You Flew Here, We Grew Here: NYT Falls for North Shore Bad Boys

January 24, 2009 at 1:48 PM | by Victor Ozols | 0 Comments

Most surfers have a reputation for being peaceful and laid back, but that hardly describes the scene on Oahu's famous North Shore, if a recent New York Times story is to be believed. The paper of record introduces us to a menacing but handsome gang of local surfers known as the Wolfpak, who are known to resort to violence and intimidation against visiting surfers who don't show the proper respect for their rules of the waves. Surf gangs are nothing new, and protecting breaks from interlopers is as old as surfing itself, but the Wolfpak holds particular power on the Banzai Pipeline because every pro surfer worth his Sex Wax is pretty much required to be proficient in its massive winter swells.

The leader and enforcer of the pack is 39-year-old Kala Alexander (pictured), who is spearheading an effort to soften the gang's image with charitable works, but his history of violence casts a long shadow. He's served time in prison for assault, and YouTube videos of him beating up rivals are legendary. Alexander says that his code is one of respect, but that's hard to swallow when you've Googled "North Shore Beat Down." I have, and the violence I saw looks as base as any street assault, bereft of higher principle. But I'm not a surfer, so perhaps I'm incapable of understanding the need for such behavior.

In any case, Kala's an actor now, with several roles under his belt, including that of a local Hawaiian surf thug in Blue Crush ("You flew here, we grew here!"). The Times seems to make the case that some kind of self-governing mechanism is necessary in an environment like the Pipeline, and that it's inevitable that a group like the Wolfpak would fill the power vacuum. This may well be true, but I wonder why the police don't take a stronger hand on one of the world's most famous beaches. In any case, the aloha spirit left the Pipeline years ago.

[Photo: The New York Times]

Related Stories:
· Rough Waves, Tougher Beaches [The New York Times]
· Kala and Kainoa Beatdown [Grindtv.com]
· Surfing Coverage [Jaunted]

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