Matador Network's Blog, page 2096
June 23, 2015
Country outline quiz
Featured photo:
Gun violence in the US compared
MORE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE DEVELOPED world, the United States loves its guns. The sheer amount of guns in the country means that even if most gun owners are decent, law-abiding citizens (which, for the most part, they are), there’s still going to be a ton of gun violence. Vox put together these infographics demonstrating just how many guns the US has compared to the rest of the world, and how this translates into gun deaths.
Image credit: Vox
While the most startling gun deaths to the American public are the shamefully regular mass shootings, these by no means account for most gun deaths: the majority of gun deaths by a wide margin are not actually homicides, but suicides instead.
Image credit: Vox
While gun violence has become more or less routine for Americans, in other countries — countries with fewer guns and stricter controls on their sale — this is not the case. 
Via: Vox
How to inflate a Portlander’s ego
Baby is earning her wings! #pdxairportcarpet #CharlotteMaeJoye
A photo posted by Jessie Joye (@jessiejoye) on Mar 26, 2015 at 8:34pm PDT
2. Tell them their homegrown kombucha recipe beats anything you could get at Whole Foods.
A photo posted by Lion Heart Kombucha (@lionheartkombucha) on Sep 25, 2014 at 1:44pm PDT
3. Compliment them on their wide beer-vocabulary, forged in the nation’s microbrew capital.
Lights are still on in our neck of the woods and now it's time for a Winter Warmer. #pdxtst
A photo posted by Hopworks Urban Brewery (@hopworksbeer) on Dec 11, 2014 at 6:08pm PST
4. Meet their kilted, darth-vader-helmet-wearing flaming-bag-pipe-playing unicycle jaunt with applause. They’re “keeping it weird,” after all.
5. Tell them how impressed you are that they maintain a 9-to-5 AND an exotic backyard garden with several chickens.
Just us chickens #icontattoo #icontattoobbq #chickens #portlandchickens
A photo posted by Gin Hicks-Baba Yaga (@ginhix) on Jun 23, 2014 at 6:15pm PDT
6. Tell them how much you admire their commitment to their four-legged-friends and quirky-pet-culture.
(via)
7. Tell them you’d rather drink a “large Stumptown Hair Bender” than a “Venti Americano-Doubleshot” any day.
A photo posted by Jordan Alejandro (@clocklesswatch) on Feb 26, 2015 at 12:12pm PST
8. Compliment them on their impressive facial hair, and tell them they could totally win the World Championships the next time it rolls through town.
9. Let them tell you about the merits of kale and the evils of fluoride in the water.
https://instagram.com/p/2V5Zl7ijVf/
10. Compliment them on their “flow.”
A video posted by Jasper's Gypsy Wire Jewelry (@jgwirejewelry) on Jun 13, 2015 at 1:54pm PDT
11. Ask them to take you on a sightseeing tour… of the old-growth forests.
A photo posted by Julie (@jgourdeau.photography) on Jun 9, 2015 at 11:09am PDT
12. Tell them that “zoobombing” definitely beats going to any amusement park, hands down.
A video posted by Matthew Mckeon (@samuraimckeon) on May 13, 2015 at 9:58am PDT
13. And finally, tell them their smile is the only sunshine you need (note: this is particularly effective during the months of February-April)
(feature: flickr) 
12 ways Mexicans are better than you
Photo: YODCOX!
Hacé clic para leer este artículo en español. Tambien podés darnos un “me gusta” en Facebook!
1. Let’s get to the obvious first…
Cooking! We’ve got the best and most varied cuisine in the whole world and nobody can deny it. If we were to allocate jobs to every single country, Mexico would get to be the chef, but not any kind of chef. Mexico would be that versatile cook that runs a street stall the same as a high-end restaurant and he would never have problems memorizing dozens of ingredients just for one recipe or experimenting with new flavors and creations. He would have a serious tortilla fixation though.
