½ inch away from being paralyzed after a near career ending fall at Pipeline last week. Ricky broke his L1 vertebrae in his lower back during warm-ups for the Volcom Pipeline Pro.

Ricky recalls the experience:

"I woke up at dark to warm up before the contest which was rumored to run. Usually i get up super early to beat the crowd and sneak into some bombs but this morning was packed to the rim before light even peaked out. I ended up sitting an hour and a half before i caught my first wave. They announced over the intercom that it was a lei day. So everyone stayed out and the crowd did not thin. After about 2 and a half hours i finally got a bomb. I made the drop, pulled in then all of a sudden i was on my stomach and getting sucked up and over with the lip. There was no tension on my leash so I curled up into a ball and came down like a bag of bricks on the reef on my tailbone. I heard and felt everything crack in my lower back and instantly knew i was hurt bad. I tried to kick my feet as i swam up but i couldn't tell if it was kicking or the wave thrashing me around. I got on my board and could barely breathe from the pain in my lower back and stomach. I made it to the beach and walked up the sand and collapsed. The lifeguards weren't on duty yet but thankfully a guy ran up when he saw me collapse. The same guy happened to be a guy that i saved last year when i was warming up before the contest. He ran and got help and they came and put me on the stretcher and got me in the ambulance and off to the hospital. I spent 4 days in Queens hospital before i was released. I got beyond lucky. (Unlucky but lucky) I broke my L1 vertebrae. It compressed and broke outwards. If it would of broken any other direction I would of been paralyzed. God was definitely watching over me! Now i am in a back brace for 4-6 weeks then I will be doing all the rehab and whatever it takes to get back in the water asap!

WOW, lucky man!

During the Pro Bowl this last week. Reef took a few of the NFL athletes out for a surf with Kelly Slater. Saints quarterback Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham and former NFL quarter Doug Flutie to name a few.

In a quote by Reef, "I'm just blown away. I mean, Jimmy Graham is texting me right now!"

Not a bad month for Reef..... winning the Backdoor shootout, then straight into hobnobbing with NFL pros.

"Castles, Slabs, Perfect Waves and the most amazing trip of my life." -Evan Geiselman

Contest wins, world titles and editorial coverage are just a minor glimpse into the real lives of our day to day surfing gods. With arguably the best surf team out there, Dragon is giving you the chance to see what these guys are doing in-between prepping for heats and putting stickers on their boards. In this month’s installment, check what Mick Fanning, Owen Wright, Evan Geiselman, Ace Buchan and Taylor Knox have been doing……..‘In between the heats.’




OWEN WRIGHT - Couple newies from Byrne....Frothing!











ACE BUCHAN- Australia Day. We're doing it!











EVAN GEISELMAN - Just got home from Ireland. How's that Slab?! Love this place.











MICK FANNING - Happy Australia Day!










TAYLOR KNOX - So what!? I grew my hair out.

Check out a few pics from this weekend. More to come.

Hunter talks about the upcoming Eastcoast Supercross season.

Rad clip of Brandon Scheid doin' his thing. Check it out, the guy is gnarly.

Aaron was always the driving force behind this project. When it seemed like things weren't gonna work out he always found a way to make it happen. He loved a challenge! I spent this last winter traveling around to many of his favorite places, meeting up with friends, and making some new ones along the way. I feel so lucky to have been able to share such great times with such an amazing person.
When Aaron passed away in Chile this last July it was hard to even think about the movie, let alone sit down and edit hours of his footage from the winter. It wasn't until Blake Paul sent me an email highlighting the fact that one of Aaron's goals all season was to get everyone down to Chile and film a segment for the movie that I came to realize something that should have been so obvious. We had to head South and finish what he had started. Although we were physically missing the one person who really should have been on that trip I feel like he was actually with us more than ever. We'll miss you A-ROB!
-Sam Tuor

Manifest from Sam Tuor on Vimeo.

