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Jordy Smith, round one pigdog, France

Yesterday at the Quiksilver Pro, France, only three heats were run. And, things were kinda tough for the surfers in those three heats. Ryan Miller, who was on the beach, shares his observations: “It was twos or nines. Well, make that only one nine, which Gabriel Medina dropped. The waves were pretty junk and guys were pumped if they dropped a five early, as that’d pretty much secure them the heat. Most of the waves were unrideable closeouts that the boys couldn’t even paddle into. Y’think the boys that lost out had a nasty word or two to say to the contest director after their heats were over?”

Jordy Smith (pictured here) may’ve not been digging the conditions, but he did enough to beat Heitor Alves and Adam Melling in the punchy La Grav beaches. There’ll be another call in a coupla hours, at which point round two will (hopefully) fire up, so keep an eye out over here.


Photographer profile

Ryan Miller

Ryan Miller, 33 years old, does not know how to write a bad email. Your pals at Stab have learnt to live vicariously through Miller’s red wine-fuelled letters from the road. His travels take him to some dreamy locales and, in those places, he scores all-time photos: “My favourite photo I’ve shot was of Benny Bourgeois in the Caribbean, with a fisheye. Often I just take photos, but rarely do I get to make one.” In an age of tail-highs and released fins, Ryan still most likes to shoot someone who can lay-down a big backside turn. Namely: Jordy Smith, Dane Reynolds, Gabe Kling, Kekoa Bacalso, Damien Hobgood and Peter Mendia. Like most photogs, Miller misses Scott Aichner’s work. But, as far as contemporary inspiration? “Trying to see things through my daughter’s eyes. It’s wild to think about someone experiencing something totally new on almost a daily basis when, as adults, we rarely get to experience something truly new.”

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