Benjamin Sanchis looks like an ant on the face of the 60ft wave at Belharra in the Bay of Biscay.
Frozen in time, the picture shows the lip of the wave lurching forward threatening to crush the Frenchman with hundreds of tons of water.
But the 29-year-old professional surfer managed to avoid wiping-out and could earn a place in the history books for the ride.
The photo has won him a nomination for this year’s Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards – a contest normally dominated by locations in the Pacific Ocean.
The wave, which breaks over an offshore reef near …Â More info
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For years, the act of filming a surf movie has existed as a formulaic enterprise: record professional surfers in the world’s most coveted surfing lineups, add up-tempo soundtrack, maybe splice in some lifestyle b-roll, throw a ubiquitous and unnecessary release party, roll credits.
With little exception, the surf film as an artistic property has stood idly by while the genre has been co-opted by those with the belief that a surf film should serve more as an inducement to go surfing than a work of art.
The recent release of an independently produced Australian surf film, “Musica Surfica,†however, attempts to remedy that principle.
The film follows the collaboration of legendary surfer, writer and thinker Derek Hynd with world-renowned Australian classical musician Richard Tognetti, who is the artistic director …Â More info
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For the action sports industry in 2009, it’s all about keeping your head above water.
Already struggling with a glut of inventory, the $14.4 billion industry is forecasting sales to fall as much as 25 percent this year. Some surfboard makers say their business is down 30 percent to 40 percent as consumers put off larger purchases.
With numbers like that, industry insiders say some brands will disappear and the economic undertow will pull down a number of mom-and-pop shops, considered the backbone of the business because of their connection to the core action sports customer…. More info
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Viewed as a danger to themselves and skiers, snowboarders were banned from most ski resorts 20 years ago.
Today, no resort interested in staying in business discriminates against these free spirits, now represented by all ages and backgrounds.
Exposure provided by the X Games and Olympics has helped make snowboarding the fastest growing arm of the winter sports family, with ski centers building more terrain parks, halfpipes and adding lesson programs.
“I just see it getting even bigger,” said Rick Roxin, general manager at Hunt Hollow Ski Club in Naples. “Kids are bypassing …Â More info