After the massive North Pacific swells starting rolling in in mid-December, one incredible air-
drop photo at Mavericks caught everyone’s eye, prompting Surfline to ask who it was. Turns
out, the “mysterious 18-year old Mavs charger” is none other than Venice’s very own Beck Adler.
Photo: Billy Watts
After the massive North Pacific swells starting rolling in in mid-December, one incredible air- drop photo at Mavericks caught everyone’s eye, prompting Surfline to ask who it was. Turns out, the “mysterious 18-year old Mavs charger” is none other than Venice’s very own Beck Adler.
Interview by Nicole Lynch
So tell us Beck Adler, who exactly are you?
Haha. Well I grew up surfing Venice. I’ve always lived nearby in Marina Del Rey, Playa, Mar Vista just because Venice is so expensive, but I grew up surfing the pier. The thing that really started my interest in surfing bigger waves was pulling into closeout barrels at the pier with Yves and Pat Bright.
Beck Surfing Venice, January 9, 2015. Photo: Gary Adler
When did you start competing?
My dad [Gary Adler] signed me up for my first contest at eight years old. It was a Hurley Rip My Shred Stick at Tower 26 Ocean Park and I ended up winning! It was a fun contest for the groms but it got me really psyched and then I did another contest the next day and I won that one too, the Ocean Park 26 surf contest. After that I just kept doing more and more and kept going. I was always really scared of big waves when I was younger. Then at like 10 or 12 years old I started surfing with Yves and Pat and Justin Marchan, and they were really pushing me and slowly got me more comfortable in bigger surf. It wasn’t big waves but for me it felt big! It started by just going on closeout waves and you’re going to get pounded, but it builds confidence. And Yves knew that, he knew that if I wanted to get comfortable in bigger surf this is what you have to do, he told me and I listened.
Any other tips or is a lot of it just pushing your fear boundaries?
Pretty much a lot of it was just the more you do, eventually you’re going to start making those barrels then those bigger waves aren’t going to feel as big. Prepare for the best and train for the worst basically.
Your first trip to Mavericks was at 16, so this will be your third season? How did that come about?
My first trip was a little weird. I had been looking at Mavericks for a while, I knew I wanted to surf there but I wanted to surf Todos Santos first, which is a big wave in Mexico, because I heard it’s a little bit mellower – it’s still gnarly! – but a lot of people get introduced into big waves through there. Then this perfect swell at Mavs popped up, no wind and not too big. I mean, there is no such thing as small Mavericks, it’s always big when it’s breaking, but this was smaller.
Photo: Fred Pompermayer
I pretty much put this trip together in like an hour and a half. I couldn’t drive yet I didn’t even have my driver’s license, I had my permit! So I asked my dad to take me and he was like, “hell no I gotta work bro.” So I called up Dooma [Damien Fahrenfort] and he was out of town, but he said if you get a ride up there pick up two boards from my house and take ‘em, he gave me two boards to use.
I called a couple different people looking for a ride, I called Justin Marchand. He has always been like an older brother to me, taking me surfing my whole life and looking out for me in the water. He told me to put a plan together and said let’s go. We took my dad’s car and drove six hours in the middle of the night to get there.
On the way I got a call from Will Skudin who is a professional big wave surfer, one of the best ever, we were both on the same team at the time. He said here’s what you’re going to do: show up in the parking lot at first light, you’re going to paddle out and come sit on the jet ski with me in the channel and we’re going to look at the waves. So that is exactly what I did.
Photo: Audrey Lambidakis
Then I paddled out and ended up catching a few waves, it was a perfect first session. Everything I could have wanted happened. I had one wipeout, which honestly you never want to fall but I wanted the full experience and falling is part of it. It was a great day.
So what exactly is a Mavs wipeout like?
A wipeout is so hard to explain, the water is so cold first of all, so when you hit it’s that instant freezing cold down your spine which immediately spikes your heartrate. If you get sucked over the falls and into the lip which has happened to me, you get a couple seconds of complete calm and you just wait for it, and then you just get hit by a truck. Your limbs are all over the place and there’s water in your brain. We have pull vests so your hand is on the cord ready to go. I pulled for the first time this winter off a big swell.
In the wipeout after the famous shot [the one on Surfline]?
Yep, that’s the one.
Yeah, I think everyone felt a little pain for you after watching that one. I definitely had a sore back for a few days after that one.
Do you wear a leash?
