El Niño Says Hello, Pt. 2

We woke up this morning to the sounds of more crashing waves and were greeted by a wispy offshore breeze making its way to the beach. Though a welcome sight compared to yesterdays gale like conditions, this breeze lacked the power to unwrinkle the confused ocean surface. Instead, a maxed out high tide made for short beaches and jumbly conditions during today’s dawn patrol. These are the kind of bigger, rugged days where it really is a test of endurance and mettle. Riddled with uncertainty, you do a great deal of paddling in the hopes of a just few a good rides. It is that uncertainty, however, that plays into our surfing addiction. The possibility of a great wave is pitted against the impending doom of getting worked. This is all done as a test, to raise or establish the limits of our own ability. This El Niño winter has already seen countless bars set on that endless chase. Early last week, Billy Kemper took out an All-Star field of big wave surfers to win the first ever Pe’ahi Challenge. This epic paddle contest is held at one of the world’s heaviest waves, a place designed to raise bars. Definitely scope some of the footage if you have not yet. In the small community of San Diego Surf School, some of our own were recently caught on the mission to push their own limits.   Featured is one of our instructors, Conor, caught by Seth De Roulet charging a beast at Mavericks (photo featured on surfermagazine.com). On a lighter note, our instructor Dylan was lucky enough to break down the conditions in Pacific Beach on Fox 5 during our “high surf advisory” last week Click for Video