The Inertia Podcast

Secret surf spots mean different things to different people. Sam George is tired of the media and industry exposing spots without naming them. His first piece, "Death to Secret Spots," riled up The Inertia fan base. Here, Sam revisits the subject and looks at some of our readers' responses.

For years, magazines, surf brands, and now, social media users, have promoted surf spots without telling us where they are. I've never been a fan of that. This is my examination of the death of secret spots. And I want your feedback. Find this feature on TheInertia.com and leave me a comment.

VAL: Vulnerable Adult Learner. Coined by a longtime Australian surf journalist no doubt thrilled by its growing usage, this snobbishly derisive term harkens back to the slur used by early 1960s Malibu surfers to describe those who lived in the San Fernando Valley, some 10 miles inland. The sixties Vals were to be condemned by their area codes, just as today's VALs are being condemned by their age and, through reference, the actual year they "took up" surfing. Where does the resentment come from?

The media loves big waves. The adrenaline, the danger, the peril? But most of us ride surf on the more mundane side. So what's wrong with small waves?

Professional skier Lexi Dupont has a seen it all in the world of snow: she's competed at the highest levels of free skiing, she's raced, she's filmed for Warren Miller and Poor Boyz. And now, she's creating her own event reality with the Sister Summit, a women's only video competition coming up this month (Nov. 24-Dec.1) outside of Revelstoke British Columbia, Lexi's second home. I got the chance to speak with Lexi about the new event, the format, and what she hopes to do for women in snowsports. She's teamed up with some bright minds to make it happen. We also talked about competition in general and where skiing and snowboarding is at this Apex moment. Lexi also touched on her recent surf trips, and how right now is one of the best times to be an adventure athlete.

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Aaron Lieber is one of the most prolific young filmmakers in the surf industry. Actually, he's evolved well beyond the surf industry, recently working on more mainstream projects with iconic athletes like the Los Angeles Rams' Aaron Donald. But Aaron Liber started in surf, where he released his first film The Pursuit, in 2008. He then worked with Lakey Peterson on Zero to 100. Last year, he released the preeminent Bethany Hamilton documentary Unstoppable. We talked with Aaron about that progression as well as the state of surf filmmaking. And he had a lot to say about where we were, and where we're going.

It's been a newsworthy year on the Championship Tour. Coming out of COVID, this was the first season the WSL's new format was in full bloom, so to speak. Pipeline starting the tour. A mid-year cut. The revamped Challenger Series. All of these changes, it seems, were made to up the "engagement" of the events on all formats for the League. Some of these changes didn't please every surf fan. I had a chance to speak with Erik Logan about these changes, the fans' reactions, the dustup with the Longboard Tour, and even trans surfing. Yes, there's been lots of surfing in the news of late. And much of it has revolved around the World Surf League.

Gabby Reece is a powerhouse. She's a shrewd business person, running the latest family entrepreneurial endeavor, Laird Superfood. She finds time to produce her own podcast where she goes deep to try and uncover new truths about life for her listeners. She also works as her famous surfing husband's manager.

Most important to her, though, is being a mother. What I'm always impressed about with Gabby, though, is her never-ending search to improve her life and the lives of those around her. She's always looking for better ways to live and be healthy, and treat others. Our talk was wide-ranging: we discussed family, business, working to improve your health, fear. All this before we discussed Laird Hamilton and some of his famous controversies, namely, when Maya Gabeira nearly died at Nazare and Laird's comments after. Laird has spoken on this extensively with mainstream news outlets, much to the chagrin of some surfers. But his intentions were always good, says Gabby. We covered a lot of ground in 60 minutes. And it was worth every second.

Andrew Cotton has been on the pioneering end of two of Europe's most iconic big waves: Ireland's Mullghamore, and of course, Nazare…The latter of which has captured the world's imagination. In that time, the dedicated big-wave surfer from the Devon, England has seen it all: equipment evolution, advances in rescue techniques, and of course, injuries (he suffered a broken back at Nazare in 2017). That's why it was so good to catch up with him to talk about that history, and the recent string of "world record" claims coming out of Nazare. One of the most interesting debates spawned from that particular spot is how to measure world-record waves? Andrew and I discussed technology and much, much more.