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AIR-CONDITIONING
Hot surfing provides the most relief at Costa Rica's Quiksilver Airshow |
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May 11, 2002 It was a triple-scoop of ice cream on a hot, Costa Rican day. On the bottom, supporting the other flavors, was a giant scoop of above-the-lip mastery in the Quiksilver Airshow. Smooshed onto that was a progressive surfing Jackpot Skins event, and topping the whole thing off was a rare and spectacular "Nite" contest -- one of the few of its kind. Despite the 90-degree-plus air and 85-plus-degree water, the big ol' contest cone kept everyone refreshed and smiling for the three days and two nights of non-stop competition.
Good thing it did since two of those days may have been the longest in contest-surfing history. At 8 a.m. on Day One, six international competitors in the Quiksilver Airshow shuffled across the soon-to-be-molten black sand of Playa Hermosa for the first heat. Sometime after 10 p.m., the last of the "Nite" competitors made their way out of the water under the megazillion-killowatt stadium lights.
The field for the three events was more diverse than 31 Flavors, including everyone from Florida veteran Todd Morcom to 17-year-old Peruvian national champ Gabriel Villaran to the Santa Cruz flight crew of Shawn "Barney" Barron, Jason "Ratboy" Collins, Randy Bonds and Homer Henard to Puerto Ricans Otto Flores, Aron Gieger and Jose Rojas to Venezuelans David Diaz and Magnum Martinez to Hawaiians Gavin Sutherland and Ben Brough to local Costa Rican pilots Diego Naranjo, Luis Vindas and Federico Pilarzu. Luckily, this motley crew didn't need to worry about a wide spectrum of surf. Hovering between 3 and 6 feet throughout the event, Hermosa offered up plenty of ramps, tubes and open face in the peaky 200-yard zone anchored by a jagged rock cluster that claimed a few boards. "He's going to launch over the rock!" was the cry from the judges' perch more than once during the Airshow.
No one ever tried the death-defying rock-hopper, but the crowd did witness flip attempts, 360s, liens, slobs, alley-oops, varials and an array of chop-hops when they weren't turning their heads toward the main distraction on the beach. "There's a ton of girls down here," said sixth-place Airshow finisher and frequent Costa Rican visitor Shawn "Barney" Barron. "Coming from a wetsuit environment to a g-string environment is a real culture shock."
The scenery didn't seem to affect Randy "Goose" Welch and Eric McHenry. In Round One, a giant signature frontside launch had many betting Goose would fly to the top while McHenry made the final with the highest combined point score of the contest. In what was their third consecutive Airshow finals appearance, both stuck to their winning formula of planting big, clean frontside airs early on and going for trickier moves once a good score was in the bag. Surprisingly, neither showed their usual magic and, after the tally, McHenry finished in third, a half-point higher than the Goose.
Costa Rica is geographically, climatologically and culturally closer to Venezuela and Puerto Rico than it is to the U.S. or Hawaii. Perhaps that was what provided the extra lift for the two Latin American finalists. Whatever the reason, there was little anyone could do to ground Venezuela's Airshow regular David Diaz and Puerto Rican Airshow virgin Aron Gieger. Early on, the two international rockets were fueled and ready to reach the moon. Diaz blasted off first with a high-velocity frontside 360, an air that he spins so fast you wonder how long it'll be before he's nailing 540s. The crowd, which had grown to somewhere around 2000 sweaty spectators, erupted for the South American goofyfoot.
But Diaz would soon fall out of orbit as Gieger, the virtually unknown 22-year-old from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, raised the bar out of reach. Toward the end of the heat, a mid-sized right swung Gieger's way and all went quiet as he set his crosshairs on an upcoming section. Bam, it was all over. In one fell swoop, Gieger executed a perfect double-grab reverse 360 air and made a near-impossible landing. "I'd been surfing the spot for the last few days and watching a lot, so I knew where I wanted to be," Gieger said. "Just a little over from the rock there's been good ramps the whole time, rights for frontside airs, so that's where I sat."
Later on that day, two exhausted Costa Ricans pulled off their jerseys after a man-on-man surf-off to determine the winner of the Quiksilver Jackpot Skins event. Federico Pilurzu and Diego Naranjo, two rising teenagers who'd each bested four consecutive heats to put them on top of the Skins standings, both had uncharacteristic slip-ups. It wasn't until the very end that Federico threw his arms up, claiming his ride and leaving Diego skunked without a claimed wave.
At that point, it didn't really matter who won. Costa Rica had offered up its many fruits -- warmth, waves, women -- and two of its own had taken out a skilled field and done their country proud. And it wasn't just the locals who celebrated. At the beachside bar after the event, Big Island booster Ben Brough, Barney and Aussie bush-pilot (and "Nite" contest winner) Nick Wallace all ended up with the same conclusion: "It's the best event I've ever been to." --Scooter Leonard
[Special thanks to Hotel Terraza del Pacifico (www.surfdaynite.com) and Alacran Surf Tours (www.alacransurf.com) for all their help and support.]
RESULTS OF THE QUIKSILVER AIRSHOW
STOP #3 ON THE VANS SMAS '02 TOUR
1. Aron Gieger (Puerto Rico) $4,000
2. David Diaz (Venezuela) $2,000
3. Eric McHenry (USA) $1,200
4. Randy "Goose" Welch (Hawaii) $800
5. Gavin Sutherland (Hawaii) $600
6. Shawn "Barney" Barron (USA) $400
QUIKSILVER JACKPOT SKINS
1. Frederico Pilurzu--5 Skins (Costa Rica)
2. Diego Naranjo--4 Skins (Costa Rica)
3. Geoff Moysa --3 Skins (USA)
NITE CONTEST
1. Nick Wallace
2. Eric McHenry
3. David Diaz
BEST AIR
Aron Geiger (F/S double-grab reverse 360 in Main Round)
BEST TUBE
Jason Borte (in the Skins Event)
BEST COSTA RICAN (OVERALL)
Diego Naranjo
OVERALL TRIPLE EVENT WINNER
Eric McHenry
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