May 01 2007 / Los Angeles, CA
Courtesy of LAT34

Daily News
The Santa Cruz Surfing Legend Sits Down with Lat34

Peter Mel is one of those rare double entendres who dominates not just the small surf, but the big waves as well.  To complete the trifecta, he’s also starting to become a regular on the webcast commentary scene, recently completing the double play as both a competitor and the primary webcast commentator for the Jeep Body Glove Surfbout contest held at Lower Trestles.

Yet the reputation of Peter Mel goes beyond just watching him surf and listening to him analyze your favorite surf contest online.  Mel is looked up to by a vast amount of younger surfers, who consider Peter their mentor for the wisdom and guidance he provides to the groms and even slightly older surfers.

Peter Mel Interviewed by Jon Rose…

Peter Mel is one of the biggest names to come out of Surf City, USA (no offense Huntington, but this writer has his NorCal bias) aka Santa Cruz, California.  It’s no surprise then that the most prestigious surf apparel company, Quiksilver, selected Mel years ago to be their lone Santa Cruz team rider.

And in-between catching waves, commentating online, and helping run the Feeline Design Surf Shop in Santa Cruz (which his dad  John opened 37 years ago), Peter is a devout family man who takes tremendously good care of his wife and two kids.  It’s no wonder younger surfers look up to the highly versatile surfer who’s a regular favorite to win the Mavericks Surf Contest.

Meet Peter Mel, one of the top surfers in the world, as we caught up with him at Lat34.

Lat34: You’re considered one of the most versatile riders in surfing.  One minute you’re surfing in standard contests like the Jeep Body Glove Surfbout, and next minute you’re a favorite heading into the Mavericks Surf Contest.  What do you attribute to your versatility?

Mel: I think Santa Cruz breeds it.  Most of the surfers from this area can do it all.  From the little stuff all the way to the big stuff, just because of the way Santa Cruz has surf, and the variety of spots, breeds it.  It’s all within 45 minutes, and we get to taste it all.

Lat34: Have you tried Ghost Trees yet?

Mel: I have.  I was one of the few pioneers.  Me and Adam Replogle were one of the first guys to go down in that area and do some of the tow-in.  When you use that tow-surfing thing, the other aspect of it is being able to go to spots that you really wouldn’t go to paddling, just because of the way the waves and the breaks are.

So we were one of the first to go down there and taste it.  Sure enough here it is, known now as one of the world’s renown (big wave) spots.  It’s a gnarly wave.  There’s a lot of rocks, and that’s one of those spots that rarely gets paddled, although guys have done it.  (That day) it was more of a good tow-wave, and sure enough it holds its size.  It’s definitely one of the spots on the planet now that’s known for big waves.

Lat34: When I last spoke to Anthony Tashnick (2005 Mavericks Surf Contest Champion), he did nothing but give you praise for helping him out and mentoring him.  A lot of other pro surfers I know have shared similar sentiments about you.  What motivates you to help these young surfers so much?

Mel: I’m a dad, so right away that’s part of it.  I’ve always helped out young kids, and it’s just because I was mentored by people as well in my neck of the woods.  Vince Collier was a part of it, and Richard Schmidt especially were guys that mentored me.

I went to Hawaii when I was 14, and I had Mark Machado and guys who were older that were able to mentor me and teach me the ropes.  Teach me how to travel, how to act, how to surf big waves, how to just be an overall, all-around good person.  I take that as something that I have to do for the younger generation.  I think that it just works.  It helps to breed good surfers and breed good people.

Lat34: You did really well on the WQS tour back in the day.  You’ve started doing competitions again.  Are you going to go for it again?  Are you going to do more of the tour this year?  What’s next for Pete Mel?

Mel: More or less, I’m doing it because I enjoy competing.  Competing has always been a challenge for me.  I’ve done ok on the tour, but never made it.  I’m not aspiring to get back on tour or doing that whole thing at 37.  I’m a family guy, I can’t necessarily be leaving the family and traveling all year-round.

I’m doing it because I love competing, and there’s a lot of events we can do now.  Also I can double dip in a sense, because I can go and compete as well as do the webcast.  I get to watch all the aspiring young guys coming up, get to watch the surfing, and I still want to compete.  It’s just in my blood, I love it, and I don’t really want to stop.  So I get to do both.

Lat34: 37, that’s the new 17.

Mel: (Laughing) You know, that’s funny.  I’m getting up in age.  With big wave surfing, I don’t think that really matters.  I’m physically as fit as I’ve been in my whole career.  I don’t have any big injuries, thank goodness.  Knock on wood (laughing).

We don’t get to surf big waves everyday.  You can’t just go down to your local beach and practice surfing 30-foot waves.  This year especially is a prime example of a year that wasn’t that great for big surf here in the Pacific.  We only had three or four days where we actually got to paddle Mavericks this year.  We didn’t have the event, so it was kind of a bummer.

With age, you get to pack those sessions in, and have that wisdom.  I’ve had 15 to 20 years of big wave surfing (experience), which is probably 40 sessions, maybe 50 sessions total that I got to do.  Like I said, I’m as physically fit as I’ve been in a long time, so I want to keep competing in the big wave stuff, and I’m staying focused with my surfing, by surfing in these other events, as well as watching and learning.

The funniest thing about age is that we’re still so young in our minds.  I don’t care what you say, I’m still thinking like I’m an 18 year-old.

Lat34: You mentioned the webcast commentating, which you just did with the Jeep Body Glove competition.  You’ve been webcast commentating for a while now.

Mel: I’m doing stuff primarily for the WQS and locally.  I did the Cold Water (Classic at Steamer’s Lane in Santa Cruz), and I’ve done local events down south.  I’m waiting for the WCT run.  I think I could do a good job at it, as long as they give me the opportunity.

Lat34: You’re a Quiksilver rider, which carries a lot of prestige.

Mel: Yeah, they take care of their folk.  They’ve got a solid foundation, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

- Cyrus Saatsa