Unlocked: 'Bell Jar' By Caity Simmers - Stab Mag

The Season Finale of Stab in the Dark starring Ethan Ewing Is Now Live

1376 Views
"I felt wise and cynical as all hell" - one of CS favorite quotes from Slyvia Plath's "Bell Jar," a novel that unravels the human psyche with stunning prose.

Unlocked: ‘Bell Jar’ By Caity Simmers

Featuring the best wave of her life.

cinema // Sep 14, 2023
Words by Coral McDuffee
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Learn more about Stab Edit of the Year (including how to win a Bitcoin) here.

At some point, most of us will feel stuck inside a Bell Jar. 

Where glass walls distort reality and dark thoughts tend to permeate. Muffled like hot air in a blimp. From the outside, the cylinder is pretty, even Victorian-looking, which makes it hard to shatter. 

“Wherever I sat — on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok — I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air,” TBJ author Slyvia Plath wrote, as her protagonist descended into delirium provoked by the expectations of traditional America in the 1950s. 

Caity Simmers’ surfing says to hell with your expectations.

Strolling into oblivion.

Her approach to competition appears effortless — Ryan Burch on a Pickle Fork doused with a Nozlike venom. Sometimes Caity strokes into waves and wins; other times, she has a float, sits deep, tries airs, and finishes with 3.70 points. Plus, her post-heat one-liners exist in spite of corpo juggernaut souls. (see below).

While Caity isn’t busy being a tryhard (her words), she produces surf content she actually likes. Her latest personal project, ‘Bell Jar’, features clips she’s compiled from her best free surfs and BTS moments in Portugal, El Salvador, Brazil, Africa, Tahiti, and home. The cameo list includes her travel companions: Timo Simmers (brother), Zoe McDougall (Stab Highway EU Champion), and Stephanie Gilmore (8x World Champion).  

Like all​​ Toasted productions, ‘Bell Jar,’ pairs shaky handycam footage with ludicrous rail work and whimsical beats. Caity’s SEOTY is our first female submission and may well be one of the most barrel hungry yet. Watch the 10-minute edit Caity cut, directed, and starred in above.

And stay until the end or you’ll miss the best wave of her life.

Learn more about Stab Edit of the Year (including how to win a Bitcoin) here.

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

Goofies Rule The Rankings, While The World’s Best Surfer Sits In 10th Place

What have we learned from the first third of the tour?

May 30, 2026

The Grand Finale of Stab in the Dark Starring Ethan Ewing

The (new) best high-performance surfboard on the planet, anointed.

May 29, 2026

The Skinny Meat Head Episode | StabMic Ep. 16

Dane Reynolds + Eithan Osborne discuss the birth of Ch11 tv.

May 29, 2026

Nearly Half Of Us Think This Shaper Will Win Ethan’s SITD 

We asked, you answered, here are the results. 

May 28, 2026

8 New Surfers, 7 Challenges And $100K Up For Grabs: Surf100 Is Back

The Surf100 Challenge Series presented by Pacifico returns on June 3.

May 26, 2026

Are Johnny Cabianca and Medina Consciously Uncoupling?

We chatted with the shaper of the 3x world champ.

May 26, 2026

How Kelly’s Discarded DHD Landed Under Taj’s Feet

...and then on Britt Merrick's wall.

May 25, 2026

Carissa Moore and Italo Ferreira Win Raglan’s First CT (Spectacularly)

Confirmed: the CT needed a rippable left.

May 25, 2026

Have We Moved Into A New Era Of Surfing? StabMic Ep. 15

Stab High Virginia Beach postmortem with CJ Hobgood, Dane Reynolds, Jake Kelley, & Dooma.

May 24, 2026

Raglan Updates Status To ‘High Performance Left’

Just ask Carissa and Yago how the best heat total of the year and the…

May 24, 2026

Finally, An Inconsistent Left On Tour

After a waveless week, Manu Bay comes back to life and serves up some of…

May 23, 2026

This Is How You Do Raglan

Sage Goldsbury takes a van, a sketchbook, and a hard turn out of competitive surfing.

May 21, 2026

SEOTY: Enzo Cavallini Stars in ‘Malware’

A self-driven project, heavy water detours, and the ongoing problem of visibility for European surfers.

May 21, 2026

Sharks, Crocs & A 38-Second Hold Down — Anthony Walsh On A Lifetime Of DIY Death Evasion

"I once got stuck in a cave at Pipe and had a three-wave hold down.…

May 20, 2026

Episode 04 of Stab in the Dark Starring Ethan Ewing

The day of execution.

May 19, 2026

Mr. Cheddar’s Love Letter To Stab High

"As a weird guy, I can confirm that Buck is a very weird guy."

May 19, 2026

Yago’s Two-Wave Blitz And Robbo’s Two-Wave Drama

Yago Dora catches only two waves to score two near-9s on Day 2 of the…

May 17, 2026

Hughie Vaughan Just Earned The First Perfect Score In Stab High History

While Sky Brown, Isla Hardy, and King Nicol all took home trophies.

May 16, 2026
Advertisement