E's Surf Report: back from the 'Ho

just back from the 'ho.. tahoe that is.. boarded at Kirkwood and loved it.. weather sunny and warm with no wind, basically spring conditions. Kirkwood is filled with these gullies/ravines that are like huge, 1000-foot long half-pipes.. so fun for cruising around on and trying top-turns and "off-the-lips".

I'm sure that i missed great OB conditions on sunday and today simply by the fact that i wasn't here.. I surfed and saw some ridiculous waves at Ortega on saturday morning though... Lerm and i got on it around 7:30 and it was on fire. head-high+. Chilly NE wind whipping through at a nice clip.. not too many peeps in the water. I caught some nice, long rides in the beginning of the sesh. One right that i worked along for a combination of moves.. Most of the waves broke pretty mushy, with maybe a little barrel created by the strong offshores.. where we were sitting, about 50% of the set waves cruised in as double-ups. Here or there one of these double-ups would just jack up and barrel and grind along the sandbar.. In the back of my head i was on the lookout for that type of situation.. The session wore on, a few waves were had, mostly waiting and hunting for sections.. While paddling over toward Lerm, a thick double-up left rose up right at me. A couple positioning paddles, then three or four power paddles into it and the thing just sucked out underneath me. I quickly grabbed my outside rail (pigdog), angled my way down and to the left, then pulled up on my outside rail, skimming and willing my way into the wave, dropping down the face. I landed toward the bottom and held a tight line against the wall.. the wave was big and conical and i was in the mouth of a throaty barrel. I remember the smooth, rounded wall of the wave looping up and over the top and behind me.. i remember being thrust along mightily. when i came over the back of the wave at the end of the ride i experienced such a rush of emotion and elation.. my heart was pounding and my mind racing and screaming. I had noticed Lerm looking over at me from the top-edge of the wave as i raced underneath. He looked at me with a "holy shit!" expression. Man.. that wave made my month! seriously! The little defeats and disapointments or whatever i'd been feeling about myself and my life and my abilities and my productive output just suddenly took a back seat to this decidedly more significant experience. Riding this wave sent a shot of vitality to the core of my being. Raw significance. Profundity. Solace. Terror. Abstraction.