Conceivably, this could be a gnarly bachelor party if ya got the cash. Photo: WSL
Up to three times a year, a handful of surfers get to experience something at Lower Trestles that most won’t in a lifetime: an empty lineup. Besides the privilege of watching them compete, what do the rest of us get in return?
Pose that question to a contest director or a state parks employee and you’re unlikely to get a hard number – at least in regards to cashmoney. But documents obtained by The Inertia through a public records request provide a detailed look at what it costs to rent California’s cobblestone skatepark during prime season.
According to said documents, the World Surf League shelled out $150,000 (total, per year) for the last few years running, to run the men’s and women’s Championship Tour events, the Hurley Pro and Swatch Women’s Pro. And it forked over $67,000 for the Qualifying Series event, the Oakley Lowers Pro, which last ran in 2015.
Amateur events, like the Surfing America USA Championships, and the Volcom Totally Crustaceous Tour, which both ran this year, cost a mere $25,000 apiece. In a typical year, San Onofre State Beach pulls in less than a quarter-of-a-million dollars in comp permits. In the last 10 years, it’s made roughly $2 million.
The cost of these events, and the system of granting permits to hold them, are on the minds of many a SoCal surfer, given that the contest season seems to grow more hectic each year. And in this wave-starved summer, some found another fact particularly galling: amateur surfers were pretty much the only people given a chance to surf a brief window of perfect overhead wedges in July.
Some are asking if it’s all worth it. And wondering: where does the money go anyway? And, do the permit fees seem kinda…lowball? Maybe, considering that the public is relinquishing one of California’s finest breaks during the optimal swell window.
Apparently, the money does not go toward bathrooms (only Porta-potties are available at the beach), or the mile-long trail down to the famed train trestle (which locals say is dangerously rutted), two other issues irking some locals.
Comp permits are granted through a bidding process and decided upon by the state parks’ Orange Coast District. Records obtained by The Inertia show that according to the most recent special event rules, written in 2007, amateur and pro-am comps must pay a minimum of $30,000 per event at Lowers, though recent amateur comps paid just $25,000. Professional-level comps must pay a minimum of $100,000. Event organizers must also buy insurance and make a $25,000 refundable damage deposit.
Spokespeople for the state parks did not reply to repeated inquiries, except to furnish the records.
Twenty years ago, Steve Long wrote the rules governing the contest season at Lower Trestles. Today, they remain unchanged. But with lineups everywhere growing more crowded, and California’s population ever on the rise — is it time they were reconsidered?
The state park grants a maximum of three permits for Lowers contests each year: one for amateurs, one for surfers vying for the big leagues, and one for professionals.
These are the other main rules:
– No comps can take place between July 1 and Labor Day.
– Only the pro-level event can last longer than five days.
– Two full weekends must pass between consecutive events.
– Events can only use one day per weekend; the other day is left for the public.
– Events can only run for 9 hours each day.
Already this summer, the state park has received two formal complaints about the contest schedule, both from SoCal lawyers. “I find it abhorrent that the state park system caters so blatantly to the large fee paying contest organizers,” wrote Jonathan C. Terry, a lawyer in Newport Beach. “This does not pass the sniff test.”
Jeffrey Spencer, an attorney in San Clemente, likewise smells something foul. He thinks the public is getting ripped off with contest rates this low. “I’d like to see them charge a lot more and work out some sort of value based on the number of people they’re dispossessing.”
He, like other surfers interviewed on this topic, doesn’t mind the Championship Tour taking over the break. But he resents taking a back seat to amateur competitors. “Shutting it down for these minor contests is pretty crazy,” he says. Putting the kibosh on the kiddie comps, he says, could cut down on the carloads of groms who paddle out at Lowers to train for events there.
His solution would be the following: allow only WSL-level comps, charge much more for contest permits, require the contest bodies to pay for trail maintenance or other upgrades at San Onofre State Beach, and require a longer window between comps.
Do you think the public is getting a raw deal?
The permit from this year’s Surfing America USA Championships show event organizers paid $25,000 for the use of Lower Trestles.