2. Avoiding saying no
Lack of determination or an excess of politeness? Who knows! The point here is that we find it uncomfortable to be in the middle of a situation where a clear negative is required. The funny side of this story is the large amount of linguistic tricks we’ve developed and their effect on people who are not familiar with our ways. There is the ever present “ahorita,” whose most appropriate translation would be “not now and please don’t ask me about later” or the subtle “gracias” (thank you) that so efficiently substitutes a plain and simple NO!
3. Being thankful
I don’t know who owns the world record for the most times the word gracias has been used in a single conversation, but I’ll put my hand in the fire if that person wasn’t Mexican. But yes, I’m also including all those times we say gracias and we really mean no.
4. Suffering every romantic misfortune with all of our hearts!
¡Ay dolor, ya me volviste a dar! (sweet pain, you’re onto me again!) The most popular entries in the Mexican song book have something in common: Their main purpose is to pour lime on the wound. Lime, not salt, because we’re Mexicans.
5. Overloading our surroundings with vibrant colors
You don’t know what you’ve got until you leave Mexico and realize that the color palette in our country is far beyond that of foreign cities. And it’s not just a matter of little towns or pueblitos. Luis Barragán and Ricardo Legorreta are both world-recognized architects that have promoted the use of Mexican colors on contemporary buildings and urban structures. But let’s move past architecture here, just take a walk in a Mexican park and see the colors that surround you on people’s everyday apparel, food, flowers, crafts… Even a single balloon vendor has a visual impact like anything else.
6. Remembering our dearly departed
Our best internationally-known tradition is a simple acknowledgement of our mortality and a homage to all those people who passed through this life before us. Where else can you find a display of tradition similar to Day of the Dead?
7. ¡Regatear! (Haggling)
How much is the less for this? C’mon, gimme something to make up my mind. What if I take another two? This verbal strategy game can go on forever… or until one of the two sides gets tired. A lot of people will think we’re a miserable kind for fighting over a peso with the onion vendors at the market, but this is a tradition that has been present in Mexico for hundreds of years and it’s not gonna go anywhere despite all the efforts of the free market.
8. Celebrating everything as if there were no tomorrow
The typical boda de pueblo (small town wedding) exists even today and it really lasts for three days! But let’s not get right into our biggest and wildest party tradition. In Mexico anything can be a good excuse to go wild and jump into the party wagon. Watching a football game, the mandatory weekly gathering with your friends, family Sundays, birthdays, your nephew’s baptism, your recent break up, your new relationship… And it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is or if you have plans for tomorrow, it’s gonna be a long time before the party’s over.
9. Get all dolled up to go to work
Probably you got little sleep after last night party, but that’s no excuse to show up all shabby to work the next day. We Mexicans spend a lot of time getting ready to work every single morning. All of those girls curling their lashes during their commute and the tons of hair gel spent each year by Mexicans support this claim.
10. Running long distances
The honor goes to a very specific group of Mexicans: the Raramuri people. In more than a few occasions, these guys have showed internationally-renowned athletes the true meaning of endurance… and they don’t need the most recent Nike shoes or some last gen supplement pills to do so. They were just born to run.
11. Worrying about work!
According to the World Health Organization, work-related stress is a big issue in Mexico. Our stress levels are well above those of China and the US, which are typically depicted as heavily stressed societies. Stress related heart conditions are beginning to be a problem in Mexico and the fact that Coke and fried tortillas are both important parts of our diet isn’t making things easier.
12. Chatting with strangers
We always get a little confused when we leave Mexico for the first time and notice that it’s not the norm to go around saying buenos días, buenas tardes, and buen provecho to everyone. Even if you’re not the friendly, outgoing type, in Mexico it’s not uncommon to do small chat with perfect strangers. We go from standard greeting phrases to establishing actual conversations in no time. Don’t tell me that you’ve never gossiped around with the corner shop clerk or with the people around you in the tortillas line! 
