Kolby Aipa, 20, the grandson of legendary Hawaiian surfboard shaper Ben Aipa has died after being hit by the car that he was towing beside while on his ebike in Huntington Beach, California on Saturday, August 2, 2025, according to as story in the Los Angeles Times.
“We are completely heartbroken,” read the statement posted to Aipa Surf. “We wanted to thank all the visitors, supporters, food deliveries, donations, flowers, cards, countless stories and photos his friends have shared with us, Drs and nurses that have taken care of our sweet boy. The H.B. community and everyone around the world have touched our hearts in an unimaginable way.
Our hearts are will the entire Aipa family. If you feel moved, please contribute to Aipa’s GoFundMe. And, please, please don’t let your friends hang on to cars while riding anything. It rarely turns out well.
Pin-up Magazine sits down with pro skater Alexis Sablone to discuss the intersection of skateboarding and architecture and life.
A competitor in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Sablone knows better than anyone the skater’s intimate relationship with the built environment, which results in a more finely-tuned understanding of the small details of certain buildings or streets than even the architects or planners who designed them could claim. Like all skateboarders, Sablone — who once rode the Guggenheim’s iconic spiral, a challenge in itself given the slope and run of the unending ramp — values those smaller, “unassuming blips in the everyday landscape,” like “a street median, a gap in the sidewalk, a fire hydrant on top of a hill.”
We don’t know the back story, but apparently USA Surfing bungled their first go-round with the US Olympic Committee during the Tokyo Olympics. Now they’d like to be reconsidering as the official governing body for surfing for the LA28 games.
According to a Laylan Connelly story in the Orange County Register they have some competition for the job. Seems the US Ski & Snowboard Association (which has no experience with surfing but much with the Oluympics) would also like a shot at owning surfing in the Olymipics . . . ah, because they’d like the money most likely.
While USSSA may have no experience with surfing, their CEO has (at least for a year). Many will remember Sophie Goldschmidt as the CEO of the World Surf League for a minute before Oprah Winfrey’s boy took over. She believes her ski and snowboard organization is the perfect group to shepherd surfing through the LA Games in 2028.
“We feel that surfers have not been supported, in the same way that we would propose to, in the past,” Goldschmidt said. “And now, we can provide them with more of that support and the structure, the leadership and the strong backing of a large and growing organization, which is in a very good place financially as well. . . . They need high-performance environments, clear pathways to the Olympics, and the ability to build their personal brands, she said. “That’s what we provide, and we know it works.”
Sure, there are dozens of reasons why all these options are terrible, but in the end shouldn’t surfing be run by surfers? Or, as some would argue is Olympic surfing even surfing? For all the details, click the link.
The Palm Springs Surf Club will reportedly “undergo a city commission review July 22, 2025” after loads of noise complaints and occasional mechanical problems which have led to pool closures, according to a story in the Palm Springs Post.
Since late 2023, the surf club has generated 66 noise complaints from approximately 16 individual residences in a nearby neighborhood, according to a city staff report. Code enforcement officers have cited the business six times, with four citations resulting in fines that have been paid in full.
The inland surf dream is a costly, difficult thing to make real, apparently. Riding a wave in the ocean seems so much more efficient, right? For more details on the story please click the link.
Seems we’re not the only ones spending our golden years auctioning off the detritus from our action sporting youth. Tony Hawk has joined with Julien Actions to sell the board he rode at the 1999 San Francisco X Games. You know, the one where he did the 900 for the first time in competition? The comp we left early because we knew he’d never make it. Here’s how the stuff is described:
This first-to-market “The 900 Collection” features the original 1999 X Games “900” Skateboard. This is more than just a deck; it’s the very board, the Birdhouse “Falcon 2” outfitted with Fury brand trucks and unmarked wheels, that Tony Hawk rode into legend during his historic performance at the 1999 X Games in San Francisco.
But that’s not all. The collection also includes the sweaty helmet Tony wore. His stinky knee pads. The blown out Adio shoes, and his X Games athlete laminates. The board is expected to go for between $500,000 and $700,000 making it the most expensive skateboard ever. Reportedly “a portion” of the proceeds from the auction will go to The Skatepark Project. If you’d like to get in on the bidding, please click the link to register.
The live auction goes down September 23, 2025 at 10 AM Pacific Time.
The Encinitas Library had the distinct pleasure of hosting surf publishing legend Steve Pezman, co-founder of The Surfer’s Journal, for an author event Sunday afternoon May 18, 2025. The gathering of surf and magazine fans was treated to a captivating dive into Pez’s remarkable career, spanning over five decades in the heart of surf culture and media.
Pezman, a true icon of the surfing world, is known for his profound influence on how the sport and its lifestyle are chronicled. Before co-founding The Surfer’s Journal with his wife Debbee in 1992, he spent over two decades as the group publisher of Surfer Publications (which included Powderand Skateboarder Magazine). This rich history provided ample fodder for his presentation, which included a reading from his 2022 book, Turn and Go! 50 Years of Surf Writings.
Dale Smith, Brian Bent, and Steve Pezman.
