Nestled just north of Santa Monica, California, the sleepy community of Topanga has a budding new reputation as home to the angriest surf spot in Los Angeles.
The titular Topanga wave – in plain view along Pacific Coast Highway, and right where the canyon community extends westward to meet the ocean – has come under the microscope lately for surf localism, lack of surf etiquette, and fist fights over waves.
It’s even got a new nickname: Topangry.
So, when the best and biggest swell of the season so far slammed the California coast, Topanga, which likes the northwesterly energy typical of Pacific Ocean wintertime swell patterns, was of course a crowded mess of surfing chaos.
Drop-ins, collisions, all-out mayhem.
Historically, Topanga has been known as a hippie enclave. It was once a hangout for (and home to) artists, counterculture heroes, rockstars – like Neil Young and Jim Morrison. The Topanga Days festival, which is still running today, exhibits that carefree, bohemian, eccentric lifestyle that Topanga has become an emblem of over the decades.
But today, from a surfing standpoint, that reputation has changed.
In an investigation from local NPR station, KCRW, they exposed that surf rage. The report stated:
“While most folks agree that the culture is not as intense these days, especially with the rise of smartphones that can capture fights on camera, the Topangry mindset still exists. Yelling, arguments, and tension in the water are common. One surfer described how during a recent session, he was ‘fully chewed out by a Topangry 12-year-old girl, and fully got bullied into submission as a 34-year-old man who’s surfed here most of my life.’”
For most outside onlookers, the Topangry mindset is unwarranted, given the mediocrity of the wave. Like, for instance, this commenter on the video above:
“I feel sorry for people who have to endure this to attempt to ride very average waves.”
Topanga…worth the hectic crowd?
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