You know you're in Portugal when...
Photo: Pedro Ribeiro Simões
1. You always wonder: “Am I eating baby food with shrimp?” as you reach across the table to get your hands on some more açorda de marisco.
2. You are offered percebe (barnacles), and you wonder if it’s a tentacle from a sea monster or a strange part of an alien’s body. You watch tutorials on youtube to learn how to actually eat them.
3. You walk by big houses, little houses, apartments, shacks, castles, bungalows, campers and all of them have clothes hanging on the line.
4. You walk past ten bakeries on one block and you finally head into one, not sure which cake you need to try first: palmiers, pastéis de nata, jesuítas, pampilhos, travesseiros, bombas de chocolate, or the bolo de arroz.
5. You walk by a shop and you see penises decorating the window. It’s not even a sex shop.
6. You know it is dinner time because you can smell homemade bread on the table — just like you did before breakfast and before lunch.
7. You feel eating is a national sport. Before they are even through with breakfast, locals talk about what they are going to have for lunch, and at lunch they discuss dinner.
8. You wonder if any other nation gets to eat cod, because it seems it all ends up on Portuguese tables.
9. After wobbling your way precariously down the cobblestone streets, you finally understand why local shoe-repair stores are still in business.
10. You feel famous when you are introduced to locals, what with the smile, a hug, and the two kisses on your cheeks that they enthusiastically give you.
11. You walk to the beach enjoying the smell of the ocean yet you soon get distracted by the scent of barbequed sardines, carapaus, and the barbecued peppers on your tomato salad!
12. You see ladies walking on the beach wearing 7 skirts next to a crowd of teenagers wearing tiny bathing suits.
13. You walk through mazes of small streets and you look up once, only to see an old lady wearing all black, hanging out her window smiling at you.
14. There is a pot of basil growing in every other window.
15. You get invited to the coffee shop from dusk to dawn and from dawn to dusk.
16. You do not know whether to order a café, bica, or cimbalino.
17. You hear locals calling all those different “sausages” hanging in every butcher and market, “enchidos.”
18. You see strange men dancing around the streets with overwhelmingly big heads, and lots of men dressed up as cancan dancers. It’s not pride, it’s carnival!
19. You realise although the French are more known for it, the Portuguese love to eat their snails. They even bake a pastry called “caracol” to eat year-round when snails are not in season.
20. You order a Sagres or Super Bock and you are given a bottle of beer. When you want a cold draft beer, the key word is imperial.
21. Everything begins to sound strangely like slurred Russian, even though you are nowhere near Russia.
22. You walk by men wearing Portuguese berets, and you wonder if, when their mustaches twitch, that is considered a smile. 
29 signs you learned to drink in Tennessee
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2. Yes, driving to the bordering county or state to buy booze is an inconvenience, but you’ll do it no questions asked.
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3. You hugged a sticky toilet at Tootsie’s on Honky Tonk Highway once and knew you had hit rock bottom.
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4. Your party has been broken up by a mountain lion on more than one occasion.
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5. Memphis in May equates to sweating alcohol and dry rub.
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6. As a passenger, holding your liquor on winding mountain roads has become a learned skill.
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7. You can stomach five Jack and Cokes but the second some Shut the Cluck Up hits you, it’s all over.
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8. You’ve gotten drunk with Maci from Teen Mom at a Gucci concert.
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9. You once got the courage to go into a gas station with a fake I.D., only to be reminded that you’re in a dry county.
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10. The sight of wine in grocery stores elsewhere in the country is a total mind fuck.
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11. You’ve gotten stuck in a time warp on Chicken Salad Wednesdays at Kudzu’s.
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12. Three words: Beale freakin’ Street.
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13. You’ve shared a PBR with Santa at his pub.
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14. Sipping some Jack and dipping sweet potato fries in honey Dijon under the soothing lights of the Bluebird Cafe is and always will be one of your most spiritual moments.
