Oceanside employee Logan Kamen is known to charge some big barrels, but recently he's been dedicating more time to progressing in the big wave realm. Winter trips to Mavs, Jaws & more have been Logans top priority on any vacation days he's taken off of work, and we're always stoked to support him every step of the way.
His most recent voyage a trip way south to Playa Hermosa, Peru to compete in the Pico Alto Pro, an invitation only big wave contest for well experienced and upcoming big wave surfers. Here's Logan story on how the trip/contest went, it's a good one:
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"The contest was called green and the clock started ticking.
My Padillac was too long to check in with the airline, so with little time before the event, I had to air cargo my boards. The Pyzel crew came through, but United mixed things up by telling us Los Angeles, then booking my cargo flight from San Diego. By the time I figured it out at LAX, we were able to reroute through New York before heading toward Peru.
I caught the next flight from SoCal to Lima, planning to stay overnight at the airport and pick up my boards in the morning. When I landed I tracked the shipment, my Padillac never left New York.
I linked up with a group of guys who looked like they were heading to the same event and managed to hitch a ride to the contest zone.
Pyzel Peru's Rodolfo Klima (our licensee holder) connected me with Carlos Zevallos Sr. and Jr., who welcomed me into their world.
After a middle of the night arrival, a wrong GPS pin, and a sleepy handoff of keys at a dark beachfront compound, I woke up shivering in a shack by the sea. I wandered outside, the fog was thick, everything was damp, and three dogs immediately sized me up as breakfast. Once Carlos wrangled them, he welcomed me warmly. To my surprise, his son had a blue Padillac nearly identical to mine, just a hair thinner, ready for me.
With one day before the contest, director Ignacio Salazar showed me around Punta Hermosa. We dove into the local culture, ran errands, met the safety crew, and eventually checked in with the rest of the athletes. While most of the surfers stayed at Peru’s high-performance center, I chose to soak up the mana at Carlos’s beach shack.
Day one of the event brought the opening ceremony instead of swell, but blessings were received and we were officially on call.
When the waves arrived, I surfed Round 1 Heat 2, scoring 19.33 taking first in my heat and third overall. Earning a spot in the Main Event alongside fellow Pyzel Team Billy Kemper, Koa Rothman.
In the final, I decided to gamble, sitting 100 yards outside, waiting for the wave of the day. The kind of set that could have sealed the win. It never came, but I left with a new confidence in myself.
That night, the locals threw a BBQ for everyone. Good food was consumed, hands were shook, celebratory beers felt mandatory.
Leaving Peru was its own adventure. Washed off the good times and I headed to the airport at 6:30 a.m. with an afternoon flight, hoping to finally pick up my Padillac. Instead, I spent the day running from building to building, paying endless fees, signing waivers, wearing a hard hat and strap on steel toes in an airport warehouse just to approve them searching my board. Half a day later, I finally had my board, in a crushed box that wasn’t flyable.
With no straps, I tied it to the taxi roof with my big wave leash. On the highway, I suddenly saw the board sliding, now visible from the passenger window. We pulled over, adjusted, and I rode half out the car, holding my board down until we reached Rodolfo’s shop.
After missing two flights, I finally got the next flight to America on a 1 a.m. red-eye. Door to door, the trip home took 36 hours..."
