Eithan Osborne Has Entered The Chat

In the first four minutes of Interlusion, there are two airs that could be “enders” in any edit you’ve seen this year. 

“I’m trying to contain myself. This is the best I’ve ever scored on a boat trip,” Joel Parkinson said about Billabong’s team-building exercise in the Mentawais earlier this season.

Joel’s specifically referring to the last section of the film — you’ll know it when the saxophone starts playing and the barrels start reeling and you almost start crying — but the whole trip was exceptional.

Interlusion is 20 minutes of Parko, Creed McTaggart, Jai Glindeman, Dakoda Walters, Kian Martin, and Eithan Osborne on the kind of boat trip that you and your friends have always talked about, but that has never wiggled its way out of the group text thread.

This film can also be described as Eithan’s coming-of-age ceremony. I’ll put my neck out there and claim that 4:31 is the best air reverse ever done. In fact, it’s forcing us to amend our recent article that explores surfing’s best-ever airs. 

Like the montage scene in any good sports movie, the music is rising to a crescendo and Eithan is floating along with it — literally and figuratively. At the same time that he’s stomping two-story airs, Eithan is also sneaky close to qualifying for the World Tour.

Plus, what do we even call that thing he does at 12:26? A frontside Barney Roll to revert? A Barnrodeo? It appears Eithan has nearly perfected the maneuver after first completing it in Stab Highway earlier this year. 

Billabong is tapping into the sort of energy that they had during the Andy/Taj/Parko period. This is fitting on today of all days — the 12th anniversary of the passing of Andy Irons, who is one of Eithan Osborne’s biggest influences. Hence his boardshorts in last year’s Vans Stab High.