Nate is a classic original, a surfer with timeless West Coast style and a knack for lofty front-side punts and blowing minds in the water. The Foundation line is coming out in ‘12, taking the SPY brand back to its roots at the beach through core shops nationwide, and a team of undeniably authentic, talented personalities is championing the cause. Perfect timing. Nate rips, he has incredible depth of character, his style is his unparalleled, and there’s not a better ambassador for The Foundation line as SPY reaffirms its heritage.
Tyler joins the current elite SPY surf roster that includes Wade Goodall, Parker Coffin, Mike Losness and John John Florence. Between road trips and boat odysseys, the Central Coaster will be updating fans on his weblog, www.simonsmoothballs.com, administered from his off-the-grid yurt in Templeton, Calif. To see Nate, stop by Encinitas, CA and check-out his billboard at the intersection of Encinitas Blvd and the PCH.
The second leg of the SPY Optic Shred 4 Cred Shop Challenge tour hit Huntington Beach, CA, Wednesday, August 17, bringing key So Cal retailers together in head-to-head competition for cash, store credit and bragging rights, SPY style.
Jack’s Surfboards, Sun Diego, Surfside Sports, ZJ’s Boarding House, Channel Islands SB, and Surfride, and Katin suited-up for this surf ‘n’ turf event: a retro board-riding contest followed by a test of attrition atop a mechanical bull.
SPY resurrected a quiver from days of old, and competitors drew numbers from a hat for random surfboard assignment. In the water, competitors armed with their wave-shredding weapons scored points for retro-style maneuvers and pizzazz. Surf City, U.S.A., did not disappoint with its south-to-north current and the inside reform sections which birthed the “Huntington Hop,” and everyone got his fill of waves. Brandon Smith of Channel Islands finished-off top dog in the surf portion of this two-part fete, followed by Brent Reilly of Surfride and Victor Done of Surfside, respectively. Thereafter, SPY team riders and contest judges Benny B, Mike Losness and Torrey Meister put down their clipboards and hit the waves, themselves, in a retro board challenge of the highest order. Benny B won the heat; Losness came in a close second.
Following a quick lunch and a few coldies, the shops took to dry land for the second part of competition: single-elimination, freestyle mechanical bull-riding at Black Bull Chophouse. Surfside Sports and Surfride locked horns in a tie for first-place at the end of this exposition of virtual animal cruelty, which lead to an unprecedented and electrifying “bull-off”. In the end, Surfside Sports found itself victorious over all suitors in this day of barrels and boots.
A special thank you goes out to Black Bull Chophouse and the City of Huntington Beach, and to our retail partners who helped to make this happen.
The US Open of Surfing day 1 and 2 have passed by and so far it’s been amazing. Saturday began the early rounds of the Pro Jr’s and Sunday continues into the round of 32 where we saw how SPY’s John John Florence ripped small waves making it into the quarter finals which will run on mid day on Monday. On Sunday they also ran the Men’s trial heat where the top 4 surfers get placed in the the ASP Prime event. Amongst the top 4 was SPY’’s Torrey Meister. There was a lot of action with the SPY surf team in the water but there was some SPY action up on the corner of PCH and Main Street at HSS at noon. SPY had it’s 1st signing which featured the surf team riders, Parker Coffin, Evan Thompson, Mike Losness and the hottest surfer on the planet Alana Blanchard. There were games, autographs, SPY hats, koozies, lanyards, stickers and even a hilarious cartooned backdrop for Facebook photos to enjoy. Day 1 and 2 were a blast with 7 more days of fun in the sun left!
John John walking up from the beach into the competitor area
video screen grab of John John's Pro Jr heat
Video screen grab of Torrey flaring in the testing conditions of HB during the Men’s trials
Parker Coffin living la vida loca along with the rest of the team; Evan Thompson, Mike Losness and Alana Blanchard
May 27-29 launched the 1st surf contest of the Bud Light Lime surf series held at Churches Beach San Clemente, CA. There were 32 invited surfers 2 of them being SPY surfers Mike Losness and Torrey Meister. The event was all about fun. Catered food and beers were non stop. The finals included 1st Mike Losness, 2nd Kekoa Bacalso, 3rd Mitch Coleborn and 4th Roy Powers. Mitch Coleborn, Kelly Slater and Torrey Meister each won an expression session.