We wear ultra thick leashes that don’t have Velcro. Two leash strings on every big wave board for Mavs, it’s double tied in and then the actual ankle strap is triple layers and there’s a pull pin, so if your leash is wrapped around a rock and you’re underwater, you pull the pin on the leash and it releases the ankle strap from the cord and your leash is off your ankle.
Because I saw that video of Twiggy’s wipeout [Grant “Twiggy” Baker] and his board just literally went up underneath the lip of that wave.
Yeah and he was right there with it! My board and I went in the lip on my wipeout too.
You don’t pull the pin on the leash every time. You only do that if you’re in rocks or your board is broken and there’s no need for it anymore anyway.
At Mavs if you fall on a wave and there’s a few behind it and the ski doesn’t have time to pick you up you’re gonna get pushed into the rocks. I’ve gotten pushed in there a couple of times. What happens is there’s a couple of gaps in the rocks where you’re either going to go through or bounce off them. I got bounced off one time and luckily there was a ski there, but if you pull the pin on your leash your board is either going into the rocks or through into the lagoon.
A lot of guys are super hesitant to pull the pin on their leashes at Mavs because it’s likely that their board will get broken if you do. Do you want your board to break, or you?
Photo: Ben Schutzer
What board are you riding out there?
9’3 or 9’8 Padillac – I have two but my 9’3 just snapped a couple weeks ago so I just ordered a new one. I’m pretty much only riding Pyzels.
How do you test a board like that?
We take them and paddle them just to feel them out, the pier to Breakwater and back just to feel them out paddling and maybe catch a couple waves on them. These shapers have it dialed, they know what to make for the wave so you just have to put your faith in them.
What’s is like working with Pyzel? How did that relationship come about?
It started at Rider Shack when I was working there, I met the Pyzel rep and they’ve been really good to me. They helped me out a lot, I text Jon and ask him what dims he thinks I should use. I get all my boards shaped down in Oceanside by DJ, they seem to be the best boards as far as I can tell.
Scotty Anderson was your first shaper, correct?
He is the man. Scott was my first-ever sponsor. I remember I walked into his warehouse with a dinged up board and he said, “Oh we’ll make you a new one.” I must have been 9 or 10 years old until I was about 16 I rode for him, a long time and he made me a lot of great boards.
As my surfing progressed it was a collaboration. We really played around with all different types of boards, epoxy, stringerless, you name it. Any questions I had he would answer them. I don’t think I would have progressed in surfing as much as I did without him for sure.
Who else has mentored you over the years?
My dad, both of my parents. They know what drives my passion in life, and they have been super helpful. My dad drove me around for 10 years surfing every morning, contests up and down the coast, he has been very supportive. My mom [Emma Adler] also made the lunches and was the backing of everything.
What’s it like being a kid from Venice and competing around Southern California?
I’m gonna be honest, it kinda sucked, I didn’t have anyone else from Venice going to events. There was a weird cliquey crew. Most come from wealthy backgrounds, I am from a different area and I’m the only one from Venice so it was definitely tougher. I’m not trying to make an excuse or anything but it would have been nice to have a buddy to go with. But now I’ve made a bunch of cool friends from it as well.
Venice Beach. Photo: SIX12 Media
Yeah I’ve heard Ricky Massie talk about how lonely it was for him on the QS being a Mexican kid from Venice.
I know it was hard for me I can’t imagine what that was like for him!
Who are some of your other sponsors?
I currently don’t have contracts so I’m living on nickels, trying to surf. But I’m talking to companies right now so it’s exciting. Buell has amazing wetsuits. Pyzel. Blenders Eyewear is a new sponsor and they’ve been helping me out giving me super nice glasses and snowboard goggles, Matunas all organic wax, super nice and sticky I love it. And obviously Rider Shack has been the most consistent and helpful sponsor my entire career. Jeff [Glass] has been nothing but good to me my whole young life, I can’t say enough good things about Rider Shack.
How has charging big waves impacted the rest of your surfing?
It’s weird, I think I’ve had more big wave sessions than small waves this winter. It has been the craziest year because Mavs has broken every day for 2.5-3 weeks which is unheard of! It has just been crazy. I have no desire to do anything but chase big waves right now.
This has been a huge year for you between chasing down massive barrels in Mexico, again this year at Mavericks, hanging with the big leagues in some of the heaviest conditions.
