The future is young and running wild

All photos by Steve-Mo Morissette

A pack of frothing hyenas took to the North Shore a few weeks back, better known as the Rip Curl groms. Full of stoke, as one between the age of 12 and 16 tends to be, the kids put their skill sets to the test up and down the seven mile miracle. From maxed out Rockies to pumping Pipe and Haleiwa the young cats searched, got barreled and caused a bit of trouble. Youthful angst is gorgeous, isn’t it? When they arrived the rock was being blasted with serious swell, but still the kids got after it wherever they could.

Mr Gordon tangled up in blue.

16 year old, Luke Gordon, out of South Carolina was a standout of the trip. It was his fourth journey to the North Shore. Out at Haleiwa the kid caught 22 waves in just a bit over an hour (three waves a minute), giving new meaning to staying busy. He also found a few bombs out at Pipe and he’s hungry to become a name in surfing. When asked if he’d rather have good style and surf average, or bad style and surf great he said, “I’d rather have bad style and surf great, because great is better than good and if you ain’t first you’re last.” Shake and bake Mr Gordon.

Wyatt knows his way around a Pipe tunnel, that’s for sure. Photo: Matt Myers

Wyatt McHale, a cool local kid from Sunset Beach joined the camp. Just 14 he’s already got a knack for the pure Hawaiian juice. Which isn’t surprising, growing up taking beatings at Sunset will prepare you for just about anything. The kid’s already a face out at Pipe and Backdoor, “one morning during camp,” he said, “I snagged a weird bumpy one at Backdoor, got barreled and made it. I was super stoked on it until it turned into a head on collision with the oncoming section. I just exploded!”

Brisa whips for the afternoon light.

Another Oahu local, Miss Brisa Hennessy, just took the WSL Pro Junior at Sunset last week. She’s 16 and is full of style. In ten years she says she’ll be at her restaurant cooking up something good, “I’m a foodie!” she claims. But inbetween the future and now, she’ll keep winning contests.

Through the tropical green, Cole paints the aqua scene white.

Introducing Cole Alves, 14, from the Maui Isle. “I got caught inside by a bomb at second reef pipe,” he said on his heaviest wipeout. “When I was under water I was thinking, Oh no, I hope there’s not another one coming. Then I popped up and it was right there. I got so worked.” But he’s a grom made of rubber, he took his beating and got right back out.

The old men were afraid to duck dive.

One of the youngest of the crew Alyssa Spencer, 12, made her second voyage to the North Shore. Flying across the pacific from the sleepy town of Cardiff, San Diego. She suffered a board to the head out at Rockies. “I was surfing Rocky Lefts when a big set closed out,” she said. “The two old guys ahead of me ditched their boards and I decided to duck dive,” already schooling the old kooks on proper lineup etiquette. “Next thing I knew one of the guys boards hit me in the face. The rail split my forehead open and I had to get stitches for the first time in my life. Luckily it didn’t hurt that bad.”

Styling airs are what you do when you live in San Clemente. Here’s Crosby getting lifted on island time.

The younger brother of Griffin Colapinto, Crosby (without Nash and Young) made it to the North Shore for his eighth time. The kid from San Clemente, like his brother digs on the Hawaiian power. “I broke three boards in one week,” he said, but when you’re 14 and charging Pipe and Backdoor you’re bound to break some foam. “My favourite wipeout from the trip was when I dropped into a Pipe bomb, got sucked over the falls and came up with another broken board.”

Miss Leilani’s purely stoked.

Miss Leilani McGonagle’s 16 and rooted in Costa Rica. She surfs more than time allows. “I surf ten to 12 times a week,” she told Stab. On the style note she said, “I’d rather have good style and surf average because no one wants to see a guy flying down the line, flapping his arms and getting ready to take off to Mars.”

Palm trees grow tall when fertilized by fiberglass.

The last of the bunch is Sean Woods, 16, from Los Angeles. This was his inaugural leap to the North Shore and it certainly won’t be his last. “If I could be ‘the guy’ somewhere, it’d be Pipe,” he laughed, “because I currently can’t seem to get a wave out there. But watching Crosby break all his boards and getting pissed was pretty funny.”

Left? Right? Straight? Out there.