Fistfights With Andy Irons, Miracle Backdoor Waves, And Surf Coaches Who “Cheat”

You hate to see him go, but we love to watch him leave. 

Jake ‘Snake’ Paterson has a notoriously firm rump, hardened by years sand dune runs and sitting out the back for the wave of the day. While that wave didn’t always arrive in his allotted half-hour, Snake always made great use when it did, taking down the Pipe Masters and Jeffrey’s Bay event (x2) against admittedly superior surfers.

After a decade on the Tour that was successful by most any measures (did you know Snake was once a single heat away from winning the World Title—true!), he moved onto team-managing for his long-time sponsor Quiksilver, then spent the last decade or so coaching the next gen of competitive hell-raisers. (Remember the Zeke vs. John heat at Bells? Who do you think was in the (native) Hawaiian’s corner?)

Alas, one of competitive surfing’s greatest minds has decided to hang up his orange hand towel and head to more UV-friendly pastures, taking over the CEO position of sunscreen brand We Are Feel Good Inc. 

Since the Stab CUSP is one-half comprised of CT coaches (hey, Stace) and almost 100% comprised of competitive chatter, we thought it was only right to invite Snake on for a proper podcast send-off. Due to scheduling issues (with CUSP co-host Mike Ciaramella being on the opposite side of the globe to Snake, who resides in his native WA), Stace handled the chat alone.

Over the course of an hour, the one-time peers covered a myriad of topics, from fistfights with Andy Irons, miracle Backdoor waves, surf coach accusations and everything in between. 

Relive glory and defeat, here. 

Snake comes on around the 3-minute mark.

Mike and Stace banter/outro starts around 1hr 6m