Perfect 10

On July 24th the 2nd to last day of the US Open of surfing was going down in Huntington Beach. Chris and I got up at 6 and headed up for what was sure to be a good time. There was a huge swell that was predicted to hit Southern California and for the first time since we've moved here, it actually happened. It was a perfect storm if you will of great waves and the worlds best surfers in the water. We got there at about 8:30 and after about a half hour of driving for a parking space, we got the beach just in time for Kelly Slater's heat to kick off. For everyone who doesn't know, the surfers compete in 30 minute heats and the highest scoring two waves count. Highest score moves on.
We knew that we were going to see amazing surfing, but we never expected that the first wave that we would see would be a 20 foot faced barrel ridden by Kelly Slater through the pier pylons onto the north side. The crowd of about 100,000 went absolutely nuts, it was amazing. I wish I had pictures but I was too busy having my mind blown by what I had just witnessed. I do have some pics and a video from a wave down the street known as "The Wedge." Should give you an idea of what we saw.



Here's some pics I got from the day.

Kelly after the 10




Waves were shaking the pier, here's a big one rolling through




Not sure what to say about this one.....he landed this drop, INSANE


Here are a few from the "expression session" This was basically a heat full of world champs getting towed into massive waves and throwing themselves.





Another wave takes Slater through the Pier




If you're ever thinking of coming to visit in the middle of the summer, plan on anytime around the US Open because it is definitely worth seeing. Especially if we get waves like what we saw this year.