Damn you make long posts!

Thanks for calling me stud.

IMHO, riding waves and mountains is different to sex, 'cause the thing you are on top of never lies. It is 100% pure reality. The outcome depends on you. That is why I like being in the empty mountains mountains or empty ocean: there is no hype, marketing, popular culture, political spin or lies. Pure clarity.

weekend waves, 30-40knot westerly blowing, but for once abit of ooomph in it!

I grabbed a random few songs worth of waves and stuff from a long dvd made out of last years Fiji trip. At the time it was first surf in three years and pumped on fistfuls of pain killers cause of my shoulders, so pretty bad surfing on my behalf. It frustrated me a bit, but most of the time I was really happy (especially when I got it too myself)

hang on.... youtube upload is wonky.

try this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u48jl5uYF0o

I am a surfer who turned into a boarder and now chasing the white room in Hakuba. I will be down the westcoast of Vic the next two weekends chasing my last waves for probably six months. A mate of mine is buying a place in Nias so I might have to head over there in April. Five foot offshore Winki is my fav although it can get crowded nowadays (I remember, back in my day). Fresh tracks everyday in Hakuba is what I am chasing now.

TJ, I hope ya mate does better than most of the whiteys that I know in Indo.
typical pattern.
Indo gets white man to buy place.
Whitey builds,
Business comes,
and Indo says thanks for paying for the building... now piss off!
It'll keep happening till the laws change.

He is aware of the pitfalls but believes he has it covered. He has good friends over there from the money end of town so he feels comfortable about the deal.

I know negative 100% about Nias and Indo in general. I'm just dribbling here. But in poor towns, the money end of town is often the end that is least trustworthy. How do you think they got their money when everyone around them has none?

For not knowing much, you know enough!

Not the case with this family. Well not in the last few generations anyway. Although I probably don't know enough about them either. Anyway enough about indo and its drawbacks. I want to hear more about peoples surfing and snow life's. I hate the fear of paddling up a monster wave preying that you are going to make it over and then when you do, hoping that it doesn't pull you through the back of it. I don't go out in the big stuff anymore as my surf fitness just doesn't cut it.

Indo - No mate, I just generalise things I have seen elsewhere onto things I know nothing about. I'm just dribbling, like I said.

TJ - I love the cold pelting you get paddling out as you just make it over the lip of a deep dark green monster with the offshore spray whipping back off the lip. I love that. Taking that last stroke over the lip and your hand hits air, not water. As you say, your an inch from getting sucked back over with it as the monster folds.

I do like bigger waves (2-3 times overhead is big enough for me) but like you say, you have to be fit in the arms, and I'm not. I used to surf things as an unbreakable teenager that I wouldn't touch now.

Gather round kiddies, uncle Mantas will tell you another story!

Back in 1988 I was surfing G-land on a solid swell. 8 foot and heavy. I took off on a beast and once I got to the bottom I started driving for the pit. It was one of those barrels that didn't quite form right and the lip smacked me hard. I knew something was terribly wrong with my leg but decided to worry about that later. Right now I was more concerned that I was getting held down big time and not sure which way was up.
When I finally broke the surface the next wave of the set smashed me again. I remember thinking "just hold on to your legrope and find your way to the top because the board will eventually pop up first" Then suddenly the legrope went slack! No more board.
I found my way to the top again. It was then I reallised my leg was completely broken !

I can still see my pathetic foot dangling beneath me as I tried to tread water. I was about 400m from the beach and no board !!

I don't know how long I was there like that until a guy came to my aid but it felt like eternity.
If anyone has ever been to G'land they would know about it's remoteness. In 1989 even more so. My mates made me a splint from a couple of pieces of bamboo and then it was a 2 hour boat ride , 10 hour ferry and bus to hospital.
Indonesian hospitals are pretty basic to say the least. My leg was set with no anesthetic or pain killers! My mate (who sacrificed 2 days of waves to help me . Now that's a mate ) had to go down the road to buy the plaster.
When we were about to leave the hospital I asked the doctor for some crutches. He replied with a laugh " You hop like Kangaroo ". And I did!
When I got back to Australia. I found that my leg was brocken in 4 places. I had 6 plates inserted (with anesthetic this time ) and was out of action for 6 months.
The next year I went straight back to G'land, and scored some nice waves. I now have a healthy respect for that place or any place for that matter.
People used to ask me if I hit the reef or board. No. It was just the raw power of the wave smacking me fast and hard.

I never underestimate the power of the ocean.

mantas,
It's stories like that which make me think twice before taking off at double-overhead tombstones or solid north point down south...

You are a hard man....I was still in nappies in 1988.

I have a deeply rooted fear of big waves which i'm working on overcoming. I think it's a confidence thing. I've surfed some solid, heavy waves in my time...but that is probably one of the reasons I am liking the snow as much as the surf at the moment - I feel i can charge harder and there will be less chance of death (this may not be right, but it's how I feel).

Snosurf. Certainly no hardman. The big lesson I learnt from that ordeal is that no matter who you are or how big your ego is. The ocean doesn't care. I'm sure it's the same in the mountains.

Fear is a good guide in big waves!

Not a surfer myself but had the urge lately to give it a go....mainly after reading a one foot high stack of sufing mags in the smoko shed at work. You see I live 25minutes from the gold coast and lately have been working in broadbeach on a highrise so as for views I have been restricted to three things a) a building site b)the swimming pool at the sofitel or c)the waves which have held an interest whilst being so far away from any white stuff. As much as the foot high stack of ASL,Tracks and Waves spurned an urge to get a different type of board beneath my feet they also learned me about what a lawless place the breaks off the gold coast are and also about localism......it was enough to put me off, maybe if I lived in a place where I wouldnt have to defend myself to catch a wave I would give it a go. Have I taken a too dark a viewpoint of what its like out there???? I mean from what it sounds like a noob wouldnt have a chance!

Mate the gold coast is probably the worst example of surfing you could find. But then again, every man and his dog is out there, you may as well be there too.

Mantas, wait till ya lived here then you'll be claiming that the goldy is mecca!

Snosurf, It's all to do with confidence. I was once throwing myself over 8-12 G-^land and other Indo mysto spots but that came gradually. get a 6ft pit, want a bigger one! get an 8ft pit, want a bigger one and so on, till ya reach your max.

It always does my head in big time if I go off to indo and they boys are pulling into the beast sets and I'm pulling back. Big mental farck off.

This year when I went to Indo, I had lost 10kg before and was really fit. Made a hell of a difference with the confidence and helped me get back into the bigger waves. Practise makes perfect as they say.

Is it that bad? I'm getting mixed reports on Japanese surfing. One source said it was the most underrated surf destination in the world!

It has a really diversified coastline becaise of the length and aspect from north to south. Probably explains why there is very good and very bad. Lots of islands as well.

Indosm- Do you still go to Indo regularly? I haven't been for years. Got sick of the crowds and grew too impatient to put up with all the third world crap that went along with it all.

Where do you go?

Good advice mantas and indomsn... Confidence is a fragile thing, as i've found. If you have mates pushing you harder I think it comes a lot easier than if you're on your own.

In that regard, i'm looking forward to my trip to Hakuba this winter with a group of mates. last time in Japan I was alone and often riding alone. This probably stunted my progression a little...also I probably wouldn't have browned my undies when I got lost in a whiteout after hiking the hirafu peak on my own had I had friends lost with me!