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 

Copenhagen Pro Project Ring of Fire Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth We have a lot to learn about competition

What we’re witnessing right now in Copenhagen is redefining the meaning of “contest” forever. From the ceremonial “Ring of Fire” at the outdoor skate park last night, which officially kicks off the Copenhagen Pro, to the non-stop highfives and good vibes and incredible skating and living going on all around us, it’s clear that Copenhagen…

Dear Youth Happy fourth of July

“Those of us not in France just spent all our lunch money for the month at this fireworks stand. Please standby while we light it all off and run around our neighborhood drinking CL smooths and enjoying the day. We’ll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled programming, including a teaser to our upcoming Fairly…

Bali Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth A psychedelic trip in Bali

There is some trippy shit going on in Bali right now. We were going to edit this dispatch from Dion down, combine it with some information about the trip and why it’s going down, pull quotes out, etc, but this note we got from Dion last night does a way better job of relaying what…

Brendon Gibbens Dane Reynolds Owen Wright Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth Every wall a door and don’t say shark

I have a friend who lives in South Africa. He ends all his e-mails with the statement: Every wall a door and don’t say shark. It’s a mix of local folklore from the group of laborer/friends he surfs with, mixed with a bit of his own philosophy. Apparently surfing in a community known for having…

Jake Burghart Vice HBO Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth We talked to our good friend Jake Burghart about filming for the new HBO/VICE show

That’s him, in a photo taken by a hidden camera, wearing a What Youth shirt, in Pakistan, about to interview some militant freedom fighters. First of all, for those of you who haven’t seen the show, you can check out episode 1 here, and a new episode on HBO every Friday night, and we reccomend that you do,…

Dillon Perillo Chippa Wilson Skating Australia This is Us Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth Chippa Wilson and Dillon Perillo filming for This is Us: Australia

There was a skatepark next to the bowler’s club we ate dinner at during our recent trip to Australia. It was empty all the time and every evening before dark (and often into the dark thanks to our Subaru’s headlights) we would eat chicken schnitzel’s, grab some beers and roll around for a few hours,…

This is Us Ryan Callinan Creed McTaggart Dillon Perillo Chippa Wilson Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth The making of a new What Youth original series

We’re currently in Australia filming for a new What Youth film series called This Is Us. So far, in the first two days we’ve survived the 50-year storm. Had a late night skate session fueled by the lights on our cars, searched every nook and cranny along this section of Australian coast and met some quality…

Chippa Wilson Creed McTaggart Dillon Perillo Surfing Drinking Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth Fuck Henry Miller

There is a beautiful home in Australia that is now inhabited by us. Nine of us. It has several bedrooms. A beautiful deck. A gas Weber barbecue. Kitschy photos of Waikiki, Santa Monica, Tahiti and other surfing “meccas.” We are here surfing, drinking, skating, talking, grilling, and reading poetry together because we saw a film…

Traveling LAX Surfing Australia Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth A note from LAX

There’s a small bar in this terminal and it’s filled with all those sad looks that people usually have in airports, bad sandwiches and ice cold beers. I’ve just met up with What Youth filmer and team psyche-leader Victor Pakpour. He travels with the most hideous piece of luggage you’ve ever seen. He says it’s…

What Youth Issue Three Skating Surfing Dear Youth

Dear Youth What Youth Issue 3 is Available Thursday, February 14th

After a weekend filled with late night brainstorms, ticket booking and game planning for our next run of films, magazines and videos we’re very happy to announce the official release date of What Youth Issue 3. This Thursday, February 14th you’ll be able to order What Youth Issue 3 in the What Youth Shop, and…

Creed McTaggart Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth New man on the scene: Creed McTaggart

Meet Creed McTaggart. Creed is from Western Australia and we’ve just realized he has quite the presence in our third issue (coming soon) and that you should meet him. Creed recently spent two weeks on the road filming alongside Mitch Coleborn and Dion Agius as he just signed with Epokhe. He is extremely well educated…

Lauren Hastings What Youth dear youth

Dear Youth Read Bukowski – it’s like a text message, I swear

I’m not going to lie. The boys are busy at the moment. Half of us are literally on airplanes to Africa, another half just got home from a wedge hunt in eastern Australia, and the other half  (yeah, we are one and a half to make a whole), are on deadline making What Youth Issue…

Sign up for letters from What Youth


By enabling this page, you are acknowledging and accepting our privacy terms and conditions.