Even this lackluster London summer can’t kill my spirits after a few blissed-out days at the Roxy Jam in Biarritz. (Though if any boss-types are reading this, I should stress it was actually seriously tough, back-breaking work, and no fun was had at all).

Myself, and fashion ed Poppy, were there to check out the comp, which sees the planet’s finest female longboarders do their thing on the beautiful peeling waves that grace the Cotes des Basques beach. Longboard legends including Kassia Meador and Crystal Dzigas were on show, as was some prodigious newer talent in the form of Jennifer Smith, Lee-Ann Curren, Schuyler McFerran (last year’s winner), and Candice O’Donnell from Cornwall. Read the full report here.

We also took to the surf every morning, making the most of the warm water, ah the joys of not wearing a wetsuit, and perfect waves, 2 foot and clean, which was ideal for someone of my level of slight ineptitude. A lot of fun was had,though the waves were comically crowded at times, with not a lot of surf etiquette on display, especially by this middle-aged guy in a yellow kayak, who insisted on riding the busiest breaks and taking out at least one surfer per wave.

Aside from the surfing, we got to see the Brazilian dance art/rock band, CSS, on a beach, which was pretty damn cool, and a surf art exhibition, which included some customised plaster busts, that were later auctioned for the very worthy charity ‘Let’s Talk About Breast Cancer’.

But for now our noses are back to the grindstone, Poppy’s shooting a winter cover with Jenny Jones in Les Deux Alpes, and I’m working on the autumn issue, and the very exciting Cooler relaunch, that’s in the pipeline for Jan 08.

Massive thanks to Roxy for being such awesome hosts, and er to our hotel owner for letting us in at 3am when we’d forgotten our keys, and drunken too much champagne to give the matter the sombre response it required.

Enjoy summer, if it ever shows up, and don’t forget to buy the new summer issue, which is out at the end of July.

Cheers,

Sam