Andy Nieblas Doesn’t Belong In Nose Dodgers Anonymous

Andy Nieblas was sitting down at his local café one day when his favorite surfer of all time biked past him and flipped him off…

Andy, the now-26-year-old surfer from San Clemente, saw him — an aged Phil Edwards himself — ran over, stopped him, and proceeded to ask about some Orange County surf lore. Phil coolly gave him the bird and biked away.

“Wow, I just got flipped off by Phil Edwards!” Andy said.

Andy studied Phil more than any other surfer, he explained, because Phil was creative and spontaneous in an era of stereotypical homogeneity in the water.

While I don’t think that today’s surfing world is totally homogenous, I do think that Andy is crafting different lines than most surfers his age. He rides switch nearly as well as he does regular, he rides his board upside down, and he takes off fins first and tailrides, only to spin back around with Knost-esque poise.

He also noserides. He noserides really, really well.

And there is trouble brewing in the world of logging right now regarding noseriding — trouble that many in logging’s core are speaking out against.

One part of the trouble is that some longboarders are posting photos of noseriding without their toes perched over the nose — the hallmark of a legal noseride. The other side of the trouble is the vile practice of shuffling to the nose instead of cross-stepping. Joel Tudor has spoken out on occasions about contest judges rewarding similar scores for shuffling and cross-stepping, while cross-stepping is far more difficult technically and much more beautiful aesthetically.

This frustration is summed up in the Instagram account, Nose Dodgers Anonymous. Feast your eyes…

So, now that you know the controversy you are in a better position to understand the nobility of what Andy is doing in this edit.

This clip consists of Andy and friends hunting down waves in a familiar place — the southern end of the Baja Peninsula.

Andy originally crossed the border for the “Escape to the Cape” logging contest in the East Cape region of Baja, where he made the semis.

“One round away from the money round,” Andy said, “But that’s just how it goes sometimes.”

He then shot down to the famed Scorpion Bay for a few days of peeling point waves, good weather, southern hospitality, and Norteño carne asada.

Yes, the surfing might not leave you adrenaline-fueled and pulsating, but if you need a 11-minute escape from the dailiness of your life, this is it.

The colors are Star Wars-esque, the water looks inviting, the music (especially the jazz crescendo at 7:49) is enlightening, and Andy’s surfing is progressive and antiquated — at the same time.

You can check out Andy and Quiksilver’s collab project, “The Blank Canvas Collection” here.