Once upon a time there were eighteen guys and one girl. I know what you might think, but this is normal for any group of students from Eindhoven. It all started with a neat BBQ at Kris’ place. Almost the whole surfcamp crew gathered there to kick-off the camp. The Avalanchers already knew each other, however they had no idea who Dirk and Niels were. The Avalanchers were Marnix, Ruben, Jeroen, David, Niek, Kris, Jasper, Sander, Cas, me (Martijn) and the legendary surfdude Rob. The Dirkies were Romany, Thomas, Quint, Jorg, Nick, Verbeek, Ruud and also me (Martijn). And the Niels group consisted out of Niels. After some awkward ‘getting-to-know-each-other’ games they started to get along with each other, but probably it was just the beer. Anyhow, this evening was a nice start for the camp.
Just six days after the BBQ the whole crew hit the road with as destination Zarautz, Spain. They drove through the night. Rob, Ruud and me were already there to claim a spot at the camping. Together we set up all our tents, the kitchen, the storage and the chill spot. Then we hit the surf! The legendary surfdude Rob paddled out and showed us how it’s done. The next day he, together with Niek, Ruben and myself, gave a surfclinic for all the beginners. After we explained how the waves work, the rules on the water and the surf pop-up we all went into the water. Everyone helped each other to catch that first wave. Some were already standing during their first time, others took a bit longer. Everyone was stoked!
Most of the time the waves in Zarautz aren’t off the wall and often it’s quite crowded. However during the last couple of days of the camp we had some gnarly waves. Most of us had surfed their asses off during the camp, this last day was almost as good as having fresh wax on your snowboard or as a proper midnight snack. Some people even skipped dinner because of these waves. During the day the waves became bigger and bigger. At the end it was just gnarly, however the Avalanche surfcamp wasn’t just about the waves..
Zarautz also just happens to be an awesome place to party. This year we had some great parties of which I can’t remember much. At the camping we met some germans who were playing Flunkyball (the german folk sport). We played a couple of games and they all won them, but technically we also won, because everyone got drunk. If you don’t know what Flunkyball is, watch this video. At Zarautz there are several organised surfcamps. One of these camps was the Surfblend camp, every friday night they organise a different theme party. This year we found out they had a pirate party. We all dressed up as pirates and crashed their party. I met one of their crew members who asked me: “Why are you dressed up like pirates?”. I said I didn’t know why and ordered a beer, then we got drunk, again.
One of the best nights was probably the beachpunch evening. We do this every year. It starts with preparing the beach punch. The ingredients are still a mystery to me, but it tastes damn good. After the punch was ready we climbed up the mountain, which is quite a race, because we have to get there before sunset. Once again we made it in time. We enjoyed the sunset and the beachpunch. Several (everyone) of us got hit quite hard. Inspirational words were spoken and after climbing down we couldn’t help ourselves to take our longboards and go to the kebab joint for a greasy midnight snack.
That was just a glimpse what happened during this camp. We also went to San Sebastian, longboarded and skated on the boulevard, had awesome delicious meals, gave free hugs to everyone at the camping and played beerpong. I had a truly awesome time with all the other seventeen amazing dudes and the one gnarlitious girl. Thanks everyone and let’s go surfing next year!
Ride on!
~Martijn