Reef Mac has been on a roll this winter. Freshly off scoring the cover of TW, the Kauai native started the winter off with getting one of the waves of the winter at Off The Wall, and then followed it up with winning the Da Hui BackDoor Shootout in pumping Pipeline surf while winning 30 K. He took down a star-studded cast that consisted of Bruce Irons, Jamie Obrien, John Florence and Marcus Hickman.

"It's an experience I've never felt before," Reef recalled of his nail-biting afternoon. "It sucked watching. I don't know how Slater, Andy and guys who've won out here do it. I was so stressed out that I had to have a beer to calm me down."

Photos courtesy of Surfline.com. To see the photo feature, click on:
http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/reef-mcintosh-wins-da-hui-backdoor-shootout_64881/

Here is a sneak peek of Gigi Rüf’s new project, Slash by Gigi. The new board brand is being produced by Nidecker and the initial line will include four different models including Gigi’s pro model and a pro model for Johnnie Paxson.

Well, it is about time...

It has been hammering snow all day here in Silverton, CO. The APX Cabin will be in prime shape for the next crew to roll through.

Looks like the NW is getting some snow. If you could send some down South that would be great. Thanks

Rather than let the En Route webisodes fade into the cyberworld mist, Nimbus has just released Aether. This mashup of footage allows you to relive some of greatest moments from Nimbus' 2010/11 season.

Aether from NIMBUS INDEPENDENT on Vimeo.

I love Dragon Mace goggles!

I have been rocking Mace’s for the past seven years and don’t see that changing anytime soon.

The 2011’-12 Maces are some of the best goggles on the market today. In fact, I feel that Dragon has one of the best goggle lineups anywhere with the Mace, APX and Rogue. That’s one killer grouping of goggles from just one company.

For more click HERE.

Ryan Briggs in and around Florida.....Typhoon Lagoon and beyond....

Snow conditions finally abated, giving the Woman’s finals the best riding conditions all week at the O’Neill Evolution, and the eight Women in the finals took not time to demonstrate massive progression. From the first of her three runs, O’Brian not only lifted the bar, but set the standard for the remainder of the finals.

Her first run, a stomped, silky smooth frontside 720 nosebone to gapped lipslide had the web commentators on their feet and evidently also caught the imagination of the judges. Scoring an impressive 90.50 points out of a maximum possible 100.

For the rest Click HERE.

Check out the crew rolling around the mean streets of Park City, UT.

Tre Squad Invades Park City from Tre Squad on Vimeo.

Cruise around with Danny, Luke and the latest addition to the Dragon Team... You'll have to wait to hear who it is... Any guesses??

Coming at you like a Hurricane... I mean Halestorm...

Check him out on the Feb cover of TWS... Congrats Lucas

New York's finest, Balaram Stack planted himself on the North Shore for majority of this winter season. Living in front of Pipe for 6 weeks paid off. He was able to snag this Pipe bomb, get pitted off his brain then finishes with with a crazy air 360.

Not bad for the boy from New York.

Click below. Video courtesy of Surfline.com

http://www.surfline.com/surflinetv/sixty-seconds/balarams-barrel-to-air-combo_63894

Our Second Edition of Shop Talk takes us to Mammoth Lakes, CA to talk with Buyer and Manager Tim Gallagher. Enjoy.

Contest wins, world titles and editorial coverage are just a minor glimpse into the real lives of our day to day surfing gods. With arguably the best surf team out there, Dragon is giving you the chance to see what these guys are doing in-between prepping for heats and putting stickers on their boards. In this month’s installment, check what Mick Fanning, Owen Wright and Evan Geiselman have been doing……..‘In between the heats.’




MICK FANNING- "If Dragon doesn't make these next year, I'm riding for Marc Jacobs. Hahahaha!"









OWEN WRIGHT -"My new kicks. Laces suck."











Owen Wright -"Byron Bay is soooo nice!!! It's good to be home."












EVAN GEISELMAN- "Go Magic! I love the NBA!"