Long Beach waves among the 'most important' in U.S.

Pro surfer Balaram Stack, pictured at Long Beach’s Surf Week in 2014, said that he’s proud of his hometown and the recognition it has received.

Christina Daly/Herald

Pro surfers Cliff Skudin, left, and his brother, Will, run the Skudin Surf school in Long Beach.

Courtesy Cliff Skudin

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Surfing Magazine recently named Long Beach as home to one of “The 10 Most Important Waves In America,” a list that mentioned just three beach towns on the East Coast.

Along with Long Beach, the magazine highlighted the Outer Banks in North Carolina, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., and seven boarding hotspots throughout California, including Ocean Beach, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.

Taylor Paul, who wrote the article, clarified that the list does not necessarily rank destinations with the best or biggest waves, but rather those “that groom world-class talent, inspire media, host contests, turn boys to men, girls to women and influence surf culture in the continental [United States].”

“It’s the best wave close to the most important city in the world,” Paul wrote, referring to the city by the sea. “If you like big cities and hypothermia, you’ll love Long Beach.”

The barrier island is home to some of the world’s best professional surfers, including Point Lookout’s Balaram Stack and Long Beach’s own Will Skudin and T.J. Gumiela.

Stack earned a wild-card spot in Long Beach’s Quiksilver Pro NY in 2011, one of the city’s most memorable events, where he surfed against some of the world’s best, including Kelly Slater. As a pro surfer on the Unsound team, Stack now travels three out of four weeks each month of the year to chase waves around the world, but flies back to his hometown to enjoy the variety of waves available throughout the seasons.

“There’s not too many other places in the world where people go from surfing in board shorts to surfing in the snow,” Stack said. “I’m definitely proud of where I come from. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”

Skudin, 30, a big-wave rider who was named East Coast Surfer of the Year in 2013 by Eastern Surfing Magazine, becoming the first New Yorker to do so, and was nominated for Billabong’s Ride of the Year honors for mastering a wave in Ireland that same year. He’s currently on the Big Wave World Tour, racking up more Ride of the Year and Paddle Award entries for waves he rode in Oregon, Hawaii and Mexico within the past few months. Skudin said growing up riding small waves in Long Beach polished his paddling, positioning and reaction time, which helped propel him to where he is today.