Julian Wilson, frontside slice at The Lane, Santa Cruz

“During the comp you couldn’t take a piss without splashing a few drops on a professional camera body and lens set up,” says Ryan Miller from The Lane at Santa Cruz. He’s talking, of course, about the O’Neill Coldwater Classic, which was won yesterday morning by Taj Burrow, and the shooting gallery that documents every turn, air, claim and board punch for the event’s duration. “With the US surf publishing hub being so close, there was just about every US magazine photographer camped out on the cliffs all week. Then, the second the comp finished, everyone scattered.” Churn it up, spit it out. That’s just the way it is with event locations. But, why?

“I’m not sure what happened, ’cause the waves were going loony,” answers Ryan. “I went home for a quick stroke of the keyboard before quickly heading back down to the lane to meet up with Julian. It looked about as fun as you could ask the place to be.” This frontside slice was one of many shining moments from Jules’ session. Pays to stick around sometimes, huh?