Stab Magazine | Cory Lopez, door of the safe, Mainland Mexico

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

338 Views

Cory Lopez, door of the safe, Mainland Mexico

And, so it happens, that Mr Cory Lopez, 35, from Daytona Beach, Florida, and a one-time contender for the world title (2001, came third), was skidding around home in the middle of summer, ain’t a wave for miles or days, and figures, this ain’t living, called a surf mag and asked if they’d send a photographer on a trip to Mex with he and Oliver Kurtz (Bruce Irons would arrive four days later), even though there wasn’t a ripple on the charts, and then, with tickets already booked, up pops a hurricane. “They were calling for no swell for a week,” says Cory. “Then that hurricane arrived and gave us insane swell. We shot for seven days straight. Every day was perfect.” Cory surfed from six-thirts straight through to when the wind came up every day. “Oh god, we were going mad,’ says Cory, who surfed in O’Neill lycra shorts to stymie rash. “Mex likes to blow out about noon and we’d be in the water at 6:30 , but there were a couple of days that didn’t blow out until two. That’s a seven-hour session right there.” Says the photographer, Corey Wilson: “Some of these waves were throwing so wide you could fit a small vehicle inside the barrel. It was pretty inspiring watching Cory surf out there with such comfort. All trip he was sitting extremely deep on these peaks and managed to make it out of most of them with ease.” How big might these waves be? “The big days, there were borderline 10-footers,” says Cory. “Everyone’s 10 foot is different. Mine’s pretty solid.”

full frame // Mar 8, 2016
Words by Corey Wilson
Reading Time: < 1 minute

And, so it happens, that Mr Cory Lopez, 35, from Daytona Beach, Florida, and a one-time contender for the world title (2001, came third), was skidding around home in the middle of summer, ain’t a wave for miles or days, and figures, this ain’t living, called a surf mag and asked if they’d send a photographer on a trip to Mex with he and Oliver Kurtz (Bruce Irons would arrive four days later), even though there wasn’t a ripple on the charts, and then, with tickets already booked, up pops a hurricane. “They were calling for no swell for a week,” says Cory. “Then that hurricane arrived and gave us insane swell. We shot for seven days straight. Every day was perfect.” Cory surfed from six-thirts straight through to when the wind came up every day. “Oh god, we were going mad,’ says Cory, who surfed in O’Neill lycra shorts to stymie rash. “Mex likes to blow out about noon and we’d be in the water at 6:30 , but there were a couple of days that didn’t blow out until two. That’s a seven-hour session right there.”

Says the photographer, Corey Wilson: “Some of these waves were throwing so wide you could fit a small vehicle inside the barrel. It was pretty inspiring watching Cory surf out there with such comfort. All trip he was sitting extremely deep on these peaks and managed to make it out of most of them with ease.” How big might these waves be? “The big days, there were borderline 10-footers,” says Cory. “Everyone’s 10 foot is different. Mine’s pretty solid.”

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Is It Time For A New Judging Format?

We have a modest proposal — a WSL head judge disagrees.

Jul 7, 2025

Luke Thompson Turns Last Year’s Priority Disaster Into Ballito Gold

+ earns himself a wildcard into Jbay.

Jul 7, 2025

Fiji Has Its First Professional Surfer, And He’s Unbelievable

16-year-old James Kusitino’s incomprehensible tube lounging leads to a deal with Former.

Jul 6, 2025

Laird Hamilton on The Limitations of Being a Purist, Invention vs. Ownership + Why He Never Had a Sticker Deal 

Untold stories from his How Surfers Get Paid interview.

Jul 4, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 3, 2025

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025

Surfing’s 2025 Q2 Report

An assessment of surfing's vital signs throughout the second quarter of 2025.

Jul 2, 2025

What Actually Happened to Occy’s Mad Max Plunger Pool In Yeppoon?

Surf Lakes’ brass talks: internet hecklers, the unplugging of the plunger, and the Tom Curren…

Jul 2, 2025

Poor Goofy Foots 

Data shows that the world is stacked against goofs — they even make 15% less money than…

Jul 1, 2025

Britain’s First Wavepool Has Closed — What Really Happened?

Bankruptcy, social media hackings, debts unpaid — and yet, reopening looms.

Jul 1, 2025

Watch: Was Matt Meola’s Air Actually Better Than Hughie’s?

Watch the full Swatch Nines highlight reel and decide.

Jun 30, 2025

Houshmand Bludgeons Field To Win Second CT — Molly Picklum Tastes Blood, Snatches World #1 In Brazil

You can't argue with big surfing — that's Saquarema wrapped.

Jun 29, 2025

37 Years Old And World #1 — What’s Changed For Jordy Smith?

On rediscovering decades old surfboard templates, having a personality on the CT, and why this…

Jun 27, 2025

Tom Lowe Stars in ‘Let Me Live’

The wild, improbable ascent of Britain’s best big-wave surfer.

Jun 27, 2025

Saq Wrap: Italo Celebrates Mid-Heat, Griff Drops A Freestyle, Jordy + Yago Continue BBQing 20-YOs

Top seeds sow ruin, Final 5 starts to crystallize.

Jun 27, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 2

Our seven surviving surfers confront an oddly large California beach break.

Jun 26, 2025

SEOTY: The ‘Once-In-A-Decade’ Caribbean Swell That Kelly Slater Passed On

Michael Dunphy stars in Jimmicane's 'Blue Veil'

Jun 25, 2025

Who Owns Bingin? Legal Fight To Stop Demolition Begins

Eviction notices served for all businesses built on state land.

Jun 25, 2025
Advertisement