Paul Evans
[As Wavelength celebrates its 40th birthday in 2021, we revisit at some of the more colourful chapters in European surfing history.]
How an era-straddling celebration of cross-over boardsport culture – and a Daily Telegraph kiss n’ tell of it – marked the beginning of the end surfing’s vaunted age of debauchery.
“So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
Hunter S knew it’s easier to mark the demise of some eras than others. In this case, the hippies of San Fran. Defining the end of an era, perhaps with a lyrical flourish and degree of abstract symbolism is usually easier, and always more satisfying than the beginning.