2019 Vans US Open of Surfing Wrap Up
Sage Erickson and Yago Dora picked up the top prizes in the woman’s and men’s title at the 2019 Vans US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach this past week. It was an action packed event with surfing, BMX, skateboarding and lots of people having fun in the festival village.
Each year hundreds of thousands of people flock to Huntington Beach during this weeklong event. There really isn’t anything like it here in Southern California. Sure we have great weather and lots of places to see and visit, but when it comes to combining sports and beach, there isn’t anything like the Vans US Open of Surfing.
Here you can watch professional BMX and skateboarding right on the beach, a stadium is built for each. Taking weeks to build then taken down in a matter of hours. All for this special and unique event that has been going on for many years. Be sure to see our photos from past US Opens in HB here.
Below are photos we’ve taken during this year’s event.
The women really stole the show this week at the US Open, Alyssa Spencer Leah Thompson and Samantha Sibley were all fun to watch.
Some people have asked me how I get some of these overhead shots as they are either surfing or paddling out. Easy, the Huntington Beach Pier is close enough that with only a little zoom lens, one can capture some really good action shots.
A little tip for any spectators that plan on coming in future years, get here early because the south side of the pier gets full of people watching the heats and photographers also line up against the rail to capture the action. If you arrive early, you can get a nice spot and view the action up close.
Below the Huntington Beach pier is also a great place to view the action. You’ll have the shade and get to see the surfers paddle out and maybe if you’re lucky, one of them will cut under the pier during a heat
Finally, don’t forget to spend some time at the festival village in the sand. There’s lots to see, like this photo I took of an art piece by local Ed Templeton. These were large, bright and colorful and I snapped this photo of it with the spectators in the background. You can see the complete photo gallery of all the surfers from this day on OCPix.
