person.” Ms. Stiller could not be more right! Just attend a snowboard camp and spend a week with the girlie’s to see for yourself!

So if you are up for a real camp adventure and one that is halfway across the world, Girlie Camps are where it’s at Summer 2009. Check out the web site for exact dates, pricing and details. Girlie Camps spells it all out for you, from the airport, to transportation - so if you start saving now, there really are no excuses not to attend.

With summer quickly approaching, faster than many of us may notice, its time to start thinking about summer surf camps… and Roxy’s got you covered.  For today’s Wicked Wednesday “Snow Camp” Review, I’m now broadening the series to also focus on surf camps, and this week we’re reviewing Roxy’s Surf Camp Series.

If you’ve never surfed before but would like to learn, this camp’s for you.  During this day camp experience, Roxy/Quiksilver surf instructors take campers from the beginning, touching upon everything from water safety to ocean science.  The goal of the camp is to get beginners to be able to surf on their own by the time they are done with their allotted session.

Although the camps are sponsored and promoted through Roxy/Quiksilver, they have several partners they work with, and each camp provides a completely different experience.  Some locations have adult camps, some are geared only toward women, and some are even geared toward more advanced riders.  But they all have one thing in common - they teach you how to surf, starting with the basics (meaning, you’ll be standing on a board in no time!)

Before I moved to LA (and decided to start surfing) people told me I’d basically be pro my first time since I snowboard, wakeboard, wakesurf, etc.  How wrong they were!  Although all sports involve standing on a board, that’s about all the have in common.  My first time surfing, I didn’t even catch one wave, and my second time I caught a few, after Danielle stepped in to give me a little push to help me out :)  So if you’re a beginner and want to learn the easy way, I’d highly recommend looking at attending one of these camps; as Danielle and I have stressed before, learning in groups is the way to go if you want to quickly take your skills to the next level.

If you are interested in attending a Roxy/Quiksilver camp, choose the location you’re interested in first and check out their respective Web sites for more information.  Prices, dates, etc. vary per location.  Camps take place at locations up and down the west coast of California, and there’s even one camp in Oregon!

So this summer, what will you be doing?  Learning to surf, of course :)  Catch ya in the tube!

• San Clemente, CA – Colas Surf Camp
• Dana Point, CA – Ocean Academy
• Dana Point, CA – Girl in the Curl
• Newport Beach, CA – Ocean Adventure Programs
  
• Redondo Beach, CA – Perfect Day
• Santa Monica, CA – Perfect Day
• Malibu and Ventura, CA – Mako’s
• Santa Barbara, CA – Surf Happens
• Cannon Beach, OR – Oregon Surf Adventures
• Tofino, Canada – Tofino Surf Camp