Was Asher Pacey Even Better On A Thruster?

Asher Pacey is one of the three best twin-fin surfers today. That’s not an opinion. It’s a fact.

However, depending on your age and/or surf history retention, it might surprise you to learn that Cooly’s alt king was once another Fanning-worshipping grom on a chipped-out thruster.

It’s true! And by the looks of his surfing in Snapt2 (playing above), Asher was on his way to a lengthy CT career. Alas, as the story goes, on one sand-sucking day, Asher knocked out his middle skeg on what would later be named “Freddy’s Rock”, after which he proceeded to have the session of his life, leading him to never insert the center fin again. 

And while his surfing today is beyond stupendous, one must wonder what could have been if Pacey had continued down the straight and narrow.

Now let’s turn our attention to the man who “discovered” Asher and made him a star in the Snapt franchise, one Logan Dulien. We asked Logan what life events led to the creation of Snapt and what took him so long to make the third one (nearly 15 years!) after the clear success of number two.

Logan:

“My first job was at 14 at the Froghouse [in Newport Beach, CA], watching the parking lot on the weekends to make sure no beachgoers parked there… basically the bottom of the totem pole. At 15 I worked in the shop and was eventually hired to be the Froghouse team manager. I also became a Volcom flow grom through the shop, because Froghouse was Volcom’s first-ever account when they were on their way to being huge. 

“Through Volcom, guys like Bruce and Andy, Dustin Barca, Ozzy Wright, and Kyle Garson started staying at my house at River Jetties. It became a clubhouse for all the boys coming through SoCal, Volcom or not. The pad was close to the beach, there was limited parental guidance—my dad was a single father—and I had 4 sisters, so there was always loads of girls around. It was a perfect HQ for traveling groms [laughs].

“After high school, I got a team manager position at a brand called SMP—they were Australian, and I was spending lots of time there, which is where I met Asher, Taj, Mick, etc. 

“After 9/11, SMP went under and that’s when I decided to make Snapt. Andy won his first title as we put out the first movie, and the next year we put Snapt2, and AI won his second title. In 2003 I was approached by PM Tenore and Conan Hayes with an offer to be the surf marketing director for their new brand RVCA. I left Snapt movie-making behind to work at RVCA for seven years.

“During that time, I was introduced to Mickey Avalon, and I started producing concerts that were scheduled around World Tour events. It was World Tour surfing during the day and Mickey Avalon ragers at night. Some nights we would pull $50k and I would walk away with $30k for myself. The money was mental, but during that time I was introduced to OxyContin and soon after became completely addicted and strung out. I spent five years battling an opioid addiction—I quit surfing, went through three rehab stints, and was completely broken. But on March 26, 2015, I finally got clean on my own and started surfing again religiously.

“Some people go to AA meetings, I went to the ocean. Surfing healed me, and after six months clean I decided I would make Snapt3. I took my motivation to stay clean and applied it to making my first surf movie in 15 years. The odds weren’t really in my favor, but that’s what had me hell bent to pull off both together!

“I’m now coming up on five years clean, and Snapt4 is releasing this summer. I still surf as much as possible and couldn’t be more stoked.”