The Alto Pro Am Is Coming Back, And It Vows To Never Stop Thrusting
A surf contest, un-reimagined.
The Alto Pro Am is a surf contest, un-reimagined.
If you descended upon it without context, you’d think it might be going down a few ticks before the clock struck 2000. Music is blaring. Boards are longer, curvier and pointier than they need to be. Most knees are concealed by boardshort fabric.
Bit on the nose? Maybe. But it sure is fun — and it’s coming back to Ericeira, Portugal from Sep 1 – Sep 7 this year.
“No air reverses. Roundhouses and rail surfing rule. Style trumps all,” reads the brief from the event organizers, Rory and Cam.
The boys sourced a quiver of old boards from the secondhand sites. The competitors get to pluck a board out of the batch each time they surf a heat, with the order determined by how they fared in a game of rock-paper-scissors.
It morphs into a week full of parties, film premieres, live music, and more. Back to the press release:
“This year’s surf days will be a mix of game-show styled heats and straight-up surfing. But there are no clipboards on the beach — the winners are chosen by fellow surfers and the crowd. All the surfing from the week will be cut into a highlight reel and shown at the Saturday night prize giving and afterparty, where final votes are cast and the winners are crowned.”
Last year’s winners — local boy João Mendonça and traveling Australian Sophie Fletcher — won a free Ments boat trip. That duo sums the event up well. It brings together a good mix of people, with some bigger names rumored to be showing up this year.
Shoutout to the Alto boys, Billabong and Monster for making it happen.
Comments
Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.
Already a member? Sign In
Want to join? Sign Up