US Open of Surfing

Shane Beschen flirts with the pier to the disappointment of hundreds of little girls

There’s an old addage among surfers, that it’s the mother of all boardsports, the creme de la creme, the cat’s meow, and all sorts of other cliches that demean other boardriders. We like to think that every sport is just it’s own specialty, but there’s no denying that surfing is one of the most difficult and time-tested of the bunch, as anyone who has attempted the cross-over can attest to.

All week long, the best surfers in the world have been going head to head against local boys and girls from all over the states, in the US Open of Surfing. Taking place in Huntington Beach (be sure to drop that first T in order to avoid sounding like you’re from out of town) the surfing is getting competitive as the field of players dwindles for both the men and the women. Surfing isn’t a bad sport to to watch either, since you get to hang out on the beach, check out babes in bikinis, and hang out with the always-chill surfer crowd.

The Open has some BMX and Skate events going on in the area too, in addition to nightly concerts by rockers like Switchfoot, Cobra Starship, and Weezer. There’s a whole tent village full of sponsors, and with the big guys of Hurley and Nike 6.0 running the show you know there’ll be plenty of free stuff flying through the air.

The action continues all the way through Sunday, so if you get a chance, grab some boardshorts and sunscreen and head down to the shore to show some love for the surfers.