Alex Gray And Yadin Nicol (Somehow) Find Enviable Cylinders In Los Angeles

“Los Angeles,” famed L.A. chronicler Eve Babitz said, “is like a gorgeous, brainless beauty who is always doing something incredibly stupid but fascinating to watch.”

L.A. cops more verbal shrapnel than it deserves. Those who lambast its dirtiness and disorder are usually those who only see it from behind a windshield on the 405. But freeways don’t usually cut through a places most charming locales and thus the gorgeous bits are left under-known.

Los Angeles is many worlds in one — home to 13 million people, with a $1 Trillion economy, covering 503 square miles, with 400 neighborhoods and more legally-registered taco shops than Mexico City — the metropolis is more than what’s seen on the slithering concrete highway.

The City of Angels also has five major rivers — The Los Angeles River, The San Gabriel River, Ballona Creek, Dominguez Channel, and Malibu Creek — that reliably dumps sand all along the coastline, occasionally providing the bathymetry necessary to host A+ waves within squinting vision of the Hollywood sign.

But, it’s been a horrible few months for the west coast. L.A. had the worst natural disaster in California history with the devastating flurry of wildfires that struck its hills and reached all the way to the beachfront. And, as a result, many of L.A. beaches were closed due to toxic pollution and debris constantly flowing into the Pacific.

And, in a much less serious vain, California just had an annoying flat spell that left L.A. surfers in withdrawals as they watched much of the world’s surfing hot-spots pump for weeks on end — most notably the North Shore and the Gold Coast.

But, as you’ll see above, America’s second-largest city (and specifically its South Bay) can get really good, despite being blocked by south swells by Palos Verdes Point, north swells by Point Dume, and west swells by Catalina Island.

You’ll see a lot of normal surfers in this clip that are less than impressive, but you’ll also see L.A. standout Alex Gray (who has a sort of magic in the tube) as well Aussie/San Clemente-man Yadin Nicol — who just last week served as our Judge for a revamped Surf100, a project we will be telling our Premium Members about very soon.

L.A. might seem brainless, messy, and un-enticing, but sometimes it’s worth getting off the freeway for.