Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

When Mitch and Yago stop by “Don’t you wanna fly above the water like a pelican?”

what youth happy hour mitch coleborn us open of surfing summer
Photos: Travis Ferré

Hi there. Yep, back. Nothing like a nice couple of “Happy Hours” with Mitch Coleborn and Yago Dora to ignite the spirit. Yesterday, both popped in for the afternoon to kick off the completely unofficial and totally unregulated or sponsored “What Youth Happy Hours.” If you don’t know, we have a little store front at our HQ now, so you can come shop, say hello, tell us about the wave you got this morning and you can generally assume we’ll have a coffee or a beer to offer you. Maybe. The other perk of this situation is the dudes who roll through. Yesterday we got Yago and Mitch. Yago popped in for a hug and hello. Love that kid. He gushed about how fun the waves in Huntington have been, and we learned that he’s currently ranked 3rd on the WQS. That is great news to us. But he also discussed how excited he is to continue free surfing, and how if he does qualify, that it will just lead to more trip opportunities. Good chance he’s going to join us in Portugal this fall. Can’t wait.

Then there’s “Spawn.” Coleborn. We spent much of our time skimming through old SURFING Mags and laughing about how funny it was that the first article on him was called: “Who The Fuck is Mitch Coleborn?” It consisted of a variety of surfers — ranging from Pottz and Tom Carroll, to Dane, Dion and other peers talking about what they knew of him — There were even a few contest legends like Al Hunt who said if he can’t win a contest he’ll never amount to much. He was surrounded by Bintangs in the photo, and we’re pretty sure he’s still one of our favorites and that he’s entertained us plenty the past few years.

Between skate sessions and Coors full-strengths we got on to the topic of surf gimmicks and how they’ve become the new normal. We’re all supposed to trade in our quivers for foam boards with no fins and hydro-foils or cleavage to get clicks and engagement. Mitch did have a funny story about the discussion he had with Ryan Burch and Noa Deane during a recent photo shoot for Volcom about hydro foils though. After way too many chuckles from Noa and Mitch about Laird and Kai Lenny’s enthusiasm for the damn things, Burch chimed in: “You guys suck…don’t you wanna fly like a pelican above the water!?” To which, we simply decided: no…not really. But that’s OK. Here we are, now entertain us. Please don’t chop someone in half to do it though. —Travis 

Right, so the WSL starts again next week And hello, yes, we have some questions and concerns. Five exactly.

It is 6:30 am, picture the scene. It is 6:30 am and the crack of dawn in San Diego and I’m paying for a latte at the coffee shop I frequently go to. “And what,” the barista says as he takes my cash. “What do you think about the upcoming WSL season? What with the…

A quick ode to Uncle Gav Please buy this legend a cold beer. He is a surfing treasure.

Yesterday you heard we went to Samoa and got hit by a cyclone before finding blue tubes and cold beers in it’s wake at Salani Surf Resort. You also saw that Gavin Beschen was there. Well, Gavin flew in from Hawaii by himself, and in true Gavin fashion showed up to the camp solo, 8…

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“Where ya been?” A little update on our recent movements

Don’t you just love when people ask you that? Well, we do. And people been asking us – especially our mailman, cuz we haven’t been home in a while… so let’s see, where did we go… a little bit of everywhere really. We road tripped up the CA coast in a van thanks to you and…

Youth against the machine I’m so proud of you

Editor’s Note: Last Friday night I got emotional. I was watching recaps of what happened in the world that week and a lot had happened. Part of me was on the verge of tears watching young people, you, the youth, standing toe-to-toe with politicians and paid speakers and paid pros for the NRA, and I saw…

Outside the Comfort Zone San Francisco to Florida to the North Shore to “The Other Guys.”

It’s been one of those days. Weeks. Years. Hell, six years. I haven’t used my own soap in three weeks. My bag of clothes is soggy. I miss my bed and I’ve seen three time zones in a week, but I’ve surfed, talked, laughed, drank, filmed and even worn a headset and done commentary for…

Media Model Subsidy Line Noise Ordinances and surf video making with Mitch Coleborn, Harry Bryant, Nate Tyler, Colin Moran and more

This morning we received a note on our front door reminding us that this town operates under a noise ordinance and that we may have been in violation during our first night here. And I may know why. You see, we lucked into an AirBnb that’s equipped with a pool table in the sun room, and last…

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Well, you’re hired We reached out to you and you delivered. Now it’s time to go

Holy shit, it worked!  The idea hatched over a pitcher of margaritas the other night is a reality. And it’s all because of you. You have officially funded the What Youth California ramp hunt and now the boys are ready to send it. We’re starting tomorrow and making it official: The What Youth film project,…

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David Bowie Has A Book Club Maybe 2018 won’t be terrible after all

When history looks back at our bizarre little era, it will agree on one thing: Everything went to shit real quick right after David Bowie died. It’s baffling how quickly reality unraveled after David Robert Jones left us in early 2016. Muhammad Ali, Prince, Tom Petty and a whole bunch of people you really like passed…

Quiksilver has acquired rival Billabong In the least shocking headline you’ll read today

I know this headline isn’t as good as: “Iguanas are freezing and falling from trees.” Or “It’s so cold that sharks are dying.” But we’ll give it a shot. Quiksilver and Billabong are now owned by the same company. This was posted last night by our fabulous friends and drinking buddies and hard-hitting journalists at…

Hunter Martinez, San Francisco

2018: Fitter, Happier…still on antibiotics Here we go again

To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment that promises us adventure, power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and our world – and at the same time, that threatens to destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are…—Marshall Berman 2018 and I woke up strange. My FICO score changed (for the…

Blake Myers, Noa Deane

Save What Youth Dot Com And the rest of our little digital realm for that matter

I have loads of nasty habits. I drink six cups of coffee every morning, I let my wetsuit ferment in the back of my car because I’m too lazy to rinse it out, and I’ve caught myself watching the Oi Rio Pro un-ironically on several occasions. But there’s one stupid, habitual quirk I do every single…

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RIP Bruce Brown The man responsible for surfing’s greatest celluloid achievement is gone, but there’s no chance we’ll ever forget him

I was 12 years old and I remember leaving baseball practice of all things to go see the world premiere of Endless Summer II at the old Peirside Cinema in Huntington Beach. That night was the beginning of the end of my cleat-wearing years. Just me and my dad went and the electricity inside that…

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