INTRODUCING: SURFLINE'S BIG-WAVE ROUNDTABLE Nine of the best in the business tackle today's most pressing issues By Marcus Sanders

Published: July 5, 2012

July 5, 2012 Views: 6,724







INTRODUCING: SURFLINE'S BIG-WAVE ROUNDTABLE Laird Hamilton, Greg Long, Shane Dorian, Mark Healey, Ken Collins, Danilo Couto, Kohl Christensen and Ian Walsh sit down for a few hours to discuss the most important issues in big-wave surfing today..





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Related A heavy crew, to be sure. Of all the nine big-wave attendees, Shane Dorian probably said the least -- but when he did speak, everyone was all ears. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

The raw materials: one big round table. Nine chairs. A few Canon 7D cameras. One track dolly that constantly rotated around the table. One pillow light. A room that can be blacked out. And a sheet of topics that we got about halfway through in four hours. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

Also: nine different audio channels. Greg Long gets mic'ed up while the track dolly dude works on his quads. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

Mark Healey, as many know, is great in front of the camera. And had no shortage of opinions on big-wave surfing. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

While much of the discussion ranged from earnest to heated, there were some moments of laughter for sure. "So you don't hate us paddle surfers, Laird?" Photo: Jeremiah Klein

The insurance convention had no idea what was happening down the hall. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

Funny thing about this photo: as they lined up, each dude chucked his iPhone to the floor for us to snap a pic of the group for their Facebook/Instagram/Twitter accounts. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

Last winter, a big-wave media kerfuffle erupted between Laird and the guys who had been paddle surfing Jaws. (Story here.) "It's a little bit of a waste to see these guys out there trying to paddle and then so many waves going by unridden," he told ESPN. To break the ice, this was the first issue that was brought up at the roundtable. Photo: Jeremiah Klein



Laird Hamilton is late.

















Skindog got here right on time. Healey and Greg Long drifted in shortly after, Ian Walsh and Dorian showed up together around the same time; Wassell rolled in, leaving gregarious video guy Darren Crawford in the Ritz bar with a hundred dollar bill, laughing; Kohl and Danilo ended up a little lost in faceless Orange County suburbs, but made it.



But the Big Man isn't here yet.



And to be clear: that title is not an easy one to earn amongst this crowd. These are probably the most alpha surfers on the planet. But somehow, there's this...understanding. He's out-alpha-ed the alphas, at least right now, in spring of 2012. And when Laird finally strolls across the manicured lawn, the eight others stand up from the fancy table and offer mock applause.

Despite the idea of some "brotherhood", big-wave surfing is not like the ASP.



Of course everyone knows who everyone is. Funnily enough, Greg Long has never met Laird. They shake hands and laugh about that small, funny fact. Despite the idea of some "brotherhood", big-wave surfing is not like the ASP. These guys don't spend months traveling around the world together, checking out each other's equipment and styles and competing for points and money and girls. Lucky if they see each other a half dozen times a year, sitting and swirling off the coast of Cape Town, Todos Santos, Pillar Point, Tavarua, Oahu's North Shore, or Maui.



Which is kinda the point of today's roundtable: get these guys in a room, away from the next looming 50-foot wall or purple blob or underwater rock run and take a few hours to talk amicably amongst themselves about where we've come from, how we got here, and what's coming.



And while most of the best parts of the conversations are captured in the upcoming three-part series, a few moments happened, as they often do, after the cameras stopped rolling. One of the most telling of these came when the discussion about the Big Wave World Tour reached a kind of crescendo. Ideas were being tossed around about logistics, support, locations, etc, and someone asked Laird what he thought about the idea of a Big-Wave World Tour. He didn't miss a beat.



"I think it's great," he deadpanned. "That way I'll know where all you guys are and I'll go somewhere else." Of course everyone knows who everyone is. Funnily enough, Greg Long has never met Laird. They shake hands and laugh about that small, funny fact. Despite the idea of some "brotherhood", big-wave surfing is not like the ASP. These guys don't spend months traveling around the world together, checking out each other's equipment and styles and competing for points and money and girls. Lucky if they see each other a half dozen times a year, sitting and swirling off the coast of Cape Town, Todos Santos, Pillar Point, Tavarua, Oahu's North Shore, or Maui.Which is kinda the point of today's roundtable: get these guys in a room, away from the next looming 50-foot wall or purple blob or underwater rock run and take a few hours to talk amicably amongst themselves about where we've come from, how we got here, and what's coming.And while most of the best parts of the conversations are captured in the upcoming three-part series, a few moments happened, as they often do, after the cameras stopped rolling. One of the most telling of these came when the discussion about the Big Wave World Tour reached a kind of crescendo. Ideas were being tossed around about logistics, support, locations, etc, and someone asked Laird what he thought about the idea of a Big-Wave World Tour. He didn't miss a beat."I think it's great," he deadpanned. "That way I'll know where all you guys are and I'll go somewhere else."

We're at the Ritz Carlton overlooking Salt Creek the afternoon before the Billabong XXL Big-Wave Awards. There's an insurance convention happening next door. A big-budget piano photo shoot on the path. Waiters and bellpeople and groundskeepers and all sorts of staff walking attentively around.And eight of the world's best big-wave surfers sitting around a fancy table, al fresco, surrounded by fancy coffee and little pastries and a view of the bright blue Pacific, flat as a bathtub.This is how Surfline's first annual big-wave round table starts.