06/24/1978 – 11/2/ 2010ISSUE IN HIS HONOR

$5.75US $6.90CANMADE IN THE U.SVOL.07 ISSUE14 NOVEMBER 2010

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Olliver lang

SKaTOPiarebel wiThin

contents

Sara blaKe

radical biKeS

TahiTi h20

a Surf elegy

lizard King

RIP AnDY IRons

Leaves team Dynasty and moves to team Ironmen.

Eghty-eight acres of anarchy.Infiltrate the system! Then turn it on itself.

Friends of Leon Exhibition.

Frozen stills from Scotland's icy shores.

An underwater odyssey

Where have all the waveriding rebels gone?

Heir to the rebel’s throne.

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19GNARLY 18

Recently named International Paintball Player of the Year, Oliver, age 22, has quickly risen up the ranks of his chosen profession, traversing the globe with his squad, team Dynasty, winning tournaments and leaving vanquished, paint-spattered opponents in his wake.

“Ollie has set the bar in this sport,” says Dan Mitchell, a retailer of paintball gear and avid amateur player who has closely followed Lang’s rapid ascent.

Paintball, for the uninitiated, is essentially a slightly altered version of Capture the Flag played on a field that looks like an obstacle course. But what at first appears to be a very simple game actually requires a great deal of strategy and tactical maneuvering, contrary to popular perception, it’s not just a bunch of guys in goggles chasing each other with air guns.

“It’s similar to a game of chess,” Lang says. “We spend a day before every event mapping and walking the fields to find the key spots and placing out players. Just like anything, there is a deep realm behind paintball, and the only people who really understand it are the people who are best at what they do.”

Oliver’s first foray into professional paintball came with the SC Ironmen. Playing as a backup in his first pro tournament, Oliver stunned the crowd -and his opposition, team Image, at that time regarded as one of the world’s premier squads- by mowing down all five opposing players in one fell swoop. From there, his star rose rapidly. In 2000, he helped the Ironmen win both the World Cup and Series title, the first time any team had swept both of paintball’s top honors in one year.

In 2002, Lang, along with a collection of childhood friends,

formed team Dynasty. The squad, which has made history by winning paintball’s Triple Crown three years in a row, is now widely regarded as the best in the business. As of this writing, the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) had team Dynasty at the top of the rankings for its Super 7 Paintball World Series. Some have even gone so far as to call them the greatest collection of players in the evolving history of professional paintball.

But being part of a pro paintball team isn’t all about accolades and glory. Dynasty is a collective effort, with each player owning a share of the team. That means all profits garnered from tournament wins and outside promotions are divided up equally. It also means that lining up sponsors, licensing products and other business-related tasks must be attended to by the players themselves. Lang says they’ve hired an agent -one who also represents a handful of Olympic athletes-to help expand Dynasty’s notoriety and land bigger sponsors.

“Being a pro team is very expensive,” he laments. In addition to his involvement in the on-field and business aspects of team Dyansty, Lang has taken on the role of teacher. He leads paintball clinics all over the world and made an instructional DVD revealing some of his strategic secrets.

“I want to continue to grow this sport, to travel the world teaching paintball,” says the young innovator, his enthusiasm apparent. “The sport is getting bigger every year and I want to be there when it’s on everyone’s TV and you’re watching me play in front of millions of people.”

That may seem like a fantasy to some, but Oliver Lang has never been afraid to dream big.

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06/24/1978 – 11/2/ 2010IN HIS HONOR

A tRIBUte to tHe

coMPetItIVe cAReeR oF tHe

FoRMIDABLe HAWAIIAn sURFeR.

GNARLY 20

Text: Shelley Lee Jones

23GNARLY 22

bout the first time I picked up a surfboard in 2001, professional surfing was in the throes of a new school revolution. Kelly Slater had dominated the ASP World Tour for five years before retiring in 1998 but in the three years leading up to my waveriding initiation, Occy, Sunny and Ceej had all laid claim to surfing’s most coveted title. The World Tour was anyone’s game and anything seemed possible.

Then in 2002, the first year of the ‘Dream Tour’, a 25-year-old surfer from Kauai, Hawaii, soared to victory and roused Slater out of his competitive slumber. Six

years Kelly’s junior, Andy Irons was the epitome of everything I loved about surfing: youth, talent, attitude and fun. He had it all. And the style and power with which he surfed stoked Slater’s competitive verve to the point of combustion. The next year he rejoined the tour.