Mike in celebration
Losness checking in
Ah..... the beach life is not so bad.....
Losness in competitive form
Losness talking with Dion Agius (beanie)
Torrey Meister in the Kubrik's hanging with the boy (Makua Rothman and Sunny Garcia)
Photographer Chris Straley enjoying the fruits of a Bud Light surf eventIt's a good and hard final
Losness and Coleborn waiting for the final results
Losness holding the coveted 1st place trophy
One of the best surf events that I have ever been to. The next one is up in Ventura CA in Sept!
SPY’s Torrey Meister and Mike Losness will be competing in The Bud Light Lime Surf Series this weekend, May 27-29. The kick-off event will be held at Church in San Onofre State Beach and the finals will be held at Point in Ventura on Labor Day Weekend.
IMG is partnering with Surfline.com to broadcast highlight footage of each event’s contests, including full airings of the finals and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.
Visit innersectiontv.com and be sure to login and comment on SPY team rider Mike Losness’ new video featuring tunes by Naked and Famous’ “Young Blood.” Their catchy beat will get stuck in your head then make you want to throw down aerials just like Mike.
SPY High Flying 4/20 Ride Day @ Pala Raceway in Concert with Jeremy McGrath, DC Shoes, Deft Gloves, Kawasaki, KTM, Transworld Motocross and Wahoo’s Fish Taco
SPY brought one of the largest crowds on record to Pala Raceway yesterday, as it celebrated the completion of the “SPY Shady Spot” portable lounge at this renowned moto venue with a different kind of ride day.
Hundreds of motocross riders, fans and industry folk showed-up to witness the first “Dethrone the King Holeshot Race” featuring Jeremy McGrath as the reigning king. Dozens of Average Joes (some less average than others) lined-up for a shot at the crown, and two Pros in Joes clothing wound-up toppling the The King from his throne! (Not that that King needs any excuses, but he got stuck good in the middle of some serious chaos off the line, with a sea of speed freaks bumping shoulders and grabbing throttles en route to the holeshot… What happened to “safety first”?!)
It was an all-SPY podium at the awards ceremony. Congrats go to SPY endorser and KTM’s own Mike Sleeter and SPY athlete Grant Langston. Sleeter was presented the Holeshot Winner’s trophy by none other than MC himself and the ever-creepy Matt “Smelly” Chong.
After grabbing some lunch from Wahoo’s Fish Taco it was time to dive into the industry-stacked SPY Mini Bike Relay. Team Deft Gloves took top honors, just nudging out the SPY team who took second, followed by The Easter Bunnies and Team Kawasaki in third and fourth place.
Special thanks to Jeremy McGrath, DC Shoes, Deft Gloves, Kawasaki, KTM, Transworld Motocross and Wing and the crew at Wahoo’s Fish Taco.
3 MC's fly over...Photo by Brett Hillyard
SPY Shady Spot at Pala
SPY's legendary MC, surfers Mike Losness and Parker Coffin
SPY's wakeboarder Melissa Marquardt, Alliance Wakeboard's Bill McCaffray and son
Winners of the mini bike race Logan Darien, SPY's "Smelly" Chong and Brian Foster
The DC crew strategizing the holeshot race
The calm before the storm. Who will dethrone the champ?
No matter how hard you try it maybe never be as hard as Spy’s Mike Losness. It’s been 5 years since Transworld Surf quoted Mike as being the “Hardest Working Man in Surfing” in the magazines Pro Spotlight article. It’s seems as though Mike has not skipped a beat or lost any of that drive. Read this quick interview on Surfing Mag’s website.
Ok this really has nothing to do with Spy other than a few views of Mike Losness and Dean Morrison judging the Miss Reef contest but it’s way too good not to post. There’s nothing better than a happy ending!!!!!
