Photo: Koa Smith // YouTube
The Backdoor Shootout is a unique event in the world of surfing. Though it has carved itself out as a perennial mainstay in the sport’s yearly calendar, one in which the biggest names in surfing regularly compete, it has still managed to retain a paradoxical air of outsider status.
Part of that is due to the competition’s pedigree — it’s an event sponsored by a surf gang-cum-clothing brand, started by its notorious co-founder (whose son actually won the event this year, fittingly enough). The other half is the Backdoor Shootout’s idiosyncratic format, in which eight teams of surfers compete in a non-elimination event.
But enough of the backstory. What’s it actually like to surf in the Shootout? For a closer look, we go to North Shore freesurfer and tube hunter Koa Smith, who competed in the event on the team A New Earth Project, along with Bethany Hamilton. In his latest YouTube video, he cut together an edit that captures the experience of spending four days competing on surfing’s center stage.
“From the epic opening ceremony to scoring HUGE waves, big wash through sets and crazy wipeouts. I am so grateful to be surfing on Team A New Earth Project with legends like Bethany Hamilton!” wrote Smith in the caption. “There simply is nothing like surfing in a contest at Mother Pipeline.”