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15. Moonshine? Totally acceptable. But only if it’s blackberry or peach cobbler and served in a mason jar.
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16. Your drunken spiritual awakening occurred behind the porta potties at Riverbend.
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17. You’ve come to terms with the fact that mixing liquor with Sundrop could always be worse.
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18. You’ve been to church hungover more times than you’d like to admit to anyone.
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19. You’ve been to church still drunk way more times than you’d like to admit to yourself.
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20. You’d be much more inclined to stop for kids if they had a Lynchburg Lemonade stand instead of a regular one.
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21. The first time you got the spins was at Shenanigans.
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22. Steak? Potatoes? Carrots? Chicken? Ice cream? You’d have to be a fool not to soak them all in Jack.
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23. Waking up hungover leaves you often wondering which mountain you’re on rather than who you’re waking up beside. 
This story was produced through the travel journalism programs at MatadorU. Learn More
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24. You’ve drunkenly convinced someone at the Yellow Deli to give you a matte bar and show you their squeaky clean kitchen at 3 in the morning.
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25. A Dolly Parton impersonator got you so shit faced once that you successfully tried to steal her wig.
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26. You’ve been to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery to cure a hangover and had a moment of silence upon seeing the safe that gave Mr. Daniel gangrene.
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27. You know that beer is best chilled in a mountain creek.
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28. With good reason, Gerald has cut you off after two Long Island Iced Teas from Lamar’s.
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29. You’ve snuck a flask somewhere in a cowboy boot.
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20 crazy facts about Idaho
Salmon River Photo: Social Geek
Idaho is the whitewater capital of the US, with the Middle Fork of the Salmon River its star — National Geographic named it one of the top 10 whitewater rafting trips in the world. It’s 90 miles of class II-IV rapids, sandy beaches, hot springs, and premier fly fishing. Getting a permit for the Middle Fork requires patience, but there’s 3,000 miles of whitewater across the state and outfitters ready to help you run it. You can always scope out Idaho’s other rapids on the Snake, Selway, and Payette Rivers.
2. There’s serious Basque culture here.
Ever since the influx of Basque immigrants in the 19th century, Idaho has served as an unlikely epicenter of the diaspora outside of Europe. Today, the descendants of those early silver miners and shepherds celebrate their heritage every half decade with one hell of a party, called Jaialdi, along with smaller annual festivals held in July. At Boise’s Basque festivals, you can experience the culture through dance, traditional sports, food, and drink. If you miss the party, just head over to downtown Boise’s Basque Block where there’s a museum, a market, and Basque restaurants — don’t miss Bar Gernika’s “beef tongue Saturdays.”
3. It hosts one of the country’s hottest new music festivals.
Photo: Treefort Music Fest
Every year since its inauguration in March 2012, local music legend Built to Spill has graced the Treefort Music Fest lineup alongside bands like TV on the Radio, Of Montreal, Yacht, and RJD2. But the real draw is the emerging local bands that get just as much hype as the bigger names on the bill.
Last year’s festival featured over 430 acts — from indie and folk to hip hop — spread across 25 stages at downtown Boise’s most intimate venues, bars, even a church. Inspired by festivals like SXSW, the fest also hosts indie flicks, TED-style talks, theater, yoga, a skateboard competition, and a whole set of events for kids, including a ukulele jam session and a costume parade.
4. It has the only State Seal designed by a woman.
Shortly after Idaho gained statehood in 1890, its governor decided it was time for a new state seal. The First Legislature for the State of Idaho held a national competition with a $100 prize that would be awarded to the best design. Artists from all over the country entered, but it was Emma Edwards, a recent Boise transplant and art teacher, whose painting of a male miner and a female goddess, signifying freedom and suffrage, won the competition to become the official State Seal in 1891.
