Senior Editor
Staff



Is there seriously anything more beautiful to watch than Kelly Slater, on a surfboard, in a barrel?

It’s the stuff you see yourself doing somewhere, back there in the far reaches of your mind, but can never actually make happen. Well, apparently old Mr. Slater was holding out on us. Making us pick up the scraps of WSL barrel riding leftovers on Facebook. The quick contest recaps cut up into tiny video parts. The perfect 10s of yesteryear. All well and good. But then we find out he was sitting on this POV footage from his private wave pool sessions (remember when he invented his own perfect barreling right-hander?).

And it barely looks real. But apparently, it is. And I have nothing deep or otherwise enlightening to say about it. Maybe he released the film now to change the “shark culling” conversation? Maybe he just wanted to release some good footy of his own for the minions? Or this: “It was the only way I could think of to get my mom barreled,” he said on his Instagram page. Getting mom pitted is as good a reason as any, I suppose.

 
Newsletter

Only the best. We promise.

Contribute

Join our community of contributors.

Apply