Step-Off Tubes In Rio De Janeiro With A Stab Highway Guest Judge

Nic Von Rupp just got done guest judging with us for Stab Highway Europe presented by Monster Energy.

I will not give anything else away for fear of being thrown to the wolves but suffice it to say, Mr. Rupp was witness to some interesting activity in the “Old World”.

In this clip, however, Nic hops across the Atlantic to Brazil to team up with professional skimboarder Lucas Fink and surfers Ian Cosensa and Michelle Bouillons.

The crew take turns being tow-ers and tow-ees as they fling each other into chunky pits with the Rio skyline behind them.

Medium-wave towing can sometimes get a bad rap — especially when there’s paddleable thumpers to be had. It’s kinda like triumphantly crossing a marathon finish line without doing any of the running. All glory, no pain.

But if there’s nobody out and miles of empty, glassy tubes on offer, then who cares? We have 70 good surfing years in this life at most. If a ski and a rope give our bodies more time in the greenish-blue holy of holies, then go for it.