Cormican
Digs Deep To Claim 16th Annual Quiksilver King Of The Peak — Possibly The
Only East Coast
Title Not In His Possession Words and photos by Dick “Mez” Meseroll
TURF: 16th Annual
Quiksilver King Of The Peak Presented By DC Shoes and Eastern Surf Magazine; Sebastian Inlet State Park, Sebastian Inlet,
FL; November 7th-8th, 2010.
ENERGY: Held
as always at the notorious, if not infamous, Sebastian Inlet State Park,
saltwater schooling grounds for one Robert Kelly Slater. You may have heard his
name mentioned lately? It was cold fusion this year, thanks to an early season
front which dropped early morning air temps 30+ degrees from the previous day
with blustery, north winds straight outta Canada, eh, bringing with it wind
chills in the low 40s or less as names were being drawn from the hat to set up
the two-day event’s heat format. Of course, the pirate’s chest filled with an
additional $3,000 in gold coins of winner-take-all prizemoney, along with the
2010 Quiksilver King Of The Peak crown, along with whatever skins money accrued,
warmed the cockles — and all other body parts imaginable — quite
nicely, thank you very much.
FIRST TIME AT FIGHT CLUB: With 16 years worth of events to try and recollect, it’s
hard to determine who has not been to the King Of The Peak from the who's who
list of attendees. Yet it was of keen interest to note that Canadian Maritimes
surfer Logan Landry drove 2000 nonstop highway miles in 27 hours to attend,
which has to be one of the most committed — or at least the person most
likely to be committed — undertaking by anyone to ever attend the event
in its 16-year history.
SLIDE: Here’s your slide:
hands down, the Quiksilver King Of The Peak is the coolest, most interesting,
spectator-friendly, armchair quarterbacking event on the East Coast, period. God
knows we love the Grudge up in Dirty Jerz, Unsound Surf Shop’s Unsound Pro with
its richest event prizemoney, and the Wave Riding Vehicles Battle Of The Banks,
which we have loudly proclaimed as having the heaviest waves EVER for an East
Coast contest (and we still stand firmly behind that call). But the KOP, with
its leave-it-up-to-the-competitors (or your buds on the beach) to make the call
and be the masters of their destiny format, is just too much fun to watch,
keeping spectators totally engaged the entire contest.
THE PAIN: Mother Nature served up both pleasure and pain with unseasonably cold
weather, but delivered the goods with some medium sized, three- to six-foot
dump trucks along the shallow sandbar named O.K. Signs at the north parking
lot, a fur peace up the beach from Sebastian’s fabled but now mostly disabled
First Peak. Contest Director Matt Kechele definitely made the right call, and
nobody complained after a few minor par-for-the-course grumblings. After
hitting the water and dealing with that sweeping north-to-south current,
exacerbated by blustery 15-25 mph+ north winds, even the few doubters in the
crowd saw the wisdom in the Sebastian Sensei’s call. Nobody likes to lose their
favorite board or body into the jetty and the seething, jumbled mess that was
rendered unrideable by the conditions that gave up $200 bucks a pop per skin.
THE MAN: Talk about pressure. When
you have to win the last three heats of the event in order to catch, tie, and
then surpass your nemesis — in this case, Jacksonville’s uber-ripper/
competitor Evan Thompson, who is as formidable an opponent as any — for
your first-ever KOP crown, and you do it with a flourish by capturing both the
heat-winning and contest-winning wave with a huge frontside air-reverse that
also nets you the DC Shoes Most Progressive Maneuver Award, then you are the
fuckin’ man. And that Man be one Aaron Cormican. Let’s put a little more spin
on this if possible, because the only thing Gorkin did not win was the
Quiksilver/ ESM Airshow — and
honestly, dude looked dog tired when he paddled out for that one. But he tried
like hell, coming up just short to Alek Parker, who beat him at his own game
with a gnarly 360 of his own. “It just clicked this year,” Gorkin said. “My
mindset was to go down there and try an air every wave if I had to. That’s what
the guys are doing on the World Tour — like Dane Reynolds. He’s so
explosive and just wants to put everything into one big move.”
YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB: “I told Jeff Myers and Nils Schweizer before the heat, ‘I’m gonna go out
there and do the biggest fucking air right now and solidify the win.’” –2010
Quiksilver King Of The Peak champion Aaron Cormican on his failsafe final heat
strategy
“Did you see Cormican over
there grinning with his chest full of coins? He looks like a damn leprechaun
— all he's missing is a rainbow.” –Canadian competitor Logan Landry,
who drew the dominant Aaron Cormican in both of his heats
FINAL
RESULTS OF THE 16th ANNUAL QUIKSILVER KING OF THE PEAK PRESENTED BY DC SHOES
AND EASTERN SURF MAGAZINE:
1. Aaron Cormican, 8 skins, $1,600 (plus $3,000
Treasure Chest bonus and $500 DC Shoes Most Progressive Maneuver award)
2. Evan Thompson, 7 skins, $1,400
3. Jeremy Johnston, 4 skins, $800
4. Fisher Heverly, Oliver Kurtz, Tayler
Brothers, CT Taylor, 3 skins, $600
8. Ryan Briggs, 2 skins, $400
9. Eddie Guilbeau, Cody Thompson, Phillip Watters, Scott
Posner, Ron Keindl, Todd Holland, Justin Carver, 1 skin, $200
ESM AIRSHOW 1. Alek Parker, $500
: ADVERTISMENT :
: ADVERTISMENT :
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VQS
HITS THE JACKPOT AT CASINO PIER Jellyfish Surf Series Winners Include Local Boys
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DUBIOUS RECORD The WRV
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Money Per Square Foot Of Wave Than Any Surf Contest In History
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By Matt Pruett and Nick McGregor;
Photos by Matt Lusk
