LOVE the strapless fashion scene, NOT .....
LOVE the strapped boyz ..... ME included , NOT.....all as boring as a long, hot, weekend in Perth .....
Yet again, our MENTOR , is showing ALL surfers and kiters on surfboards the way forward ..........
Mr Slater - Brazil April 2010.....
"but powered, monster airs need straps, don't they ?"
Here is a challenge 'slave,
Find a bigger air than that with foot straps.
Also it can't be a boost.
Lol.
Here is a previous attempt for all the people playing at home.
Shouldnt be hard. This is just one I uploaded a litlle while back. Not quite as high as Kelly, but higher than the previous Mr Staps.
Clearly what Johnno is saying is that a huge air on a surf board without the lift/power assistance of a kite is much harder, far more technical, far less accessible to the average water user and therefore far, far, far more impressive.
And, let's face it, he's right.
Owen Wright has been pulling some mental-high airs lately too, see the latest ASL. This new crop of young pros is blowing the lid off surfing.
It's because we are using surfboards, we need to use twin tips and straps hooked in to make it original. This is kitesurfing, not surfing.
Thanks Keahi, nice vid.
As far as I am concerned, it is winter and all air is good air and nobody on the planet gets air like this man.........
Wind back a bit further and 1st came Tony Hawk (and Hosoi etc), then came the Slater, then snowboarding, then wakeboarding, then finally kiting.
They all owe heaps to skating. Not saying one is better than the other but skating showed the way and the other disciplines paid attention.
Slater is in a class of his own IMHO. Same for Hawk. Kiting is sooo damn easy compared to surfing and skating they really shouldn't be compared.
BTW airs don't do it for me - I'd rather see Slater freesurfing and flowing with the ghost of Tom Curren in shotgun. 
Select to expand quotesirRowdy said ..
These days I would say just about every prominent board sport looks to or draws from skating for inspiration.
Interesting point. If you see Rich Stenning ride these days you'll see a lot of inspiration from skating especially when he kick flips his board.
no I am not ....... I would not call making it out the back " advanced surfing " nor would I call riding a halfpipe noob skating........
Skating is easy to do but hard to be good at..
Surfing is hard to do and very hard do be good at..
If your idea of surfing is an 11ft Mal and 1ft of whitewater then yes i'd agree
Great vid, Keahi. Seeing all those airs sure beats watching the usual up-and-down-the-face surfing, which I have to admit can get a little boring... not that i'd ever get bored of watching waves mind you....
i believe this will finalise the debate entirely. 
its called 'progression'.
expect to see these attached to boards next season, surf and kite.
Yep - it's true skating was just 'land surfing' until the late 70's then in the 80's it surpassed surfing to emerge as it's own sport with seperate disciplines (street/vert/freestyle) and a whole new dimension of board tricks, air etc etc came out. At that point surfing took notice and guys like Slater and Christian Fletcher began using essentially skate moves in their surfing. Later on so did the other water sports.
Just to clarify - when i said skating was harder than surfing i didn't mean at entry level I meant at the level where you start to get airborne.
Getting airborne is the easy part. Landing in one piece is where the skill level ramps up. Stuffing a landing in the water is a picnic compared to on a concrete bowl or half pipe. 
BTW I don't skate thses days and was never much chop but having been in and around skating (boards and roller) waterskiing (slalom, trick, early wakeboarding) surfing, kiting etc etc I reckon in difficulty to start off it is:
surfing
windsurfing (jeesoos - here we go
)
kiting
skating and wakeboarding/waterskiing
doing up velcro shoes.
At the expert level IMHO
Skating is ahead by virtue of having to involve aspects of all former disciplines and the level that the bar is at these day.
then surfing - IMHO competition surfing has gone waaaayyy backwards and is as boring to watch as kite comps. Ratsh!t epileptic fits on water. 
However freesurfing and the kahunas shown by paddling into big@rsed swell and riding 'power lines' is awesome.
I have left out windsurfing here cause i am not wise to the state of upper level poling.
Kiting, wakeboarding etc etc are far behind skating and surfing i reckon.
Velcro shoes.
Just my 2c tho.
This guy realised hanging out in a motorhome and being a cr@p actor was far better fro the body.
Thats a long front board funky. Where's the spot? I see you got the old gum soles on
.
isn't that jason lee ?
btw- i am good at neither sport but skating has more bruises and makes you pay your dues way heavier than surfing in my opinion.
Yep - it's Jason Lee. The only rail slides I have ever done have been attempting to leave nightculbs down the back steps.
Yeh Rowdy - you're right that is a long-ish nosed board. Must have been close to the end of his skating days?
Amazingly he didn't end up a crack fiend, murderer or degenerate. Woeful actor tho. OT but Chasing Amy (JL was not the worst in this Kevin Smith bollocks of a film BTW) is alongside The science of sleep as my all time worst films.
Ha ha - just remembered Slater dated Pammy in here heyday and even had a crack at actoring in Bay watch! Ba ha ha ha. Even the god of surfing is human.
Nah a "front board" is the trick he is doing.
Everyone should watch "mallrats" it's probably his best acting to date hahaha.
.
Showing my age. Stale fish airs and kick flips were the biz in my day. Take me back to Bulleen bowl on my Ozi concave! 
