Avalon Gall, perched on the nose. Photo: Tommy Pierucki
Avalon Gall was destined for a life in the sea. Before she was born, her parents bought a condo in Hawaii and when she was 10 days old, she made her first trip to the islands. When she was two, her dad taught her to surf in Waikiki by paddling her into waves perched on the front of his board. Over the course of her childhood, Gall split her time between her home in southern California and Oahu, fine tuning her surfing in two of the best surf destinations in the world. We caught up with the 20-year-old and asked why she decided to make longboarding her focus, what it was like winning the coveted Duct Tape title, and her goals looking forward.
Sounds like you travelled around a lot. Where did you grow up?
I have lived in Laguna Beach, California my whole life and would go out to Hawaii every couple of months. I really started traveling a lot when I was 12 or 13. I started doing the Noosa Festival and the Mexi Log Fest—those were my first two international trips that I went on. My dad travels with me everywhere.
What do you love about longboarding?
I just love everything about it and all of the history behind it. It’s such a beautiful thing, especially for women to do. I think it’s the prettiest kind of surfing that you can do. I grew up with Kelis [Kaleopaa] and a lot of the other kids from Waikiki and that’s just what we did growing up and we stuck with it. And then we started traveling together. So it’s the whole community that I really love.
When did you start competing?
I did my first contest in Waikiki when I was five years old—I can’t remember if it was the Rell Sunn [Menehune Contest] or the China [Uemura Longboard Surfing Classic]. I never was really that into surfing until I was about ten or eleven and then I really got into it and started traveling. Michael Takayama started making my boards when I was 11 or 12 and that’s really how I got into contests. I started competing on the WSL Longboard tour when I was 14.
What have been some career highlights?
My most recent win at the Duct Tape in Brazil was probably my favorite. Yes, it’s always great to win, but I had all my friends there and seeing how proud they were of me, and everybody’s emotions, was the most special part about it. They made that so special for me and I really appreciated that.
What is your homebreak?
San Onofre in San Clemente. I don’t think anything beats your homebreak. I feel like everybody will say that their favorite wave is their homebreak. There’s just all around good waves at San O: lefts, rights, and there’s a few different breaks down there. It’s a really fun place to be.
Are there any surfers on tour whose style or surfing you admire?
I can appreciate everybody’s surfing. Everybody has amazing qualities. My personal favorites for the women are my two closest friends, Honolua [Blomfield] and Kelis [Kaleopaa]. Honolua charges and surfs everything amazing and I love Kelis’s style.
Where are some bucket list destinations you’d like to travel to and surf?
I don’t know if it’s so much for surfing, but I’ve always wanted to go to Tahiti. I’d definitely try to surf, but I’ve just always wanted to go because it looks so beautiful. I also want to see Teahupoo when it’s firing, just once in person I think that would be so cool.
What are your goals looking forward?
Definitely to keep traveling with all my friends and keep enjoying every bit of it. Of course winning a world title would be amazing and I’m going to keep trying to do that. But just mainly focusing on having fun. I love surfing and that’s the most important part.
