Surf Skate 59

We've said it before, California is hands down the number one outdoor sports destination in the world. Sierras, Mavericks, Tony Hawk, it's all here and within a 3-4 hour drive. Nevada is a very close second with brothels, casinos, and all you can eat, but I digress. Think you are the outdoor Jack/Jill of all trades, here's your competition, the Ultimate Boarder. Put on by the organizers of the wildly popular Teva Mountain Games (cough), this competition favours the all rounder, but also showcases the one sport purist, former surfing world champ Tom Curren was there. 58k worth of prize money makes the $300 entry worth it, but just to compete in something like this is pretty cool, bra. As a snowboarder, you've seen my stellar work on YouTube. On that trip to Japan, I met Barton Lynch, a former world champion surfer. A true iconoclast, Lynch was the one of the first surfers to get paid, getting surfing out of the pot-smoking haze and into a bona-fide revenue generating sport for both promoters and competitors while avoiding heavy sponsorship himself. Forgive me if I was a bit star-struck as my boy Wayne was giving me a hard time about my substantial man-bro boner for Lynch that was prominent while I was serving him and his mates Kirins like a punch drunk Geisha. On the skateboard, I used to be able to handle my own, as a former 220lb linebacker, some tricks eluded me, but I made a decent skate punk (albeit fantastically muscular one) in Reno. In the surf, sadly to say, I'm probably a 5.10b surfer, obviously not the usual dominating eBomb. Sigh* However, in Nevada, the hookers pay me, the casinos take that money but comp me a buffet where I replenish the fluids I need for round two at Mustang. Read more here via NY Times.