Longboarding 101 at the Lodge - An Evening with Local Surfer, Lydia Ricard
Long Beach Lodge Resort recently hosted one of our country’s National Surf Team riders for a presentation about the fundamentals of longboard surfing. |
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What’s one easy way to get better at surfing? The answer’s simple, and you can do it before you even dip your toes in the ocean.
Learning about surfing’s rich history, and also the nuances of board design, will give you a greater understanding of how humans slide so elegantly across the surface of the sea.
Long Beach Lodge Resort was recently lucky enough to have one of our National surf team riders, Lydia Ricard come to our property and share her love for surfing longboards. Lydia’s one of the more recognizable faces in the water out here, with an ever-present smile and a powerful grace on the waves. She tried surfing for the first time in in 2014. And while many people choose to ride shorter boards, Lydia’s a longboarder through and through.
“I started to longboard because I wanted to catch more waves, and then decided to stick with it until I had mastered it,” she explains with a laugh. “So here I am, still on a longboard.”
The majority of surfing’s storied history was written on boards longer than 9 feet. It wasn’t until 1967 that the “Shortboard Revolution” introduced a flashier style of waveriding to the world. But the longboard never went away. And it’s even made a resurgence in the last decade, especially out here on Canada’s west coast.
Lydia’s played a part in that resurgence. Back in 2019, she surfed for Team Canada at the ISA World Longboard Championship in France. And just last September, she claimed 2nd place at the Canadian Nationals, which took place right in front of the lodge on Cox Bay.
Her presentation in The Rainforest Room focused on the fundamentals of longboarding, from the different styles, to board selection, wave dynamics and of course, the finer techniques of cross-stepping and noseriding. She showed videos, slides and diagrams that covered as much information as possible in two hours. Basically, it was TED Talk for surfers, complete with questions and answers at the end.
“Initially I started these talks as a fundraiser to help me go to the ISA World Longboard Championships and the Mexi Log Fest,” she says when asked what inspired the presentations. “I got such a good turnout that I decided to keep going. I realized that it was such a good way to get knowledge out. When I started longboarding I found it hard to find information online, so I wanted to make it easier for people that wanted to learn.”
Everyone in attendance paid close attention, with lessons like “NO SHUFFLING” and other longboard truths underlined in the corners of their notebooks. It was cool to see how engaged people were by the simple act of talking about surfing. Not often do we get to ask questions of our local mentors. And Lydia’s just that. She makes one of the intimidating sports in the world seem that much more welcoming.
“Get out there as much as possible and don’t be afraid to ask for help,” she says. “Getting advice can save you years if you would’ve tried to figure it out by yourself!”
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This presentation was organized by Chance McCullough, the head of Long Beach Lodge’s Surf Club. This one was just for LBL staff, but there’s talk of opening it up to the public next time. Keep an eye on our channels for more info!
And check out Lydia's Instagram page to learn about her, and to keep an eye out for upcoming presentations.
Surf Photos were captured by the one and only Bryanna Bradley.
