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1999
Quiksilver Classic:
Clean Surf, Strong Competitors
February 13-14, 1999
by John Stouffer
The 1999 Quiksilver Winter Classic began with four different divisions
of surfers and snowboarders fighting for small but clean and building
waves on the south side of the Huntington Beach pier. The eighth
annual surf and snowboard crossover event offers a $30,000 prize
purse with money going to the top pro surfers, snowboarders, and
overall title winners. In addition to the pro division, this year
the event also hosted a men’s amateur, industry, and for the
first time, The Roxy pro women’s event.
Although no winners were announced after the surf portion finished
today, each division was battled down to the top four or six surfers
in each divisions’s finals, which definitely gave those finalists
a good jump going for overall titles. But since the Winter Classic
is a two-day, two-discipline event, snowboarders who didn’t
do particularly well in the water still have a chance to do better
(and in some cases totally redeem themselves) on the snow.
Standouts in the amateur division included Mace Mullen, Mark Austin,
Ken Cauldwell, and Darren Brillhard, who’s an ex-pro and works
for Rusty now. He could have been in any one of three different
divisions but opted for the amateurs.
The women were totally impressive in their final which was held
in incredibly clean, incoming-tide waves late in the afternoon.
While snowboarders Shannon Dunn and Tara Dakides both fought for
waves, the standout was definitely Hawaiian Daise Shayne.
The industry final was almost as impressive as the pros, and one
would have to wonder if these guys ever spend any time actually
in the office. Dragon’s Brian Harris scored the longest right
of the contest, while Hurley’s Scott Madison hit a huge closeout
floater, and Surfer Magazine’s Chris Mauro also looked strong.
Lib Tech’s Bob Stanislaw and Billabong’s Enich Harris
also looked impressive.
While the original Winter Classic was an all-amateur event, this
year had probably the most impressive line-up of pro surfers, and
the their final made up of Troy Eckert, Ben Bourgeois, David Giddings,
and Matt Keenan proved that the level has again been notched up
just a bit more.
Stay tuned for a complete report from the snow and a list of the
overall winners from the 1999 Quiksilver Winter Classic.
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