But despite Slater’s much-hyped comeback, the unthinkable happened. He did not win. And atop the podium everyone thought he would stand supreme, was the bad-ass autodidact from Kauai. Slater vs. Irons was a rivalry that would define competitive surfing for many years to come. Irons would win the world title again in 2004 but by 2005 Slater had done enough to oust him from the top spot for good – albeit by a meagre 45 points.

But Irons didn’t do a Machado and opt out of the tour a defeated man. He came back in 2006 and thwarted Slater at Pipeline in one of the most incredible finals in the history of the ASP World Tour. Despite Slater’s comfortable lead, Irons dropped into

Backdoor in the closing minutes of the heat and tucked into a barrel that left the surf world reeling. “[He] shot out at light speed,” reported Surfer Magazine. “And with the judges holding up scorecards of perfect 10s, Irons pumped his fists hard as the crowd leapt to their feet and shrilled a glass-shattering cheer.”

It was a high point. But every crest must fall and the next couple of years were dark for Irons, who fell from competitive grace almost as spectacularly as the way in which he had risen. Many commented that he had “lost his fire” and after a terrible performance in the Quiksilver Pro France 2008, he failed to show up for the following Mundaka event and announced shortly after that he would not compete on the 2009 World Tour at all.

Everyone had an opinion about Irons’ disappointing departure. ‘Too much partying,’ sceptics speculated. ‘Family commitments,’ came softer suggestions. But perhaps Joel Arkinson, a man familiar with slogging his boardriding guts out,

empathised best in Stab Magazine. “I hope he comes back with flying colours,” Parko said. “But, fuck, he’s been doing it for 13 years. It’s a fucking gruelling tour. He should do what Kelly did. Kelly took three years off, came backed and smoked ’em. Andy with two years off, he could come back if he wanted and… it’s not like his surfing talent is going anywhere. It’s only the planes, trains and automobiles killing him on the road. Thirteen years of it.”

And true to the prophecy, Irons returned to the World Tour this year, albeit as wildcard, with a new positive outlook, eager to show the world his fire was still burning bright. The hush around Irons grew to a Teahupoo-worthy roar this summer, culminating at the Billabong Tahiti Pro, which he won with turns that recalled the golden days of yore. In a twist of symmetry, Tahiti was also where he won his first ever WQS event in 1997, aged just 18. He told Transworld Surf in an interview in September: “Five events in and I got a win — I still can’t believe it! It was radical, once

I knew I’d won, I really wanted to be alone for a little while so I paddled outside the lineup to have a minute by myself and I got all teary-eyed… I haven’t really had time to enjoy it yet… It’s time to put the jersey back on and get back out there… Hopefully I’ll be able to keep the momentum…”

But it was not to be and a mere two months later Andy Irons, conqueror of fierce waves and fierce competitors, the firebrand hell bent on winning the moon, died in a hotel room in Dallas, Texas – halfway home to Hawaii and his wife Lindy, who is seven months pregnant.

In a fast and furious life, Irons achieved more than most and his death follows a remarkable comeback that implied a wiser, calmer and more content man had emerged. In a video uploaded 20 days ago by Billabong, Irons reflected on the ups and downs of his tumultuous career and his reasons for surfing.

These last words should be his:

A

"IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FEELING I GET FROM RIDING WAVES… THAT FIRST WAVE IS THE REASON I THINK EVERYONE KEEPS GOING BACK.”

Pho

togr

aphy

: c/o

Bill

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“When I was young I surfed because Kelly Slater did it. I surfed because it was hyped. I surfed because it got chicks. I surfed because it was the party… And I got all those cool things and they all just became ‘stuff’. It’s all about the feeling I get from riding waves… That first wave is the reason I think everyone keeps going back.”

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Friends of Leon Gallery in Australia is proud to present a vibrant and exciting exhibition by leading New York artist, Sara Blake, also known as ZSO.

Named one of the Top 100 female graphic designers and illustrators in the world by Curvy magazine, art director, designer and illustrator, Sara Blake brings her latest works to Sydney, for her very first Australia show.

Her latest show, CONSTELLATIONS, reflects the vibrancy and excitement of the New York landscape with its colour, movement and texture.

“While the subject of much of my art is women, the art itself is really more about the world at large seen through these women. Just as there are dualities in our experience of life, and there are dualities in my personality, my work inadvertently has adopted some of these qualities visually.”

Sara Blake will be in Sydney for the opening of her brand new show and will be painting the windows of the gallery in the week leading up to the opening night.

For more of her work go to www.hellozso.com.

FRIenDsoFLeonexHIBItIon

sARA BLAke

GNARLY 24