Nobody is carrying forth the torch of timeless good surfing. Except for…dear god, is it really 2011? Kelly Slater. He surfs better now than he did in Thicker Than Water, which came out in 2000. Photo: ASP Kirstin
I’ve just watched Thicker than Water for the first time since…I’m guessing, 2003. I’m blown away by a few things: the surfing is from a different, better, more relevant era. Guys in this film still do airs, but they aren’t a big part of the movie and the surfing is much, much, much, MUCH more pleasing to watch than most of the pantywaist bullshit in Lost Atlas. The few times that Taylor Knox makes an appearance remind me of why he was my favorite surfer for a long time (do yourself a favor, go watch “Arc”) Flow. Power. Surfing has since moved into a dark, weightless place with a focus on trickster aerial garbage.
Who will rescue us? Dane? No. At least not yet. Not until he emerges from his fog of pretension and very calculated air of detached hipper than thou-ness, and a thoroughly bamboozled manufactured coolness that threatens to corrupt any kind of genuine, honest to god progressive surfing. (Unless, fingers-crossed, a kind of MP-esque breakdown causes the surf world to lose interest in His Every Move). Then there is…umm, you know, there is…….nobody. Nobody is carrying forth the torch of timeless good surfing. Except for…dear god, is it really 2011? Kelly Slater. He surfs better now than he did in Thicker Than Water, which came out in 2000.
I can scarcely believe that I just wrote those words, but I just had to. Slater’s performance over the last few years simply demands it. Watch last month’s US Open. His power, precision, flow, aerials, no-tube tuberiding, wave selection–all of it–are better than at any other time of his, and by extension the rest of the surfing world’s, career. Whether or not Yadin Nichol decided to actually compete in the final was totally irrelevant: nobody was going to beat Slater. The closest anybody came was Taj Burrow; and Taj has added bulk over the last few years, which has anchored him to his board and seems to have helped him rediscover his rails. The result: he surfs more like Slater.
Slater made clear in a pre-finals interview during the U.S. Open that he wanted to surf against Kolohe Andino for reasons of historical importance. I sure as hell wanted to see that too. But mostly because I’m pretty sure that Slater would have reminded everybody that air-reverses are the least interesting maneuver developed in surfing since the Quasimoto. And maybe Kolohe, if he really is the future (and Kolohe sure thinks so), would have learned something– progression is only valuable if it leads somewhere pleasant.
Slater then breezed through the ‘Chopes contest winning with enough confidence and bravado that in the final he went over the falls backwards after a priority battle with Owen Wright, then came up laughing and hopelessly out of position; he still won the heat with ease. Maybe it takes 10 world titles for a surfer to have that much fun in a contest final. Or maybe Slater is as amazed by himself as the rest of us.
Here’s a video of Slater v. Taj from Snapper earlier in the year. The smoothness, polish, and power of Slats are on full display.
