Epic Barbariga

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Lets get one thing straight. The word “epic” got pretty warned out these days, just like claiming seems to be the next best thing in surfing all around the world. It is a circus.

It is not epic just because you are there, nor just because it turns glassy. ”Epic” hits once or maybe twice every few years, when you score conditions that usually never happen or have possibly never had happened before. Otherwise it would not be epic. It would be random, regular, classic, whatever.

On Saturday 17.12.2011 Barbariga was epic. Period.

Three years straight it did not even break. This year it worked three times, waist high and choppy. Yesterday it was close to 2m, cleaners even more. If you got caught inside, it washed you in and at least 50m down the coast like a little puppet. The power was unimaginable for waves of Adriatic. It tubed and spit out. Nobody has seen it like that before and some guys out there, were chasing it for almost ten years. This is epic… and hopefully this is a legit time to claim, haha.

Me and Katja documented for about an hour and then I decided to do some helmetcam shots. Which we will maybe never see, because the cam got ripped, ironically, on the smallest wave of the day. Shit luck, yet everybody is invited for some late December scuba diving, haha.


Last surf session before the winter

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It is finally getting colder and it even started to snow in the higher mountains of the Julian Alps.

Cyclones that bring the most snow to Slovenia, arrive over France, continue their way below the Alps in Italy and bring southern winds over Adriatic Sea. Which in short means waves. Once or twice per year we get lucky and the front makes a sharp turn and the winds turn southwest. Then it is time to check Barbariga.

The forecast was looking really nice and we were hoping to ride some sizable lefts, yet the weather had its own plan, I guess. We got a waist high chop, but it was fun anyway. I also did some filming for my “no deadline” Slovenian surf documentary, because like I said, it is rare to get a chance to surf Barbariga and this is also a (big) part of what surfing on “home turf” means for Slovenian soul surfers…

Comment Last surf session before the winter

JugoMajstr2011 waiting period started…

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Every year Ujusansa organizes slovenian national championships in surfing, called the JugoMajstr a.k.a. Master of the South winds. It takes place in Medulin, Croatia, which is a little strange for “nationals” to be held in foreign country, but for Slovenian surfers it is the closest surfbreak, like it or not.

The first one was in 2006 and it was basically a soul session of few guys, yet in past few years the slovenian surf community grew to a point where we have more than forty competitors applying, some also from Austria, Hungary and even Brazil. It got a little bit serious, a bit better organized and maybe even a bit more fun, while you get pretty much all your surfer friends in one place for a day or two.

Medulin is a good break, yet it works mostly in winter time, thus the late season call. We call it cold winter classic, because booties and hoddies are sort of mandatory to last more than an hour in the lineup, haha.

The teaser below is from last year, but anyway, you can get a pretty good picture what we are hoping for… more info about the competition here…

Last in series of Ujuclips

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I have been working 24/7 since I came from my surfing trip.

I have been filming on Dachstein with Qparks, starting to open my own firm (LegitFilms is going legit in few months), going to various work related meetings, working on new Untouched Project webpage (expect the release in day or two), received my official Master of Sociology certificate, capturing tons of tapes from the trip and editing last summer edits for Ujusansa.

Here is the last of the Ujuclips. As you will see in the montage, the last days in the camp were full on surf oriented. We got really good waves the whole term, but there was also time for some partying, hehe. All Ujuclips can be seen on Ujusansa’s vimeo site.

Concrete waves of Spain (last part): Algorta heaven

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My explorations of the surf route from France to Portugal had come to an end last week.

Katja and me made 11000+ km, seen, surfed, skated and experienced so many things I could write a book. It truly was the trip of my life, with ups and downs and everything in between. It is good to go abroad for such a long time, so you re-learn where your real home is and who your true friends are.

On the way back we just had to do another stop: Algorta, Cantabria.

Every transition lover and true skater has seen this wonder of a skatepark in skate movies, so we could not just drive by not to get a little feel of it. The park is super good for surf style shredding, but I mainly wanted to ride the blue pool (now its actually black).

It looked kind of abandoned, full of trash and the locals riding everything else but this… and you learn quickly why. I can say without any shame I was scared after a long time, while it is so steep you think you are free falling into a pit of doom! Nonetheless I think my friends Uroš and Šmid would love it, but you really have to give a pile of respect to all the pros who ride it properly!

B.I.G. Sunday for Slovenian surfers!

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Big swell hit Portugal today and we were all on our toes if the famous Supertubos would be riddable, because we wanted to see, film and maybe even ride one of the fastest beachbreaks in Europe. It was closing out heavily, so we headed on to Conselacao reef, which was looking pretty big from afar.

Conselacao lefts were four meters plus, light offshore and no one out. Jernej Rakušček and Kostja Polc were the first one to give it a try, while the rest of us agreed it is no shame in walking away on a day like this, haha.

Jernej really scored, taking five waves and even pulled into a barrel and Kostja got a bomb that knocked him of the board.

Andraž Rakušček and Iztok Južnič Žonta manned up for a second session, which was also heavy as hell. Andraž got his leash ripped and got a swim of his life to the beach and Izi took a big cleaner set on the head while paddling out… they both got a taste of the waves as well and Andraž and Jernej even went for another session while the sun was setting down…

Concrete waves of Cantabria (part 12): Somo

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The waves took a little time off in Cantabria, Spain, so the best way to get some surf like riding was to go check the Somo skatepark.

The park is brand new, has a sick bowl with an extension, a oververted wave wall and few smaller trannies. I had a mellow session with the guys from Zaragoza, who also gave me good advice where to go in our next stop in Portugal…

Concrete waves of Asturias (part 10): Streets of Aviles

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Our german friends wanted to do a little surf tripping as the swell forecast was kind of huge. They went further west, to Asturias, where they had some good reef spots in mind, and Katja and I were happy to join.

On the second day of our travels we passed by this cool looking street spot in the town of Aviles, Asturias. Despite the rough grounds, it was pretty sick just pumping down the streets and doing little carves as it felt like surfing the concrete…

Concrete waves of Cantabria (part 9): St. Vincent de la Barquera

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After quick stop in home camp Zarautz, we went further to meet our friends in St. Vincent de la Barquera, Cantabria.

Cantabria is next region from Basque, if you travel west, and it really is a whole different country… the culture, the people, the scenics, everything changes when you pass Santander and you enter a lot more quiet and lonesome realm of Spain.

After the “mandatory” surf session with Basti and Benno, we had to go check the local skateramp. It is under the old castle ruins by the river, surely the most beautiful setting so far, but sadly the ramp sucks… no real coping to get a lock, few metal plates sticking out and sort of slippery… yet we had a fun session with the local soccer kids, who seemed to enjoy skateboarding as much as they like kicking the ball around, so not all is lost, haha.

Concrete waves of Basque (part 8): Irun megapark

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There is a little city, called Irun, right at the border between France and Spain. No big deal… if they would not have the greatest skatepark in the whole Basque!

This thing is amazing. It consists of the street part, which is really well rounded, lines flow nicely and it has something for every type of skateboarders.

But the real deal is the pool part. Trannies of all shapes and sizes, from bowls, spines, boobs, walls, extensions… you cannot really imagine until you see it!

And it is not all!!! They also have a legit pool, meaning real concrete coping, blue tiles at the vert part of the tranny and 2.5m big. Yes, that is legit!