South America Bound

Santiago, Chile (Shred White and Blue)—Big storms are breaking down South America way, especially in Portillo, Valle Nevado and La Parva, Chile, where over the past week they’ve been counting the snow by the footload.

So the Shred White and Blue crew is taking a plane to Lima for a midnight changeover, and then to Santiago to see what we can ski. Termas de Chillan is on the menu, (not for the casino, but maybe for the spa), as is Portillo, and Valle Nevado, right next door to where the Subaru World Freeskiing Tour kicks off at La Parva on Sept. 3. (check out www.skipressworld.com for regular updates on that, as well as reports and photos on the trip overall). And please excuse us if we don’t answer your e-mail right away.

In the meantime, here are a couple Foam Bits for you:

How Clean is Your Beach?

Surfside, USA (SWB)—Our beaches are not enjoying the summer at all according to a report from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Across the country, they posted more than 20,000 closing or advisory days last year – and not because of dangerous waves!

Water quality the culprit, including everything from raw sewage to chemicals to nasty body eating bacteria. The NRDC rated how badly the most popular beaches bit it with a cool interactive feature that you can check out here.

Save the Waves and Mavericks Pitch Cool Tee

Half Moon Bay, Calif. (SWB)—Mavericks Surf Ventures, Inc. (Mavericks) and Save The Waves Coalition announced a special edition t-shirt – made from recycled PET plastic bottles.  The shirt is the result of a multi-year partnership between the two organizations with five dollars from the sale of each shirt going directly to Save The Waves, the non-profit dedicated to the preservation and defense of the world’s surf spots and their surrounding environments. Get one at www.savethewaves.org

Classic Utah Powder Video

Worldwide Web (SWB)—And then there’s this – some absolutely ridiculous old-time ski footage from Alta, Utah. Stein Eriksen is the legend in the flashy space pants. These guys kill it on old school longboards.

//photo by flickr/jcablarca

Sunday Shout Out: Save the Waves, High Tides & Echo, Echo, Echo Beach

Save the Waves

Jaco, Costa Rica (Shred White and Blue) — Got a couple news blips from Costa Rica at the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games. The one that stuck was about Save The Waves asking for countries around the world to submit their top nominee for the World Surfing Reserves (WSR) program (designed to proactively protect the greatest and most threatened surf breaks around the world, of course).

In Jacó, the federations submitted their surf spot nominations to be considered as World Surfing Reserves, with the first reserves declared in 2009 and 2010. Save The Waves also presented its recently unveiled World Surfing Reserves/Google Earth 3D virtual tour of the nominated surf spots, in which internet users can download an application and tour detailed aerial maps and satellite photos of the nominated surf spots and their surrounding environments. Check it out at: www.savethewaves.org

East Coast Surf: 2 Feet Higher and Rising

Internet — Wired Magazine has a sweet little piece on scientists freaking out because they can’t figure out why peak tides at some East Coast surf spots have “outstripped predictions by two feet.” I bet global warming doesn’t have a single thing to do with it.

Or maybe it’s just the natural vagaries of life and waves and stuff: According to a quote from NOAA in the Wired story: “The ocean is dynamic. It’s not uncommon to have anomalies like this but the breadth and the intensity and duration were unique.” See who said that, along with the rest of the Wired report at: Wired.com

Echo, Echo, Echo Beach

Newport Beach, Calif — It seems like Echo Beach has been in the news for almost a year now, and that the surf-u-mentary has been enjoying ‘premieres’ since May at least. But Thursday night it really is hitting the home break, with a screening of the film showing locally on August 6th, at the Lido Theatre, 3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach 92663, at 7:00pm and again at 8:30pm.

Love this blurb about why it’s worth checking out: “Echo Beach tells the story of the Newport Beach surf scene in the eighties. Originally a reference to the steep, fast breaks between 52nd and 54th Streets, the name “Echo Beach” came to signify an entire era of Southern California surf culture. A group of innovative, extra-rebellious local surfers rose to global prominence not only for their new level of athleticism in the sport of surfing, but also for their (then) whacked-out contributions to style, fashion, business, culture and the arts. Neon colors, new styles, and a general loudness pervaded the Echo Beach scene, along with the usual cornucopia of drugs, girls and parties that always abounds in any surf scene worth its salt.”

Read more about Echo Beach.

Waves image: flickr/gerrygiroux