CalActive.com Activities Blog

Looking for something exciting and fun to do at the beach this weekend? Why not meet the Laguna Beach community down at Oak Steet in Laguna Beach for a positive, fun and friendly beach clean up followed by an action packed surfing competition. Want to surf in the competition? Why not, it would be fun. Plus you could win some awesome prizes that have been generously donated from many of our local shops and businesses for this exciting community gathering; a Cordell Surfboard, Victoria Skim Board, Hamboard Fish, Gift Certificates from K’Ya Restaurant, Splashes Restaurant and many more! This is the first surf jam and beach clean up hosted by our friends at Soul Surfing School. All the festivities will start around 7am on Sunday, March 9th, 2008.

For more information, click here.

Hope you can make it!

Thank heavens for all the surfers, beachgoers, environmentalists, and other concerned individuals and organizations for standing up and being counted, for it is thanks to them, the Californian Coastal Act and brilliant organizations such as Surfrider, that Trestles and the San Mateo campground in San Diego county have been saved from destruction by the proposed 241 toll road extension, following what was referred to as a “David vs. Goliath” battle.

According to Surfrider’s Save Trestles website, surfers across the country were asked in a recent poll which surf spot they would most like to have in their own back yard. Over a quarter of those who responded said that they would choose Lower Trestles – just behind Australia’s Snapper Rocks and ahead of such legendary breaks as Pipeline and Macaroni’s. Yip, it’s that good! Check out the Save Trestles blog for all the latest news including a very thoughtprovoking article on the 10 reasons why the Foothill South Toll road extension failed.

Some of you may remember the big swell that came through SoCal last April – here are some snaps that I took, thinking that maybe it would be one of the last chances I would get. I am so very thankful that this is not the case.

Water is somehow always a lucid metaphor for a simple understanding of life’s many introspective experiences and moments. Like the mountain stream that always flows towards the sea, the movement of aqua is form and direction for sustaining an acute emotional meaning into the domino of nuances that compose our experiences.

Today I showed a young woman how to surf for the first time.

The cold refreshing sea water, the thrill of the rides, the newness and exoticism of it all was an awakening. We began to talk about our lives, our decisions, and living with them. The brilliant clear water made a much needed window into the divergent paths from which our lives were now intersecting. As the waves washed us over we shared a moment of lucidity. It was understood that just for this brief moment away from land, we were both free from the trappings of things and people from which our spirits yearned to escape, but from which our rationalities would never allow. However, this freedom also made us more aware of the prisons we have designed for ourselves in forced relationships, cages we’d become so resigned to we hardly notice the bars.

After smiles we departed. But the water in our ears and the sand between our toes always lingers a while longer, subtle reminders of those brief moments of shared solemn clarity; And perhaps a new compass by which to navigate the unriden waves of the future.

Tomorrow, February 6, 2008, The California Coastal Commission will have a hearing for arguments for and against the proposal for a six land toll road that would eliminate 60% of the state park. In 1971, President Ronald Regan set aside this land specifically for recreational use and to be preserved FOREVER!!!

The Coastal Commission hearing is the last chance to stop the Toll Road through San Onofre State Park. Many argue the Toll Road will relieve traffic congestion, the park will continue to operate the same as it does today, there will be no cost to the taxpayer, and this plan is an “environmentally friendly” alternative. Personally, those arguments are BS!! I wonder how a transportation project can be “environmentally friendly” when it’s about to plow through a 16 mile stretch of undeveloped and protected space and degrade all outdoor fun within the park. In a recent poll, San Onofre is a surf spot that most would love to have in their own backyard. We want this land to be preserved forever as open space and for future generations to enjoy it as much as we have.

Surfrider Foundation will be webcasting for those who want to stay updated throughout the day. If you can’t participate in the day’s events, you can take action by sending a letter to the Commissioners asking them to Save Trestles and San Onofre by clicking here. Your voice counts!

SAVE TRESTLES!!

