Latest news with #SamChristopherson
Scotsman
06-06-2025
- Scotsman
The View From the Shoulder: New book to tell story of Scottish surfing
A selection of Scotsman stories from the last 20 years forms the basis of a new book celebrating Scotland's unique surf culture Sign up to our Scotsman Rural News - A weekly of the Hay's Way tour of Scotland emailed direct to you. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... This October it will be 20 years since I wrote my first story about surfing for The Scotsman and, with the benefit of hindsight, I can see I probably have Torness Nuclear Power Station to thank for my big break. In the autumn of 2005, Dunbar-based surfer Sam Christopherson had decided to hold a big wave contest at the reef at Barns Ness, in the forbidding shadow of Torness's enormous grey reactor, and – perhaps because of the unusual confluence of nuclear power plant and niche aquatic activity – I managed to persuade Scotsman Magazine editor Alison Gray to run an interview with him in the outdoors pages. Torness Nuclear Power Station | Getty Images 'It's a sketchy place to be,' Sam said of his chosen location. 'Because you're next to the power station it feels like you shouldn't be there anyway, and when it's big there's lots of water moving about over an uneven reef, so you know if you don't get it right it can all go a bit Pete Tong.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Happily, when the contest eventually ran in lumpy, double-overhead conditions later that autumn, none of the competitors came a cropper on the reef. Having sat shivering out on the wind-strafed point all afternoon, taking notes on the action with nearly-numb fingers and wishing I'd worn twice as many layers, I sent an on-spec report to the sports desk which, of course, competing for space with all that weekend's football, rugby, golf and the like, never made it into print. Still, it was a start. I was only dimly aware of it at the time, but in the mid-Noughties Scotland's wider surf scene was just starting to recover after several difficult years. First established in 1975, the sport's governing body, the Scottish Surfing Federation, had ceased to exist in 2000 due to declining membership, and it wasn't revived again until 2004, meaning no national surf contests took place during that time. If Scottish surfing was mentioned at all in the media during this period, it tended to be as the punchline to a bad joke. Most people you met didn't even seem to think surfing was something you could do in Scotland, and for years I carried a picture of a perfectly-peeling head-high wave around with me, just so I could show it to non-believers. Fast-forward to the present day, however, and things are very different. The Scottish Surfing Federation, recently re-named Scottish Surfing, has an enthusiastic new CEO in place and is bringing surfing to more people than ever before through outreach and inclusion programmes; Scotland's best-known surf spots are much busier now than they were 20 years ago, the demographics much more varied; and, of course, with its incredible capacity to serve up 1,000 tailor-made waves per hour, the new £60 million Lost Shore surf resort at Ratho has the potential to grow Scotland's surfing population at an unprecedented rate. The View From the Shoulder at Thurso East, as captured by photographer Janeanne Gilchrist | Janeanne Gilchrist While all this has been going on I've mostly been working on the arts desk here at The Scotsman, but since 2005 I've kept on filing semi-regular stories about surfing for the Scotsman Magazine, first on an ad-hoc basis in the outdoors pages and then, from 2009, in this weekly outdoors column. Every now and then I've featured overseas surf stars (Californian Rob Machado, nearly-but-not-quite world champion in 1995, was a highlight) but on the whole I've kept the focus on surfing here in Scotland – not just the contest scene, but also all the other things that make surfing here special. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Over the years I've written about surf artists, filmmakers and photographers, surf activists and surf scientists, surf innovators and surf entrepreneurs, and next month a selection of these stories will be published in a book called The View From the Shoulder: A Portrait of Scottish Surfing. The book will also include a selection of photography – in particular by talented lenspeople Malcolm Anderson, Janeanne Gilchrist and Mike Guest – and an exhibition of some of their best pictures will be on display at the Staunch Industries showroom in Leith from 25 July until the end of August. All author royalties, plus some of the proceeds from the exhibition, will go to the environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage, who continue to fight for cleaner seas for all water-users. The View From the Shoulder: A Portrait of Scottish Surfing | Arena Sport So what have I learned, in two decades of writing about Scottish surf-sliding? Well, I've learned that surfing can mean lots of different things to different people – as a source of challenge, relaxation, inspiration or healing – but that, in almost all cases, it's an activity that has a positive impact on people's lives. I've also learned how to write with very cold fingers. Perhaps most importantly, though, I've learned that coming from the periphery (and let's be clear: Scotland is still a remote, little-known corner of the surfing universe) is no reason not to dream big. Just look at Ben Larg, a native of Tiree, population hovering somewhere around the 650 mark, who just finished third in the world at the Big Wave Challenge at Nazaré in Portugal. If you'd said that was going to happen 20 years ago, nobody would've believed you – not even me.
