Team Managers Will Be Re-Adding This Name To Their List Of Prospects
Noah Hill hasn’t lost his ferocious touch.
For the love of all things un-holy in surfing, can someone please rip the logo off a lolly-gagging influencer’s photo prop and slap it on the nose of Noah Hill’s board?
The fact that the backside snap at 5:24 happened on a sticker-less chunk of foam is an absolute crime. Not to mention the number of punts sprinkled throughout the clip.
Nineteen-year-old Noah Hill was once a child prodigy, winning junior titles and chasing QS dreams. Despite his success in surfing early on, he’s had a rough couple of years, facing everything from surgeries, emotional hurdles and being dropped by sponsors.
After missing two straight Hawaiian winters due to injury, Noah’s first year back at the Mecca of surfing was last season. He spent his time stacking clips with filmer Raleigh Norton, who pieced together an exceptional edit. Catch “People Watching” above, then scroll down to read our interview with the human sledgehammer.
Stab: Hello, Noah. Where are you from?
Noah Hill: I was born in Venice Beach, California. I lived there until I was 11 then I spent the rest of my childhood growing up in Maui, Hawaii.
You had quite the competitive career growing up, what were your most memorable moments surfing in a jersey? Tell us some of your achievements.
My most memorable competitive moment growing up was winning my first National Championship after my Dad had a stroke. It meant a lot to have him there watching and cheering me on.
Some of my biggest achievements in surfing are winning an NSSA National Championship, Winning a Surfing America National Championship, placing first in the VQS National Championships, Winning the Papara Pro Junior in Tahiti, and finishing runner up in the ISA World Games in Japan. I also really enjoyed being a part of the Grom Games series.
Has qualifying for the CT always been a dream of yours?
Growing up as an extremely competitive kid, I always envisioned myself making the CT at some point in my career. I think starting to do the QS at age 13 was a poor decision on my part. Having five judges dictate your self-worth as a surfer was tough to endure as a fragile and sheltered young teenager.
Do you still think it’s possible for you to make the Tour? Have any other routes in mind regarding professional surfing?
When it comes to what I want to accomplish professionally, of course, I’d love to get a chance to compete to make the tour or to make some awesome video parts. As everyone knows, it’s quite a financial burden to take on the QS without any support from sponsors. But whether my career is in freesurfing or competitive, I’m so glad to be doing what I love again. So I think it is a possibility, but without help from sponsors, I don’t want to put all my eggs in that basket.
Raleigh mentioned this is your first winter back after a back injury. What happened?
This was my first winter back in the water in two years. I struggled with various injuries that only allowed me to spend four or five months in the water on a shortboard in the last two and a half years. Throughout my whole career, I’ve done everything from disintegrating part of my humerus head to breaking my femur. All of these injuries, losing my sponsors and having some close relationships in my life go south actually made this winter one of the hardest times in my life.
I was able to surf November through January of this winter. Then at the end of January, I decided I needed to get emotional help. So I went to live in an inpatient wilderness therapy program in Vermont for the rest of the winter. I just got out of my program and I’m so grateful to be able to be back surfing and living by the coast again.
Whats your plan for next winter?
My plan for next winter is to spend some time surfing on Oahu and Maui. I am really excited to go into the winter with a clear mindset and in good health. Hopefully, I can push myself out of my comfort zone and see what my best self looks like.
What happened with your O’Neill contract?
I don’t ride for them anymore. I started riding for them in 2012 or ’13 when I was around 12. I rode for them for six years through all of my injuries. When my contract expired I was in recovery from major surgery. Taking into account all of my injuries I understood why we couldn’t agree on signing a new deal that would support my goals of being able to compete on the QS and make a living from surfing. I would love to be able to use this next year to prove myself again.
Have another brand deal lined up or still shopping around?
Still shopping around, I think people forgot I still surf haha!
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