Seppe Smits

From snow to swell: Seppe Smits and his love for surfing

Welcome to another cracker of a blog post about an epic episode of the Surfers Ear Podcast . This time we had none other than Seppe Smits as our guest. Two-time Olympian, slopestyle world champion, snowboarding legend and – since his retirement – full-time surf addict in the making. A man who literally had his gold medals melted down into surgical parts to speed up his recovery. Yes, that level.

From snowboardcross to surf trip stress

Our co-host Jokke had another trauma to deal with. Years ago, he was reduced to an extra at the Belgian Bordercross Championship by none other than Seppe, who simply raced past him in switch . The pain is deep. Since then, Jokke has stayed far away from snow and went all out for the ocean. And now? Now we are all sitting together in the podcast discussing how Seppe made the switch from big air and slopestyle to the line-up .

Snowboarding and surfing: two worlds apart?

You would think: snowboarding and surfing, that's the same vibe, right? Wrong. In snowboarding, there's hardly any experimentation with equipment - a world champion just has one board and that's it . In surfing? You have a quiver where you need at least three lives to test everything out. Seppe has two boards with him , a Chili and an Al Merrick, and he finds that he has to switch between the two depending on his surfing condition.

And then you have the industry itself. Surfing is just doing much better financially. Power drink sponsors, top brands, professional media expansion. Snowboarding? The golden years are over there and the top athletes are now sticking crypto ads on their base to earn something. That's no joke.

Still, Seppe remains in love with the ocean. His best sessions ? Praia Grande in the Azores , Coxos in Portugal and of course Impossible's in Bali – where he learned that catching barrels at low tide is not exactly the best strategy (read: wipe-out, reef contact, lessons learned).

Nazaré: a place for extreme surfers

We talked about Nazaré, that Portuguese monster wave where big wave surfers challenge their fate. And then there's Kamiel , a 12-year-old Belgian kid who's already ventured to Nazaré. Talent? Sure. But responsible? Jokke and T-man are skeptical. "I'm not dropping my 12-year-old son off there," was the general conclusion.

The Red Bull Effect

Which brings us to another phenomenon: the Red Bull Cap . Anyone who wears that iconic cap suddenly seems to have a magnetic attraction. Especially in Austria, where people immediately understand: this is an athlete, he can do something. And apparently: the more often Seppe wore that cap, the more often he had two blondes at his side . Coincidence? We think not.

Surfing with Seppe: The Mentawai trip is coming!

Yes, you read that right. Seppe Smits is joining T-man and Jokke on a trip to the Mentawai! Unbelievable but true, the snowboard champion is going to embark on a full-fledged surf trip with the Surfers Ear crew . This is going to be legendary. But don't worry, Seppe: we'll make sure you have enough reef-safe sunscreen , because we're not going to burn you on that tropical sun (or the reef).

And you? Want a chance to win that Palm Pine sunscreen ? Drop under the episode on our socials where you will NOT get burned this summer . We will do a draw and send two sets to the winners. Or just score 30% discount with SurfersEar30 .

Kelly Slater: Where have you been, bro?

We traditionally close with the latest Kelly Slater news. The World Cup contest took place in Abu Dhabi and you would think: Kelly is there. Wrong. He was surfing nicely on Pipe with Jamie O'Brien . And that while he could have at least made an acte de présence as the face of the surf pool there. But no, Kelly keeps doing what he feels like.

The Surfers Ear Playlist and snowboarders with good taste in music

Seppe's favorite tunes? From Tommy Richmond to Red Hot Chili Peppers and Erykah Badu . Not bad. All of this will be in our Surfers Ear Playlist , which we will drop at the end of the season. Ideal for your summer road trip.

What do we take away from this episode with Seppe Smits?

• Snowboarding and surfing may seem similar, but the industries are as different as night and day.

• Nazaré is the playground for extreme surfers, but the question remains: where do you draw the line?
• The Red Bull Pet is a chick magnet (proven fact).
• Seppe Smits is coming with us to the Mentawai , and we can't wait.
• Kelly Slater continues to do whatever he wants .

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for the next Surfers Ear Podcast . We 're going strong.