5. There are more soakable hot springs here than anywhere in the US.
Photo: Casey Greene
Idaho has a whopping 340 geothermal hot springs, and 130 of them are the perfect temperature for skinnydipping. Dotted across the state, some of the best, like Jerry Johnson Hot Springs, sit right on the edge of Idaho’s rivers. So if you get too hot, you can hop out and take a quick, chilly dip in the river — it’s like being at a Korean spa, only better.
6. …and you can mountain bike to them.
In 2014, the Adventure Cycling Association created a new mountain bike trail map called the Idaho Hot Springs Route. Starting in Boise, the 500-mile loop hits over 50 hot springs, ranging from au naturel backcountry spots to commercialized resorts. It’s a pretty nice combo: a hard day of biking through the Sawtooths, followed by a long soak under the stars.
7. Twin Falls is the location of Evel Knievel’s failed canyon jump.
On September 8, 1974, daredevil Evel Knievel rolled into Twin Falls wearing his famous star-spangled suit. On the edge of Idaho’s 500ft-tall Snake River Canyon, he mounted a rocket-powered motorcycle and was launched high in the sky in an attempt to cross the quarter-mile-wide gorge. The media went wild, broadcasting his stunt to TVs everywhere.
Unfortunately, Knievel’s safety chute deployed prematurely, spiraling him and his rocket craft out of control, and plummeting him to what should have been a watery grave. Instead, he landed on the edge of the river, unscathed except for a broken nose. Two miles west of the jump site, his legacy lives on at a gravestone-like monument where Evel’s fans still come to pay homage.
8. You can sandboard down the country’s tallest sand dune.
Just outside the city of Mountain Home is Bruneau Dunes State Park, home to the the tallest single-structured sand dune in America. Climbing to the top of this 470ft pile is a challenge — one step up, and you slide three steps down. It’s all worth it, though, when you get to the dune’s spine, strap your feet to a board, and sculpt your way down the mountain of sand. Bruneau Dunes is also a good spot for fishing and camping, and there’s a sweet public observatory for stargazing.
9. The world’s first chairlift was built in Idaho.
Photo: Ray J. Gadd
In 1936, a Swiss engineer brought the world’s first aerial chairlift to Sun Valley, Idaho, at the same time that a four-story ski lodge was built. And thus, the country’s first destination ski resort was born. While the original chairlift is no longer in operation, Sun Valley is still one of America’s premier ski mountains and a homebase for dozens of Olympic skiers and snowboarders. And, true to its name, it gets 250 days of sun per year.
10. Stanley is the coldest place in the Lower 48.
The coldest place in the US isn’t in northern Maine or the Midwest. It’s actually Stanley, Idaho — a small town about 130 miles northeast of Boise that sits 6,260 feet high between the White Cloud and Sawtooth Mountains. From 1995 to 2005, Stanley had the coldest temperature in the contiguous US for a total of 393 days. The average annual high in Stanley is only 52.3° F, while the average low in January is an icy -2° F. Even in the height of summer, the median low barely breaks freezing at 36°…but don’t let that deter you. Stanley has world-class fly fishing, remote mountain camping, and epic backcountry snowmobiling.
11. Boise has a booming microbrew movement.
Photo: isvend09
With 15+ microbreweries in city limits, the craft beer scene has grown so popular there’s now a legit Boise Ale Trail. Before you go, pick up the 14-day Ale Trail Passport, which gets you 2-for-1 on drinks at participating breweries.
12. Idaho also has several distilleries.
In 2000, downtown Boise’s Bardenay became the nation’s first restaurant distillery, and the perfect place to grab a cocktail made with in-house vodka, rum, or gin, served alongside local Hagerman trout. Another favorite — 44° North Vodka — is distilled in Idaho using local ingredients like 100% Idaho potatoes, Brundage winter wheat, Rocky Mountain spring water, and Idaho huckleberries. Who knew all those potatoes were good for more than mashers and french fries?
13. …and 52 wineries.
