Teenage Maverick’s Charger Tells All

Santa Cruz has a knack for regularly, and dependably, churning out big wave riders of the highest caliber. The waves around here, particularly at Middle Peak off Steamer Lane, get heavy enough to thwart the hardiest of aquatic thrill-junkies, while simultaneously nurturing a unique breed of lunatics such as Peter Mel and Darryl “Flea” Virostko. Throughout their careers, both applied their massive cajones, with great success, to charging deadly waves all over the globe, yet it was in the punishing surf just up the coast at Maverick’s where these local hellmen made their biggest mark.

What’s even more remarkable, is that tons of other local adrenaline-junkies who’ve made a splash up at Mavericks got their start before they could legally operate a vehicle! Anthony Tashnick. Nic Lamb. The late, great, Jay Moriarity. Is it something in the drinking water here that gives our local teens the insane compulsion to throw themselves over the ledge on waves that would make grown men weep like freshly delivered babes? As of yet, it’s unclear, but we’ve got another baby-faced upstart on the scene, cutting his teeth on the monsters up at Mavs, 17 year-old Jack Snyder.

Snyder, who just started his Senior year at Soquel High, has made a name for himself as a highly decorated competitive longboarder, winning countless events and earning sweet sponsorships from brands such as Source Surfboards, Buell Wetsuits, and Rainbow Fin Company. At a young age, he developed a willingness to push himself in the bigger stuff, and much like most other local big wave rookies, he got his first tastes of true power in the juicy wintertime swells at Steamer Lane’s Middle Peak. At the end of April in 2023, just before his 16th birthday, Snyder paddled out to Mavericks for the first time, and he’s been hooked ever since.

In my eyes, young Jack’s thirst for the big stuff, his unadulterated enthusiasm, respectful attitude, and primary focus as a competitive longboarder, puts him in league with our dearly departed brother and true Santa Cruz treasure, Jay Moriarity. Seeing this, I recently decided to ring the kid to hear what he had to say about his introduction to big-wave surfing and what inspired his newfound commitment to continually throw himself over the ledge at Mavericks, arguably the world’s deadliest surf break.

How did you fall in love with surfing big waves?

When I was about 12 or 13, my dad and I would go surf Indicators (inside Middle Peak) during the Winter, when a big swell would hit the Lane. I would always just try to go further and further out to get bigger waves, without even really realizing it. I found that once I got all the way out there, I was never really scared of the bigger waves at Middle Peak. So after the first couple of times seeing it break when it was bigger, it became my goal to try to surf it every time it broke. Once I saw a couple of Powerlines Production videos on YouTube showing Mavericks, I knew I wanted to surf that wave. And, of course, the movie Chasing Mavericks was a big one for me l because I would surf with Frosty (Jay Moriarty’s mentor) all the time at Pleasure Point and my dad used to train Jay. So I wanted to do what he did.

Describe and detail your journey working up to surfing Mavericks.

I started surfing Middle Peak every single swell that hit. I was homeschooled at the time as well, so I spent pretty much all day out there, getting caught inside and trying to get as many waves as I could. Also, like every other kid who wanted to surf big waves, I would practice, holding my breath wherever I was, constantly trying to beat my record. I really had no idea what I was doing. Nobody my age, that I knew of at the time, was trying to do what I was doing, so for the most part, I was kinda on my own.

Since I wasn’t sure what I was doing, I wanted to work with a mentor to really understand what I was getting myself into in my desire to bring my surfing up to Mavericks. So, I connected with Calder Nold (Big C), to see if he would be interested in working with me. After talking about what I wanted to work on and work towards, we started training. Not just physically, but mentally too. We did some breath courses, had some talks, studied the reef, the wave, and how it all works.

When April of 2023 came around, there was a little swell that came through, so we decided to drive up and give it a go. I only got one wave and wasn’t a big one at all, but it was enough for me to know I definitely wanted to pursue Mavericks.

What was your first heavy beating like? How did you come back from that and overcome any nerves/trepidation?

My first heavy beating was in January of last season. I hadn’t gotten a wave all session and it had been at least 3 hours since I had paddled out. So I decided to just turn and go on a set wave that I thought was a good one. I ended up being too deep and got closed out on. It was super violent and pushed me deep so I pulled my vest, but it didn’t inflate because I had a dud cartridge. So I pulled again and luckily it worked. I came up right before the second wave of the set landed on my head. Jason Stark picked me up and I put new cartridges in my vest and paddled straight back out.

