Jordy Smith, BS Shuvs in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

A few km down the coast from the site of the Billabong Pro, Rio De Janeiro, sits a small but extremely fun wedge. The wave sidles in, hits a concrete wall, then jacks up to a head-high A-frame. By the time you reach the section, the wave’s dropped to knee height, but that’s the beauty of a wedge – they maintain punchiness.

The contest site this morning was, in photog Ryan Miller’s words, “total shit – barely even rideable.” So when the men’s event was called off for the fifth consecutive day, Jordy Smith, Cory Lopez, Damien Hobgood, Pat Gudauskas, Gabe Kling and Ryan all jumped in their hire car and headed to the wedge. They pulled up to find the aforementioned a-frames bouncing off the wall – not great, but better than the event site. Certainly punchy enough for Jordy to torch the shuv y’see here, among others. Following the session, the crew headed to a WPS meeting, before sitting down to another exquisite Brazilian dinner, which Jordy’s dad insisted on footing the bill for. Such kindness!