Probably didn’t think of Idaho as being wine country, right? Grape growers know best, and Idaho’s rich, volcanic soil and long daylight hours have been attracting winemakers for over a century. Leading varietals include chardonnay, riesling, and cab.
14. It has the continent’s largest concentration of birds of prey.
Photo: Pen Waggener
The 485,000-acre Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area was set aside in 1993 to protect the habitat of the densest concentration of large nesting birds in North America. Every spring, over 800 pairs of raptors — including hawks, owls, eagles, and falcons — flock to the Snake River plateau to mate; the crags and crannies of the Snake River gorge provide the perfect place for raptors to guard their young.
Idaho is also leading the charge in recovering endangered birds at the nonprofit Peregrine Fund, where scientists are pioneering captive breeding and reintroduction programs for species like the California condor.
15. Hemingway lived here.
First coming to Sun Valley on a fishing trip in 1939, Ernest Hemingway quickly fell in love with the Wood River Valley. The next fall he came again, setting up shop in Room 206 of the Sun Valley Lodge, where he edited his Pulitzer-nominated For Whom the Bell Tolls. He spent the next two decades fishing and hunting in what he described as “the loveliest mountains that I know.” In 1959, he bought a house and moved to Ketchum, and Hemingway and his wife Mary are both buried at the Ketchum Cemetery; a memorial has been dedicated to him along nearby Trail Creek.
16. Weiser is the “Fiddling Capital of the World.”
Photo: Nancy Grindstaff for National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest
Every year since 1953, competitive fiddlers from across the nation have traveled to the Idaho town of Weiser for the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest. Held every June, the week-long hoedown sees about 350 fiddlers competing, with tunes judged on “danceability, old-time style, rhythm, and tone.” And over at the Fiddletown campground, where contestants and their families shack up, the jamming and dance party continues late into the night.
17. Idaho is home to the two deepest canyons in the country.
Most people think the Grand Canyon is the deepest canyon in the US. Wrong. Northern Idaho’s Hells Canyon is the deepest river-carved canyon on the continent — the Snake River that runs through it sits 8,000 feet below the east rim at its highest point. That makes it about 2,000 feet deeper than Arizona’s showpiece. Coming in a hot second is Idaho’s Salmon River Gorge, where the granite walls rise 7,000 feet above the valley floor.
18. Boise is the City of Trees.
Photo: Charles Knowles
As the story goes, Boise got its name when French-Canadian fur trappers arrived in the 1800s and stumbled on the Boise River Valley, thickly lined with cottonwoods. They were so relieved to find shade and water after traveling through Idaho’s high desert that they shouted Les bois! Les bois! (“The woods! The woods!”) Today, Boise lives up to this moniker, with over 45,000 trees in public spaces spread throughout the valley.
19. Idahoans celebrate New Years with a potato.
Who needs the ball drop in Times Square when you have a giant potato falling from the sky in downtown Boise? The Idaho Potato Drop attracted nearly 80,000 people in 2014 with a bustling block party featuring local musicians, a beer garden, food trucks, and, well…a 17ft potato for the countdown.
20. If all of Idaho’s mountains, hills, and gorges were ironed out flat, it’d be the largest state in the Lower 48.
Take that, Texas.
This post is proudly produced in partnership with our friends at Visit Idaho.
If you’re bringing the kids, make sure to check out 18 Summers to plan your Idaho family adventure.
June 22, 2015
These nightscapes are amazing
Finnish fine art photographer Mikko Lagerstedt captures the atmosphere of night time like no other: with a sense of mystery and beautiful, clear skies.
His amazing photographs will make you want to step away from cities and their light-polluted skies to explore the eeriness and beauty of the night.
Find more of Lagerstedt’s work on Instagram, Facebook, and on his website. 
Night flight
Dreamy night
Lost world
The whole universe surrenders
Divided
Pathway
Between two worlds
Highway
All captions are the photographer’s.
This little boy lost his stuffed tiger at the airport. Check out the adventure it went on.