I told myself that I would be at Mavericks every single time it breaks this winter not knowing what I was getting myself in to! Obviously I wasn’t out there every time it broke or I’d be dead, just physically broken. But I’ve made 80-90% of the sessions.
What’s is like navigating the lineup? I mean, you’re out there with some of the biggest names in surf. That audio from Chumbo [Lucas “Chumbo” Chicana] was amazing.
Its super interesting, you have your pro guys and they are going to go on the big ones. But then you have your local guys too and they are going to go on the fucking big ones too, they are the best guys at Mavs. You have to respect them, it’s their wave and they’re better than anyone. I know them all now, I paddle out and I’m saying hi. Everyone is rooting for each other, everyone wants their waves, but everyone is amped when you see people on it. You want one but to see your buddy on one too you’re amped! It’s a team effort, you have to be safe, everyone wants to come home.
There is definitely a hierarchy. The guys that have been surfing there for 20 years, they get whatever waves they want. You gotta find your place in the lineup.
After three years I guess you’re starting to chip your way up there too?
Yeah, I’m definitely sitting in a different spot than I was at the beginning of the winter.
What is next for you? Do you plan to compete in the QS again?
I’m headed to Todos Santos Island now with by buddy Jojo Whelan and then I’ll go back to Santa Cruz for another Mavs swell.
I definitely want to do the North American regional QS, I still love competing I still love shortboarding, that is never going away. But for right now with how the world is going I just want to surf these big waves. Once the QS resumes [post-COVID], I will surf go surf the QS. That is, if there’s NOT a Mavs swell. Big waves are currently taking priority.
I know you said your mom is supportive, but how is she handling this big wave decision?
My mom is hilarious, I called her after the wipeout and said, “Sorry I didn’t call you for a couple of days you were probably worried.” In a British accent she’s like, “I don’t worry about you babe.” I’ve just always been doing something dangerous, when I was little I was up in a tree or racing my skateboard off a ramp or something. For her, she’s not a surfer so I just kinda want to get her out into the lineup so she can see what it’s like, but she trusts me and I’m not going to go on a wave I’m going to die on. I mean, there’s always that potential.
My dad is a surfer so he gets it and he’s way more worried than my mom! That wave I fell on the big day, that air drop, my dad texted a bunch of people to make sure I was okay.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Yes, I want to say thanks. I definitely feel the love from the community. I’m super grateful, everyone from Venice has been supporting me so much and it really means a lot to feel that love from my hometown.
Beck with his dad, Gary, and brother, West.
After the massive North Pacific swells starting rolling in in mid-December, one incredible air- drop photo at Mavericks caught everyone’s eye, prompting Surfline to ask who it was. Turns out, the “mysterious 18-year old Mavs charger” is none other than Venice’s very own Beck Adler.
Interview by Nicole Lynch
So tell us Beck Adler, who exactly are you?
Haha. Well I grew up surfing Venice. I’ve always lived nearby in Marina Del Rey, Playa, Mar Vista just because Venice is so expensive, but I grew up surfing the pier. The thing that really started my interest in surfing bigger waves was pulling into closeout barrels at the pier with Yves and Pat Bright.
When did you start competing?
My dad [Gary Adler] signed me up for my first contest at eight years old. It was a Hurley Rip My Shred Stick at Tower 26 Ocean Park and I ended up winning! It was a fun contest for the groms but it got me really psyched and then I did another contest the next day and I won that one too, the Ocean Park 26 surf contest. After that I just kept doing more and more and kept going. I was always really scared of big waves when I was younger. Then at like 10 or 12 years old I started surfing with Yves and Pat and Justin Marchan, and they were really pushing me and slowly got me more comfortable in bigger surf. It wasn’t big waves but for me it felt big! It started by just going on closeout waves and you’re going to get pounded, but it builds confidence. And Yves knew that, he knew that if I wanted to get comfortable in bigger surf this is what you have to do, he told me and I listened.
Any other tips or is a lot of it just pushing your fear boundaries?
Pretty much a lot of it was just the more you do, eventually you’re going to start making those barrels then those bigger waves aren’t going to feel as big. Prepare for the best and train for the worst basically.
Your first trip to Mavericks was at 16, so this will be your third season? How did that come about?
