Surf Life for Women Winter 2004 Skate Life Article by Nicole Grodesky featuring Cara Beth Burnside and Jen OBrien

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What I Always Pack for a Surf Trip After Years of Travel

Posted on May 22, 2026May 22, 2026 by Nicole Grodesky

A surf trip has a funny way of exposing the tiny things you forgot. Not your board. Not your passport. The weird little item that suddenly becomes more valuable than gold at customs, in a jungle rainstorm, or after six straight hours in tropical sun looking like a rotisserie chicken with fins. Some surf trip […]

Interview: Marii Sugiura Bakker

Posted on May 21, 2026May 21, 2026 by Nicole Grodesky

Looking Back I met Marii while we were both working at a sushi bar owned by Japanese sushi chef Miki Izumisawa. We were both surfers, but I had no idea how accomplished Marii was until Miki suggested I interview her. The piece was later published in DYLA Magazine, the online publication I launched after college. […]

Who is Colleen Mehlberg?

Posted on May 11, 2026May 11, 2026 by Nicole Grodesky

Editor’s Note: Looking back on this interview 21 years later feels a little like opening an old tide-stained journal. I was around 25 at the time, freelancing in the surf world and still competing myself when I met Colleen Mehlberg in San Clemente. She was younger, still in high school and preparing for college, but […]

Lauren Sweeney: Where Talent Takes You

Posted on April 28, 2026April 28, 2026 by Nicole Grodesky

Editors Note This piece was originally published in Surfshot Magazine in May 2007. Much of this work existed before permanent archives, and over time, stories like this slipped out of public view. I’ve been revisiting my early work to rebuild that archive and return these stories to where they belong, visible, discoverable, and on the […]

A Morning with Jen Smith

Posted on April 25, 2026April 28, 2026 by Nicole Grodesky

Editor’s note: In the years since this interview, Jen’s story has unfolded in ways neither of us could have fully predicted. She went on to win two World Championships, cementing herself as one of the most accomplished longboarders of her generation. But like many careers in surfing, the arc wasn’t linear. Sponsorships faded, competition took […]

Looking Back: The Day I Met Ornela Pellizzari at Trestles

Posted on April 12, 2026April 14, 2026 by Nicole Grodesky

I was surfing Upper Trestles, feeling like I was surfing pretty well. I had a good session and I was feeling good about it. Then I got out of the water and looked back at the lineup. There was a girl out there, around my age, absolutely shredding. Turn after turn, throwing full rooster tail […]

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