STV News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- STV News
Teen becomes first person to claim three titles at Scottish surfing championships
A Scottish teen has become the first person to ever claim three title wins at the Scottish Longboard Championships. The annual event ran at Pease Bay in East Lothian from May 24 to 25. Ansel Parkin became the second person ever to come in first for the men's category, as well as in the under 18's and Lowland's category. The first person to claim all three in one contest was local surfer and owner of Coast to Coast Surf School, Sam Christopherson. The 16-year-old said he was 'over the moon' to take home the win in the three categories. Malcolm Anderson 'I came into the competition this morning trying to do my best in all my categories, I knew I could do okay but didn't think I would be able to do this,' he said. 'The competition was great this year, it was so tight with all the other competitors, most of the heats were super close especially in the finals.' Mr Parkin said he found his love of longboarding after joining Belhaven Surf Club, and was inspired by Sam Christopherson, who co-runs the club. 'A couple years ago I joined a surf club started by Sam, so he helped me get good at shortboarding and he did a lot of longboarding so he inspired me to get into it,' he said. Malcolm Anderson Hannah Sharp secured the Scottish Women National Champion title. Belhaven Surf Club had multiple surfers entered in each category including Hannah Sharp who secured the Scottish Women National Champion title following. Speaking on her win, Ms Sharp said: 'It feels really good, it's been a really fun competition.' 'You never really know, I got a couple of okay waves, then I got a good one, it was quite a hard heat as the waves were inconsistent as times,' he said. 'The heat was quite close too so anything could've happened. I tried not to think about it too much in the water.' She added that the inspiration behind longboarding was being able to surf every kind of condition. 'I want to be good at shortboarding, I was to be good at longboarding, I want to just have fun in the water and surf the best board for the day, rather than doing one thing,' she continued. Sam Christopherson spoke on the clubs success saying it 'really opens up doors' for our surfers 'With Ansel and Hannah they get to represent Scotland at the European championships,' she said. Malcolm Anderson Sam Christopherson. 'Scottish Surfing is expanding to support more than just shortboarding in Scotland, and it's great because we have such a strong range of multi-disciplined surfers here.' The club, which relaunched in 2021, has scouted the best junior surfers on the South East Coast and trained them in shortboarding and longboarding. He added that the club is working to inspire a generation of water men and women rather than surfers. 'Both styles of surfing feed into one another, if you can do a turn on a longboard you can really turn on a shortboard, with longboarding you get the flow and artistry that comes with that too,' Mr Christopherson told STV News. Malcolm Anderson The annual event ran at Pease Bay in East Lothian from May 24 to 25. Paul Stark, CEO of Scottish Surfing, said the contest demonstrated the 'strong talent' Scotland has to offer. 'The Scottish National and Lowland Longboard Championships is a key event in the calendar, and this weekend highlights just how important it is. 'We had a great turn out of Scotland's best longboarders as well as the conditions to deliver an outstanding championships,' he said. 'In Scotland we have some of the best talent in the world, and at Scottish Surfing we are working to support every discipline of the sport, from shortboarding to longboarding to bodyboarding.' Mr Stark continued: 'Special thanks to our main sponsor Finisterre and to our other supporters including Coast to Coast Surf School, Lockett Brothers, Vision Events and Lost Shore Surf Resort.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
STV News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- STV News
Teen becomes second person to claim three titles at Scottish surfing championships
A Scottish teen has become the second person to ever claim three title wins at the Scottish Longboard Championships. The annual event ran at Pease Bay in East Lothian from May 24 to 25. Ansel Parkin became the second person ever to come in first for the men's category, as well as in the under 18's and Lowland's category. The first person to claim all three in one contest was local surfer and owner of Coast to Coast Surf School, Sam Christopherson. The 16-year-old said he was 'over the moon' to take home the win in the three categories. Malcolm Anderson 'I came into the competition this morning trying to do my best in all my categories, I knew I could do okay but didn't think I would be able to do this,' he said. 'The competition was great this year, it was so tight with all the other competitors, most of the heats were super close especially in the finals.' Mr Parkin said he found his love of longboarding after joining Belhaven Surf Club, and was inspired by Sam Christopherson, who co-runs the club. 'A couple years ago I joined a surf club started by Sam, so he helped me get good at shortboarding and he did a lot of longboarding so he inspired me to get into it,' he said. Malcolm Anderson Hannah Sharp secured the Scottish Women National Champion title. Belhaven Surf Club had multiple surfers entered in each category including Hannah Sharp who secured the Scottish Women National Champion title following. Speaking on her win, Ms Sharp said: 'It feels really good, it's been a really fun competition.' 'You never really know, I got a couple of okay waves, then I got a good one, it was quite a hard heat as the waves were inconsistent as times,' she said. 'The heat was quite close too so anything could've happened. I tried not to think about it too much in the water.' She added that the inspiration behind longboarding was being able to surf every kind of condition. 'I want to be good at shortboarding, I was to be good at longboarding, I want to just have fun in the water and surf the best board for the day, rather than doing one thing,' she continued. Sam Christopherson spoke on the clubs success saying it 'really opens up doors' for our surfers 'With Ansel and Hannah they get to represent Scotland at the European championships,' she said. Malcolm Anderson Sam Christopherson. 'Scottish Surfing is expanding to support more than just shortboarding in Scotland, and it's great because we have such a strong range of multi-disciplined surfers here.' The club, which relaunched in 2021, has scouted the best junior surfers on the South East Coast and trained them in shortboarding and longboarding. He added that the club is working to inspire a generation of water men and women rather than surfers. 'Both styles of surfing feed into one another, if you can do a turn on a longboard you can really turn on a shortboard, with longboarding you get the flow and artistry that comes with that too,' Mr Christopherson told STV News. Malcolm Anderson The annual event ran at Pease Bay in East Lothian from May 24 to 25. Paul Stark, CEO of Scottish Surfing, said the contest demonstrated the 'strong talent' Scotland has to offer. 'The Scottish National and Lowland Longboard Championships is a key event in the calendar, and this weekend highlights just how important it is. 'We had a great turn out of Scotland's best longboarders as well as the conditions to deliver an outstanding championships,' he said. 'In Scotland we have some of the best talent in the world, and at Scottish Surfing we are working to support every discipline of the sport, from shortboarding to longboarding to bodyboarding.' Mr Stark continued: 'Special thanks to our main sponsor Finisterre and to our other supporters including Coast to Coast Surf School, Lockett Brothers, Vision Events and Lost Shore Surf Resort.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