Man it’s shaping up to be an epic ski season in California! It’s only February and Mammoth already has a 100″ base, with more dumping! This is what I love about California. In a mere 5 hours you can drive from sunny SoCal to the Sierras where there’s some of the highest snowfall accumulation in these here United States. Whoa! You might even start with a surf or a kayak before hitting the slopes. How cool. And what else do I love about Mammoth? Let me recite the many things. First, the drive. While tedious, it’s also mind expanding as you travel the eastern Sierras through the Owens Valley. It’s vast and open and beautiful, with the mighty Sierras on one side, and the impressive White Mountains on the other. You’ll pass the true cowboy towns of Olancha (gateway to Death Valley), Lone Pine (gateway to Mt. Whitney), Independence (home to the ignominious Manzanar Japanese internment camp from WWII), Big Pine (gateway to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, home to the oldest living things on Planet Earth - a 4,000 year-old tree??? Come on), Bishop (home to crazy wilderness outback mountaineers), and finally Mammoth, home of the the LA powder cowboys. How does Mammoth stack up against world class mountains like Vail, Aspen, Park City, Jackson Hole and Whistler? Well, it may not have the light, fluffy powder of Utah, or the swanky private jets of Aspen, or the sheer size of Vail, or the steeps of Jackson, but it has more annual snowfall than any of them, more sunny California days, more ski days (usually staying open through June and sometimes July), less crowds (see 5 hour drive), a gracious layout that allows you to traverse the mountain without skiing the same run twice, modest pricing, cheap accommodations, lots of high speed lifts, and, oh yes, thermal hot springs that are free (if you know where to look). They can be the highlight of your holiday. Imagine skiing all day, getting that major thigh burn, then driving 20 minutes into the Owens Valley where you will discover a perfect tub in the wilderness with 110 degree mineral water for soaking those tires bones. You’ll have a 360 degree view of the Sierras and Whites just as the sun drops behind them. Ahhh. Life is good!

How many waves must a man surf down, before you can call him a man.  The answer my friend, is blowin in the wind, the answer is blowin in the wind.  offshore wind. Straight offshore wind. Howling. Burning. Blowing mini emerald tubers straight out the back. Maybe too small. I’m going kayaking. 

As said-surfer dude my request follows thusly. 2 poppy, 3 everything, 4 sesame, 2 plain, and 1 bialy will be sufficient surf bait. The surf is small, but i still might hit it in a little. Water looks clean and the wind is light. might have to shine the burrito and get right down there. shakah.

Last year, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to learn to surf.
This year, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to continue learning to surf…

Whilst I did at last make a start on making good on my 2007 resolution, going so far as to pay for a surfing lesson last year and even splashing out by treating myself to one of those very attractive blue Costco softboards, I am, in all honesty, no more a surfer today than I was at the beginning of last year. So I am determined to really make it happen in 2008.

Some (but by no means all) of the reasons why I’m going to learn to surf this year:
1) I live and work in Laguna Beach, with the beautiful Pacific Ocean almost on my doorstep, so really have no excuse not to
2) My husband bought a board at the same time as me last year and he has become much better than me - this will not do
3) I have always loved being in/on the ocean and this is just one more way of getting into/onto it
4) One of my colleagues is an actual, proper, real-life surfer dude and I am hopeful that if I bribe him with enough food (perhaps even leaving a trail of bagels leading down to the water’s edge?), he will succumb to joining me in the water on the occasional lunch break to give me a bit of coaching and helpful hints
5) I want to learn to speak the lingo so that I can understand what said-colleague is talking about when he goes off into a diatribe speaking Surf
6) A whole bunch of my buddies back in South Africa are surfers, and I would love to see their faces when I do my thang on the waves next time I am back home
7) Surfing = cool

So, I shall be using this blog to share my surfing pleasure and pain over the next few months. I can’t wait to get in the water! Just as soon as it warms up a teeny bit more….

Almost 50% of the CalActive team is heading for the snow this weekend! Back-to-back winter storms covered Mammoth Mountain in 7 to 10 feet of fresh snow in the last week and I cannot wait to get some of the action.

I first learnt to ski in the eastern Pyrenees mountains of Andorra, Western Europe, but I’ve been trying my hand at snowboarding recently - still early days but on the last day of our last trip to Mammoth in December 2007, I started getting the hang of carving (thanks to lots of patient coaching by my dear friend Andy), and now I cannot wait to get back on the slopes. Being South African and more inclined to gravitate towards sunny climes rather than snowy mountains, it took me a while to get my head around the whole appeal of voluntarily choosing to spend a holiday/weekend in the snow, but the bug has bitten and now I can’t get enough of it.

My first experience of being on a snowboard was at Aviemore in Scotland: it was during a complete white-out in the middle of what must surely have been a blizzard (or maybe it just felt that way), and my then-boyfriend and his buddies insisted on dragging poor inexperienced me up the mountain onto a black run and basically left me to my own devices. Needless to say, I was absolutely petrified, could not even get myself standing, and ended up with a very wobbly lip, trying to hold back the tears, and managed to bum-shuffle my way back to the lift where I went straight back down to the bar and consoled myself with an obscene amount of very strong hot rum drinks. Aaah, the joys of apres ski, even if you’ve not been down a single slope. Note to self: try not to drink too many of those delicious Hot Apple Pie drinks at Main Lodge this time - even though they taste like a soft drink, they can give you a very fuzzy head if you drink more than 11 on the trot (they are made of Tuaca® citrus liqueur and apple cider. Yummy).

California’s Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is very special in that it gets an unusually large amount of snow compared to other Eastern Sierra peaks. Mammoth Mountain itself was formed from a long series of eruptions that started over 100,000 years ago, and although the large amounts of carbon dioxide that is still re