Lowers has long been considered the West Coast’s skate park, no matter how big or how small the waves are during the summer. Next to no swell during the dead of the warmest season? It still has enough juice to offer some playful, rippable sections. Overhead and pumping with more than a hundred people dotting the lineup? One will still describe the wave as playful and rippable.
The beauty of it all is that the wave itself doesn’t steal the show from those who surf it best. Most of the world’s notable waves do the opposite — taking center stage when they light up. Meanwhile, witnessing a set roll through Lowers this time of year feels more like watching a high-performance training session at the Ranch or a World Surf League expression session. And the people who spend the most time here are a testament to that, with finely-tuned mechanics and well-rounded repertoires above and below the lip. All this is to say if you want to see what kind of surfing comes from frequenting perhaps the world’s most “agreeable” wave, don’t bother looking anywhere else.
So, are you curious who’s sitting atop the pecking order at California’s crown jewel of performance surfing? Just watch these three minutes and twenty-five seconds of unadulterated shred porn.