A little boy named Owen, age 6, recently went on a trip with his mom, Amanda Lake, from Florida to Texas. Owen has a beloved stuffed tiger named Hobbes, but Hobbes got lost at Tampa International Airport.
For most of his trip, Owen was worried about his friend Hobbes, who was handmade by his aunt who lives in Houston. Not only was Hobbes okay, but he happened to be having the time of his life.
After he was found by the airport’s janitorial crew, the operations staff decided to take the Hobbes out for some gelato and on behind-the-scenes tours of the airport. Hobbes also made a side trip to a hotel where he played Jenga.
When Owen returned to Tampa from Texas, he was reunited with Hobbes and was given a bound book of photographs by Airport Operations Center Manager Tony D’Aiuto that showed what his tiger had gotten up to while Owen had been traveling.
“It was very, very sweet,” Owen’s mom said. “We already told him over and over that Hobbes was on an adventure, so it was nice to get back and show him that Hobbes really had been on an adventure.”
All photos courtesy of Tampa International Airport.
66 surfers on a single board
THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF HUNTINGTON BEACH is so steeped in surfing that this So Cal beach town has been coined Surf City USA. Huntington Beach is home of George Freeth, the first surfer in the United States, the first wood carved surf boards, dozens of world champions, and the International Surfing Museum. So it’s no surprise that this laid back surfing community made history once again last weekend by breaking not one, but two world records.
On June 20th, the 11th annual International Surfing Day, Huntington Beach’s Epic Big Board Ride took place and was an attempt to break the records for the “Most people riding a surfboard at once” while on “The World’s largest surfboard.”
Prior to this year’s Huntington Beach event, the record setting surfboard was 39.3 feet long, and the most riders officially recorded to ever catch a wave on a single surfboard was 47 – a feat that took place in Queensland, Australia in 2005.
The multi-year effort to build the world’s largest board in Huntington Beach brought together aerospace engineers, pro-surfers, boat builders, and surfboard shapers, and the result was a 42 foot long, 16 inch thick fiberglass board that cost between $70,000 and $90,000 to make.
The morning of the event, thousands of spectators lined the beach and the Huntington Pier to cheer on 66 surfers who spanned multiple generations and would ride the board in unison.
Team Leader Rocky McKinnon (in yellow) organizing the group of 66 surfers.
The group included world champion Peter ‘PT’ Townsend, Surfing Walk of Fame inductee Scott Farnsworth, and many more world renowned heroes from the surfing community.
Bob ‘The Greek’ Bolen, who has been surfing Huntington’s waters since 1958.
In order to beat the current record, the participants would need to catch a wave and stay on the board for a minimum of 10 seconds. As a pair of wave runners pulled the board out past the break, the crowd waiting anxiously with cameras in hand to see whether the herd of surfers would be able to pull it off.
Rocky McKinnon, a former pro-surfer and local custom paddle board builder was the one responsible for calling the wave. As the surf approached, McKinnon waited for the perfect barrel and then commanded the group to take their positions as the board caught momentum. Fourteen seconds later, the board approached the shore with every single surfer still standing, breaking the previous world record.
In an interview with McKinnon, I asked how it felt to be a part of this record breaking day. McKinnon said, “It was a special moment for Huntington Beach, for Surf City, and it was such an honor to be part of that and to be asked to provide my expertise to make everything go off without a hitch.”
Following the successful ride, Guinness Book of World Records adjudicator, Michael Empric, made it official that the a new record had in fact been set for the most people to successfully ride a single surfboard at once. The other record for the world’s largest surfboard is still awaiting confirmation but is expected to awarded in the upcoming months.
A big congrats to the surfers and the community of Huntington Beach. The surfboard, which had to be transported by a crane, is being relocated to the International Surfing Museum, where it will be on display so vacationers and surf enthusiasts can relive this exciting moment in Huntington Beach history.
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