Even The Tiniest Groms Have To Grow Up Some Day

The name Tyler Gunter has been floating around the surf industry for roughly eight or nine millennia. 

When the Newport Beach grom first burst onto the scene, Tyler’s squeaky chords and diminutive frame gave his competitors a false sense of confidence, leaving them shocked when a surfer literally half their size bested them in the finals.

For years Tyler embraced the support of Orange County super-company RVCA, but eventually that relationship fizzled and the 18-year-old was left with a Wisconsin-sized gap on his nose.

Dreary but not disheartened, a puberty-grown Tyler packed his biggest sticks and took flight toward Mexico, where a summer south was making landfall at his favorite apexing beachie.

After cleaning a few pounds of sand from his ears, Tyler took off to South America where he parted the reefs of Chile, before returning back to Newport for a flurry of Wedges and ramps. 

And just like that Tyler Gunter became a man.