Yak, yak, yak - here I go again. This is a long and plaintive unauthorized editorial, an exercise of free speech, a treatise that might promote me to an anti-terror, anti-anarchist watch list, a purging of something inside of me that in South Africa is affectionately known as "kak". If its food for thought, you might not like the taste of my shit. But seriously, you are on surfsverige to be entertained right? So let me serve it up piping hot.
The surf has been pumping lately... everywhere. But that's not the only thing that is unusual. Somewhat less appealingly, regarding crowds I experience and hear reports varying from "thirty guys out!" to "we were alone!", often from the same people on the same day who were forced to motor elsewhere due to previously unwitnessed congestion. Then, there is the issue of trash at Asa and the trash that I've seen around at spots in southern Sweden. I can't believe it! Sounds like normal surfer shit everywhere though - a few bad apples. The thing is, just a few years ago it was pretty rare to hear of crowds at some of the spots, rarer still to see surfer generated litter. But the cameras were rolling, the browsers were browsing and oh ya, the communicators were definitely communicating and yes, I do think there is a correlation.
Anyone with their eyes open and half a brain could predict the future. (I fall into both categories) But how near it was! We had debates - online, in the water, on the shore... Well, its too late.
On Saturday, a spot in Denmark that used to (less than 3-4 years ago!) be surfed by a few Germans and a handful of Danes was saturated with 30 bobbing heads! The coast north and south of the spot was empty and firing, but ... that's another story. And no, it wasn't in Klitmoller - which was also firing in a 'once in a blue moon' kind of way. In another recent instance, a place in southern Sweden had 20 guys out on a very marginal windy day as late as well, as late as one could see. Chaos in the lineup through to dark. Sure this used to go on in September at times when it got goodl. But... if you've been around for even a few years, you know what I mean. And if you've just begun to surf, welcome aboard. No, really. Just keep reading. As for the rest of us, we move on, surf new spots - "every cloud has a silver lining"
It's amazing how ego (even when disguised as art or knowledge) and cash, independently or combined, fuck up a good thing - a great thing!
The simplistic and only slightly tongue in cheek xenophobic argument promulgated at Molle a few years ago was "oh the Danes, here come the Danes" - blame crowds on the Danes. Well, for those of you who subscribed to the Danes as spoilers argument, I've added fuel to the fire by including a forum thread from
www.riders.dk. But read, link and think and the story is less obvious.
In Denmark, some Danes were/ are bummed about the "Germans on longboards" even though the Germans were the first to really even surf the west coast on a regular basis. A long-time surfer from S. Sweden placed the blame for a crowded spot on another one of our surfing peers the other day - not a Dane or Danish resident. I told him that I'd have to be an octopus with 8 fingers on each tentacle to point to all of those who have "blown it". It wasn't very poetic, but accurate. Have you been a spoiler?
Maybe the evolution of the sport and surf culture is something that some truly appreciate despite the fact that the actual surfing experience has become more social or that much more of "shared" experience. That might be a good thing. I don't know. But most of the surfer's I've met around the world - with Denmark and Sweden being no exception - value being in the water with fewer, not more people. I'm unabashedly one of them.
"Sharing is caring"
. In the water, sharing is and should always be the order of the day. Newer surfers take notice. Online, sharing is nuanced. In the water, if you don't share you are a dick and we can see and name you for being the aggressive dick that you are. Online, passion. ego and at times, financial incentive, combine to turbo-charge growth in a previous void. A niche enters the broader market. "Sharing" in the online context is less of a human value and more of a valued commodity. The artistic and the entrepreneurial unwittingly conspire, the stoked consume their "PRODUCT", a visual orgy of reality and the imagination. And finally, sharing where it counts most - IN THE WATER - becomes an exercise in sharing ever smaller slices of the pie. Once again, where do you share, how does your sharing affect the overall surfing experience? No, not the vibrancy of the community. No, not your expanded social network. No, not your self-image. No - I mean, how does what you share and how you share add or not add to the amount of surfers in the lineup on a random day of surf in Sweden (or Denmark, Norway... and beyond!)
I would love for the burgeoning surf industry in Scandinavia to reflect on the evolution of the sport in other environments. And not just as a business school case study or art project. I would love for those who are more than just "surfers" to admit to themselves that there are not 100's of spots getting waves 200+ days a year here and that each session at each spot IS valued by the practitioners. And finally, I would hope that those who are acting in the name of surfing beyond the water's edge come to understand that one of the absolutely unique characteristics of the Scandinavian surfing experience is that discovery has been possible for you as one of a generation and that you have the power, like all of us ensure that the next generation gets to experience that as well. i.e- chill out, look at the chart, go surf and BE a surfer as a surfer. The rest is bullshit.
It's too late to shut the flood gate. Too many interests involved and people basing their lives and livelihoods on surfing in Scandinavia. I know what it feels like to want to swim upstream (what I'm doing now), but not really need to (Adaptation). As for making enemies or friends, whatever. Business is business. If people want to sell soul and pimp surfing for cash or ego, tell us what breaks where, when and how,etc... I'll be there to make sure that it's not done without a critic. Because people's actions, however well justified, might come at the expense of a wider community. The math is simple.
Recently found on Riders.dk. This is an exercise.
Who is to blame? The guys on the forum? Those who made the video? The websites that link to the video? The guys that told the 1st Dane to surf on the E coast in the 1st place? Who is getting what from each transaction and who is being affected by each transaction ?
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Playboard sagde for 2 uger, 1 dag siden:
Her er lidt billeder fra en af de bedre ture til Sverige!!
mstsurf.blogspot.com/
Janus sagde for 2 uger, 1 dag siden:
Hej Playboard
Ser rigtig godt ud! Er det fra østkysten?
Mvh. Janus
Janus sagde for 2 uger, 1 dag siden:
Skal til Sverige og surfe en dag!!!
vimeo.com/14491368
playboard sagde for 2 uger siden:
Ja Sverige er klart det bedste i dagstur området fra KBH!
Emilio86 sagde for 2 uger siden:
Det ser sgu godt ud!
Thomas Børven sagde for 1 uge, 4 dage siden:
Det ser rigtig godt ud, skal helt sikkert til Sverige inden længe!!
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