CAMP CORY CORY LOPEZ GETS IT RIGHT

Cory Lopez, now 48 years old, has certainly earned his place in the pantheon of surfing greats. In bald statistics, even his long passage in the the venerable Encyclopedia of Surfing recognizes this. Calling him a “Nervy goofyfoot pro from Indian Rocks, Florida…world-ranked #3 in 2001…A visceral show-stealer, with diamond-hard balls…began surfing as a preschooler… made a reputation as the world’s best young high-performance free surfer, quick and flexible, with gyroscopic balance that guided him through the most ambitious tailslide and aerial maneuvers ever seen…During an early round heat at the 1999 Gotcha Tahiti Pro, the handsome dark-haired Lopez rode deep inside the tube on a pair of big, thick, deadly lefts at Teahupoo, getting annihilated both times but setting a world tour standard for reckless cool…he returned to Teahupo’o in 2001 to win the event…in 2003 he won the US Open of Surfing… Lopez was featured in more than 30 top ranked surf video’s and was one of the first to surf the mind-bendingly long tubes at Skeleton Bay, Namibia, which earned the “Best Barrel” award at the SURFER Poll Awards…through all this he was also tight friends with fellow hard-charging surfer and partier Andy Irons”.

There it is, in that last line. His deep relationship with Andy. And though Cory is so often described as “Andy Irons sparring partner”, it is not the only element that defined him. What has defined him has always been the code he has lived by. Even at a young age, he was centered, responsible and future minded. Smart enough to monetize his surfing ability, smart with his friendships and smart with his success despite the personal challenges of the world tour. And that remarkable code continues to serve him today. Still surfing at professional level ability, he now finds himself a successful father of three and along with Jenn, his wife since teenhood, is currently raising three children in the ways of the world and professional surfing.

Son Luke and Daughters Alana and Layla in tow, he travels the world and shares the joys of surfing with them. Both professionally and recreationally. Surftime was lucky to catch up with Cory and family on their annual Indonesian surf trip as they returned to Bali from Sumbawa where what is affectionately known as “Camp Cory” just wrapped up. Cory, now dedicated to inspiring his kids and other world class juniors with his unique code of conduct and what can only be called a training program. It is an elite experience that he runs with the efficiency of a drill sergeant for some of the best junior surfers in the world.



Instilling in his next generation of chargers, not only the techniques of world class surfing, but the value of the proper approach to throwing yourself into a responsible surfing lifestyle. Here are some short excerpts from a long conversation Surftime had at the Uluwatu Villas with Cory as he and his kids were packing up their gear for their next great adventure. These are some very personal thoughts that Cory shared with use regarding his close relationship with Andy Irons and the future of surfing. The kind of thoughts that he will be thinking about as he inspires the next generation at future “Camp Cory’s”.

Who was the Greatest surfer you ever saw from water level?
Andy Irons would lead that conversation. I mean surfing with him and Kelly at the same time was incredible enough. They were peers in ability, no doubt. But there was this thing with Andy. The unpredictability, the places he would choose to go on a wave were so futuristic. And I believe Andy would do that same thing I said about Kelly, where Andy would elevate to a higher realm. But the way it happened to Andy was different than how Kelly would get there.

Kelly would push himself there consciously, purposefully, and Andy would get there more like a bolt of lightning had hit him. You know, the reason I say Andy here was because of the way he could manhandle a wave. The power he had, the fearlessness, the creativity. Andy had that perfect weight on his body for a surfer, he was the perfect height, and he could just really let himself go all the way. I mean when the waves became serious he would just manhandle the lip power for power. In waves that could really hurt you. No one else did that. Andy would play with a gnarly lip where the rest of us, even Kelly, would work with lip, you know, make sense of it. But Andy would just decimate the wave’s power, making it work for him as if he was in charge of it. No one else in the world have I ever seen do it like that. I mean Kelly and Andy were equals, of course. But Kelly was perfection, and Andy was animal.



So what was the greatest thing about your life-long friendship with Andy Irons?
I think it was the the mutual respect and love we had for each other. For one thing, we were great friends since we were kids. And we loved to surf against each other. That was really interesting. It wasn’t an angry thing. It was a fun thing, even though we were both vicious in a heat together. I also think another thing was that even our freesurfing sessions were very competitive and we both became better surfers because of it. But on the beach we were just good friends and had everything that comes with that. Like family. And I guess we understood each other inside all our fame madness that we were both dealing with. And a lot of that comes from spending so much time on the road with someone. And remember, both our girlfriends were great friends with each other too and that adds a lot to that family feel even though we were so young.

But both our girlfriends became our wives, so there was that. Andy and I dated our wives from a very young age and they grew up with us and that really creates a rare bond on the tour and in a professional surfing life. A very family orienting thing. And I loved that even if we hadn’t seen each other in awhile, like when Andy was with Billabong and he was so famous and winning world titles, and my wife and I would not see him and his wife for a little bit, Andy would just call randomly in the middle of everything and just want to say whats up and just to talk like normal friends do. Like a normal thing inside all the un-normal things in our lives that fame brought. Andy and my friendship was a friendship with a lot of love. And very different then a brotherly love because we were both out there hitting it hard in the same sport. But I would say the core of it all was a real, trustful love between us.

So what is the greatest thing about the future of surfing?
The next generation. Kids will always be able to go to the beach. I mean it sounds simple, but think about it. You are around the ocean. That is the greatest thing ever about surfing, Just being around the ocean and being on the beach. I mean, the future of surfing will always be at the beach and as surfers, we own it.