My first trip was a little weird. I had been looking at Mavericks for a while, I knew I wanted to surf there but I wanted to surf Todos Santos first, which is a big wave in Mexico, because I heard it’s a little bit mellower – it’s still gnarly! – but a lot of people get introduced into big waves through there. Then this perfect swell at Mavs popped up, no wind and not too big. I mean, there is no such thing as small Mavericks, it’s always big when it’s breaking, but this was smaller.
I pretty much put this trip together in like an hour and a half. I couldn’t drive yet I didn’t even have my driver’s license, I had my permit! So I asked my dad to take me and he was like, “hell no I gotta work bro.” So I called up Dooma [Damien Fahrenfort] and he was out of town, but he said if you get a ride up there pick up two boards from my house and take ‘em, he gave me two boards to use.
I called a couple different people looking for a ride, I called Justin Marchand. He has always been like an older brother to me, taking me surfing my whole life and looking out for me in the water. He told me to put a plan together and said let’s go. We took my dad’s car and drove six hours in the middle of the night to get there.
On the way I got a call from Will Skudin who is a professional big wave surfer, one of the best ever, we were both on the same team at the time. He said here’s what you’re going to do: show up in the parking lot at first light, you’re going to paddle out and come sit on the jet ski with me in the channel and we’re going to look at the waves. So that is exactly what I did.
Then I paddled out and ended up catching a few waves, it was a perfect first session. Everything I could have wanted happened. I had one wipeout, which honestly you never want to fall but I wanted the full experience and falling is part of it. It was a great day.
So what exactly is a Mavs wipeout like?
A wipeout is so hard to explain, the water is so cold first of all, so when you hit it’s that instant freezing cold down your spine which immediately spikes your heartrate. If you get sucked over the falls and into the lip which has happened to me, you get a couple seconds of complete calm and you just wait for it, and then you just get hit by a truck. Your limbs are all over the place and there’s water in your brain. We have pull vests so your hand is on the cord ready to go. I pulled for the first time this winter off a big swell.
In the wipeout after the famous shot [the one on Surfline]?
Yep, that’s the one.
Yeah, I think everyone felt a little pain for you after watching that one. I definitely had a sore back for a few days after that one.
Do you wear a leash?
We wear ultra thick leashes that don’t have Velcro. Two leash strings on every big wave board for Mavs, it’s double tied in and then the actual ankle strap is triple layers and there’s a pull pin, so if your leash is wrapped around a rock and you’re underwater, you pull the pin on the leash and it releases the ankle strap from the cord and your leash is off your ankle.
Because I saw that video of Twiggy’s wipeout [Grant “Twiggy” Baker] and his board just literally went up underneath the lip of that wave.
Yeah and he was right there with it! My board and I went in the lip on my wipeout too.
You don’t pull the pin on the leash every time. You only do that if you’re in rocks or your board is broken and there’s no need for it anymore anyway.
At Mavs if you fall on a wave and there’s a few behind it and the ski doesn’t have time to pick you up you’re gonna get pushed into the rocks. I’ve gotten pushed in there a couple of times. What happens is there’s a couple of gaps in the rocks where you’re either going to go through or bounce off them. I got bounced off one time and luckily there was a ski there, but if you pull the pin on your leash your board is either going into the rocks or through into the lagoon.
A lot of guys are super hesitant to pull the pin on their leashes at Mavs because it’s likely that their board will get broken if you do. Do you want your board to break, or you?
What board are you riding out there?
9’3 or 9’8 Padillac – I have two but my 9’3 just snapped a couple weeks ago so I just ordered a new one. I’m pretty much only riding Pyzels.
How do you test a board like that?
We take them and paddle them just to feel them out, the pier to Breakwater and back just to feel them out paddling and maybe catch a couple waves on them. These shapers have it dialed, they know what to make for the wave so you just have to put your faith in them.
What’s is like working with Pyzel? How did that relationship come about?
It started at Rider Shack when I was working there, I met the Pyzel rep and they’ve been really good to me. They helped me out a lot, I text Jon and ask him what dims he thinks I should use. I get all my boards shaped down in Oceanside by DJ, they seem to be the best boards as far as I can tell.
Scotty Anderson was your first shaper, correct?
He is the man. Scott was my first-ever sponsor. I remember I walked into his warehouse with a dinged up board and he said, “Oh we’ll make you a new one.” I must have been 9 or 10 years old until I was about 16 I rode for him, a long time and he made me a lot of great boards.
