Last Saturday, September 22, marked 18 years since more than a handful of the 2006 ASP Championship Tour paddled out into what is still considered the greatest Mundaka show ever caught on film.
That year the tour suited up heavy hitters like Andy Irons, Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, Mark Occhilupo, Bruce Irons, Bobby Martinez and Cory Lopez. And of course, a guy named Kelly Slater who had “only” had seven world titles to his name at the time of this session.
The day in question happened after the majority of the CT fled onshore winds plaguing the France event. They headed south and into a rare alignment of swell, sand and tide that Mundaka locals still claim as one of the best days they’ve seen on the bank.
Vincent Kardasik
Oxbow, a French surf apparel brand, just rolled out an in-depth look that reexamines that epic day. Directed by Jon Aspuru, the video includes interviews local surfers about wave’s cultural and individual significance, the origins of surfing at the rivermouth and the mechanics of this fickle miracle, including that fleeting sandbar.
“The sessions at Mundaka start at about half an hour after the lowest tide and end in mid-tide, depending on the size of the waves,” said Tony Butt, a surfer and oceanographer. “There is a three-hour window and that’s when everybody shows up at the same time.”
That’s exactly what happened in 2006 when the long, sand-groomed barrels met a thick wave-starved crowd. Hungry locals mixed with the international circuit, creating a tense arena where even getting a hard-fought cylinder did not provide reprieve.
“The tension rises,” said Basque Country legend Kepo Acero said. “Because the guy who dropped in starts playing the same game. And heaven becomes hell at the same time. Suddenly, you find yourself wishing your friend would wipe out. I mean, it’s crazy, It brings out the worst in you.”
But one crowd’s drop-ins are another’s spectacle. It’s a tube-riding clinic of the highest order, even if some of them were inadvertently shared. Take your pick on who to take notes from.
Frame: Vincent Kardasik
“It’s as if you get to play at the World Cup finals right next to Messi and Ronaldo,” local Guillermo Lekunberri said. “You are so close to them that you can see them breathing. You can watch every gesture and movement they make on their boards. That’s something that doesn’t normally happen in other sports.”
Will Mundaka ever look like this again? Only nature will tell. But as the old Dr. Suess saying goes, don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.
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