etnies

Favorite Surfers of all-time?
Gerry Lopez, Kelly Slater, Bruce Irons & Taylor Knox

Explain what your dream surf session would be?
Pipe and Backdoor at 6-8-10 with friends on a growing swell, followed by lunch at Lei Lei's with same friends and then an afternoon out on the ski towing into larger ones on the outside reefs.

What surf spot do you call your "home break"?
Pipeline, I grew up here, I live here, I wanna surf here forever.

Any travel tips you can pass along to fellow surfers?
Hide boards with cleverly positioned towels so that when you're going through customs you can whip open the bag for a count of boards and they get it wrong by a couple so you don't get slugged all the duties for taking boards around the place. And ALWAYS negotiate as hard as you can on excess baggage and duties for boards, they don't really weight much, and surfers get reamed by the airlines if they don't stand up for themselves.

Describe your all-around, everyday surfboard (dimensions, etc.) and why or what makes it your favorite shred stick?
6'2" x 18 5/8 x 2 1/2 rounded done in Rusty's EPS, the stronger, lighter, flexier Epoxy stuff that is great for aerials and carving. I used to get attached to sticks, but I'm breaking them so often, and getting so many good ones from Rusty that I don't worry about it anymore, just ride them all to the limit all the time.

Tell us where/when have you caught the best wave of your life?
Pipeline, last winter. The afternoon of the day Malik died, I paddled out to get one wave for him, waited 45 minutes for it, was the best wave I've ever caught for many reasons, and the best way I could offer my expression to his family and friends.

Future plans/goals?
To be the best surfer that I can be, and do as much with my surfing as I can, to give back to surfing as much as it has given me. Hopefully people will become more inspired to surf more through what I do.

Curren, Slater, Occy, Pottz, Archy, or Buttons?
Slater!

Do you have a website or a profile on MySpace? How can the groms find you?
Jamieobrien.com. I'm over myspace.

Any shout outs or thanks?
Dad, you're a legend, thank you for everything! None of this would be possible without your constant sacrifice to put me into the right waves all my life.