Instead of the wipeout scaring me, it actually made me more confident. I ended up getting three more set waves and called it a day. After that session, I’ve had other gnarly wipeouts. During the last swell of the year in March, I jumped straight off the ski and paddled into the bowl and went on the first one I saw. Because of the morning offshore winds, I got held up in the lip.I tried to eject out the back, but instead, I went straight into the lip and over the falls. That was quite a way to start my morning, but once again, after the beating, I ended up getting some of the best waves of my season. That made me way more confident to push my limits, knowing I could live through a few heavy wipeouts.

Tell me about your equipment? How important is it to have your equipment dialed in at a spot like Mavs? Are you working with a shaper and how have you modified your boards so far as you progress?

Equipment is everything out there. if you can’t trust your equipment, it makes it really hard to trust yourself when you’re sending yourselves on really big, really steep waves. I’ve been working with Source Surfboards for the past couple of years along with my mentor, Big C. We’ve been dialing in my guns and different shapes all winter long—making little tweaks for different parts of the wave that I want to try to conquer. Whether it’s taking off deeper, packing the inside bowl, better rail-turns, or speed generation. We’ve also been playing with length, depending on the day or how big it is out there. So, if you have equipment that you don’t trust and don’t feel comfortable on, it makes it hard to trust yourself when you put yourself in life-threatening situations.

Are there any other groms out there giving it a crack with you? How do they motivate/inspire you?

There are a ton of groms out there. It’s really fun to be a part of that group because we all push each other so hard, but are also super supportive of one another. There’s too many people to name, but Ian Sanguinetti and I have surfed out there together the most. Even when it was windy and barely breaking, we were skipping work to head up and surf. Adam Bartlett and I also surfed up there on the last day of the year in March, and have been working and training together since to prepare for next season. The level of the next generation is being pushed so hard and it’s awesome to be a part of it and watch all my friends that I’ve grown up with charge so hard! It makes me wanna push myself even harder and get one better wave than everyone else. And I think that’s most of the other groms’ mindset as well.

What kind of training do you do for big wave surfing? Does it help having a dad who’d made a career training athletes and surfers?

Honestly, surfing might be the biggest part of it. Just constantly surfing. I have a couple circuit workouts that I do for cardio while holding my breath, and do some underwater pool training from time to time, but just staying in shape for surfing at a high intensity is some of the best training you can do to prepare. It’s super nice to have a dad that can help me train and he’s the one that will write programs for me, but I will do all the workouts on my own.

Who are the biggest chargers you look up to out there? What is it about their approach that impresses you? Have you gone to them for pointers/tips?

I look up to anybody that gets waves out there. People who can really surf the wave are so fun to watch and learn from. Wilem Banks and Alo Slebir are probably my two favorite surfers who are out there every time it breaks. Wilem’s airdrops are so insane! It makes me wanna push my surfing so much more. And Alo just sends it so hard on any wave, no matter if it’s a closeout or a 60-foot tow-in wave on the 4th reef. They are so inspiring for me to watch and it’s even more inspiring being in the lineup with them.

One of my favorite things about the boys in the lineup is that they are all so supportive of the groms getting waves out there. They call you into waves that you would never think about going on, but you have to go because they told you to, and then you get the sickest wave ever. It’s so awesome to be in the water with all of them.

How does a night before a Mav’s session play out for you? Is it hard to sleep knowing you’ll be putting it all on the line the following day?

The night before a swell is obviously high emotions. I try to prep all my gear earlier in the day so I don’t have to think about it late at night. It’s usually a pretty early morning so I try to be in bed by 9pm or earlier to get as much sleep as possible. I will put the fins in my boards, put my suits in my truck, make sure I have all my C02 cartridges, grab extra leashes and wax, and then head inside to make some breakfast for the morning. Even though I try to go to bed I usually end up staying awake late watching Powerlines clips and trying to visualize how the session is gonna go. Once I’m asleep though it’s a super good night without waking up at all for the most part.

What does your dream ride look like out there? What will it take for you to achieve it?

My dream ride out at Mavericks looks like paddling in super late and deep and airdropping to the bottom and then getting fully covered by the whitewater and still making it to the channel. Or making a barrel like Augie did at Flemballs (the inside section at Mavericks). It will just take lots of attempts and wipeouts and positioning myself deeper than I will probably feel comfortable with, but I have a feeling it will happen soon.