As my surfing progressed it was a collaboration. We really played around with all different types of boards, epoxy, stringerless, you name it. Any questions I had he would answer them. I don’t think I would have progressed in surfing as much as I did without him for sure.
Who else has mentored you over the years?
My dad, both of my parents. They know what drives my passion in life, and they have been super helpful. My dad drove me around for 10 years surfing every morning, contests up and down the coast, he has been very supportive. My mom [Emma Adler] also made the lunches and was the backing of everything.
What’s it like being a kid from Venice and competing around Southern California?
I’m gonna be honest, it kinda sucked, I didn’t have anyone else from Venice going to events. There was a weird cliquey crew. Most come from wealthy backgrounds, I am from a different area and I’m the only one from Venice so it was definitely tougher. I’m not trying to make an excuse or anything but it would have been nice to have a buddy to go with. But now I’ve made a bunch of cool friends from it as well.
Yeah I’ve heard Ricky Massie talk about how lonely it was for him on the QS being a Mexican kid from Venice.
I know it was hard for me I can’t imagine what that was like for him!
Who are some of your other sponsors?
I currently don’t have contracts so I’m living on nickels, trying to surf. But I’m talking to companies right now so it’s exciting. Buell has amazing wetsuits. Pyzel. Blenders Eyewear is a new sponsor and they’ve been helping me out giving me super nice glasses and snowboard goggles, Matunas all organic wax, super nice and sticky I love it. And obviously Rider Shack has been the most consistent and helpful sponsor my entire career. Jeff [Glass] has been nothing but good to me my whole young life, I can’t say enough good things about Rider Shack.
How has charging big waves impacted the rest of your surfing?
It’s weird, I think I’ve had more big wave sessions than small waves this winter. It has been the craziest year because Mavs has broken every day for 2.5-3 weeks which is unheard of! It has just been crazy. I have no desire to do anything but chase big waves right now.
This has been a huge year for you between chasing down massive barrels in Mexico, again this year at Mavericks, hanging with the big leagues in some of the heaviest conditions.
I told myself that I would be at Mavericks every single time it breaks this winter not knowing what I was getting myself in to! Obviously I wasn’t out there every time it broke or I’d be dead, just physically broken. But I’ve made 80-90% of the sessions.
What’s is like navigating the lineup? I mean, you’re out there with some of the biggest names in surf. That audio from Chumbo [Lucas “Chumbo” Chicana] was amazing.
Its super interesting, you have your pro guys and they are going to go on the big ones. But then you have your local guys too and they are going to go on the fucking big ones too, they are the best guys at Mavs. You have to respect them, it’s their wave and they’re better than anyone. I know them all now, I paddle out and I’m saying hi. Everyone is rooting for each other, everyone wants their waves, but everyone is amped when you see people on it. You want one but to see your buddy on one too you’re amped! It’s a team effort, you have to be safe, everyone wants to come home.
There is definitely a hierarchy. The guys that have been surfing there for 20 years, they get whatever waves they want. You gotta find your place in the lineup.
After three years I guess you’re starting to chip your way up there too?
Yeah, I’m definitely sitting in a different spot than I was at the beginning of the winter.
What is next for you? Do you plan to compete in the QS again?
I’m headed to Todos Santos Island now with by buddy Jojo Whelan and then I’ll go back to Santa Cruz for another Mavs swell.
I definitely want to do the North American regional QS, I still love competing I still love shortboarding, that is never going away. But for right now with how the world is going I just want to surf these big waves. Once the QS resumes [post-COVID], I will surf go surf the QS. That is, if there’s NOT a Mavs swell. Big waves are currently taking priority.
I know you said your mom is supportive, but how is she handling this big wave decision?
My mom is hilarious, I called her after the wipeout and said, “Sorry I didn’t call you for a couple of days you were probably worried.” In a British accent she’s like, “I don’t worry about you babe.” I’ve just always been doing something dangerous, when I was little I was up in a tree or racing my skateboard off a ramp or something. For her, she’s not a surfer so I just kinda want to get her out into the lineup so she can see what it’s like, but she trusts me and I’m not going to go on a wave I’m going to die on. I mean, there’s always that potential.
My dad is a surfer so he gets it and he’s way more worried than my mom! That wave I fell on the big day, that air drop, my dad texted a bunch of people to make sure I was okay.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Yes, I want to say thanks. I definitely feel the love from the community. I’m super grateful, everyone from Venice has been supporting me so much and it really means a lot to feel that love from my hometown.
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