Posts by Mike Purpus
Surf Fest surf stokes locals
Neither the surf nor the surfing at the Hermosa Beach pier on Saturday matched that of the Van US Open, taking place the same day in Huntington Beach. But the stoke was just as high. “I love this contest,” Christian Steutzman said of the International Surf Festival surf contest. He had reason to be happy.…
Read MoreBreakwater: the early days Longboards, no wetsuits and already hierarchical
The first time I rode the Redondo Breakwater was the winter of ‘62. I was a 12-year old-grom. I paddled down from 30th Street in Hermosa. A lifeguard truck spotted me at 26th Street and followed me the rest of the way. The Breakwater was a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project, begun during the Great…
Read MoreCarroll, Barahona, Saltzman in Blue Mango
At 71, Corky Carroll is still the coolest surfer around. The three-time International Surfing Champion, his lovely wife Raquel, Blue Mango Surfboards founder Joel Saltzman, and old friends John Joseph, Joey Lombardo and I had lunch at the HT Grill in Redondo Beach last month. I hadn’t seen Corky for 19 years, but as soon…
Read MoreSanta rewards Ratopia surfers with fun waves
Every Saturday before Christmas, Nick Weber presents the Ratopia Surf Classic at Torrance Beach. The contest was founded in 2005 to raise funds for 22-year-old local surfer Denny Bales, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Since the contest’s ounding, it has raised $150,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Every year Santa rewarded the contestants…
Read MoreBig days at the Hermosa pier
During a recent big storm swell, the south side of the Hermosa Beach pier had the best ridable waves in the South Bay. Photos taken confirmed it. But surfers had such a difficult time paddling out that some were rumored to have jumped off the pier If true, it wouldn’t have been the first time.…
Read MoreRedondo High’s Hughes joins new generation of chargers
Ryan Hughes started boogie boarding before he could walk, then skim boarded and at 11 got his first surfboard. The fair-haired, freckle-faced, 5-foot-11-inch Redondo High senior learned to surf from his father Daren on an 8-foot-4 Becker at Torrance Beach. “The board was really old. I think it was made in the ‘80s. But it…
Read MoreUp-and-coming surfer talks boards, ‘California’s answer to Pipeline,’ and the day he became a reef fillet
Pipeline: Ryan Hughes Ryan Hughes started surfing when he was 11. He started on a Boogie board before he could walk and advanced to a skimboard and then a surfboard. Now he’s cap[tin of the years old but was riding a skim and Boogie board before he could walk. The fair-haired, freckle-faced, 5’11” Redondo High…
Read MoreStutzman steps up to claim ISF longboard title in Manhattan Beach
A new format for the International Surf Festival Surfboard contest was complimented by a powerful, head high swell at the Manhattan Beach pier on Saturday. Contest director John “JJ” Joseph did away with the conventional age and shortboard divisions in favor of an open longboard contest.
Read MoreLifeguard Kip Jerger will join the three lifeguards who saved his life when he is inducted into the Surfer Walk of Fame
From rescued to rescuer In 1977, Kip Jerger was awarded the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Medal of Valor for rescuing a fisherman off the rocks at White Point in San Pedro. Jerger was stationed at the Lifeguard tower overlooking the rocky point. “Lifeguard Recurrent” magazine printed Jerger’s account of the rescue: “There was a hurricane…
Read MoreTorrance Beach ‘better than Pipeline’ for 13th Annual Ratopia Surf Classic
The annual Ratopia Surf Classic was founded in 2005 to raise funds for 22-year-old local surfer Denny Bales was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Over the ensuing decade, the contest has raised $127,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which has recognized contest organizer Nick Weber with its de Villiers Society Award. The contest includes longboard…
Read MoreET Surf celebrates 45 years of stoking So. Bay surfers, skaters
Eddie Talbot is celebrating the 45th anniversary of ET Surfboards and Surf Shop, arguably the most successful surf shop in the South Bay since the late 1960s. In the mid-Sixties, Eddie and his best friend, Pat “Gumby” Ryan, were groms on the Greg Noll Surf Team. Even then, Eddie had a pretty good crew around…
Read MoreChampion skateboarder, surfer Ty Page invented pop shove-it
Former professional skateboarder and surfer Ty Page passed away last Thursday, just two days before the memorial paddleout for Redondo Beach surfboard shaper Don Swift. Page passed away, at age 59, at his home in Park City, Utah. Both he and Swift succumbed to inoperable brain tumors. Page was a member Larry Stevenson’s…
Read MoreCash in the barrell: Cash Cherry gave up his Rubik’s Cube for a surfboard
Cash in the barrell Cash Cherry gave up his Rubik’s Cube for a surfboard. Now he’s applying his problem solving skills to competitive surfing and shaping boards Cash Cherry may sound like a nickname. It’s not. “We named him Cash because we always pay in cash,” said his mom Hillary said.…
Read MoreHermosa Surfers Walk of Fame to induct Pipeline finalist Chris Frohoff
Chris Frohoff credits his volleyball playing older brother Brent for starting him surfing, in a sibling rivalry sort of way.
One day, Brent was surfing between volleyball games and lost his board. Chris grabbed it and never gave it back.
Redondo Beach’s Don Swift plans swift return to surfing, with help from friends
Everyday, Don Swift sat in his spot, 40 yards southwest of the end of the Topaz jetty waiting for the next set wave. He had been out there for as long as I could remember, at least 30 years. He always got the wave of the day, facing into the bowl and coming off the bottom with a smooth turn into the top part of the curl with style and grace. But Don has been missing in the lineup since October 14 when he was diagnosed with a malignant tumor attached to his brain.
Read MoreSurfer Walk of Fame inductee Leininger was surfing stalwart
John Leininger almost certainly has sold more surfboards than anyone else in the South Bay’s storied surf industry. Shortly after graduating from Bishop Montgomery High School in the mid-’60s, Leininger went to work for Walt Slike and Jim Wells at Skeg Surf Shop at 1st Street and Hermosa Avenue, in Hermosa Beach. A new, clear…
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