New Yorker, Balaram Stack Racks Three 10’s in NSSA Easterns, Sebastian Inlet, FL
[WORDS & PHOTOS BY KEN HORTON, icunphotos.com]
Lightning in a Bottle
To see lightning strike is an amazing coincidence of being in the
right place at the right time. At the NSSA Easterns, I saw lightning
strike. Not once, not twice, but three times.
Lightning being a 10.0 surfing score. And the same surfer, Balaram Stack,
scored all three. The first occurance was on Saturday during an open
heat. I shot the sequence but I saw nothing but water. Sure he came out
of the tube. But was it really a 10.0?
The next time was the following day. I was in a position to photograph
him during the experience. Once again, a 10.0. This time I agreed with the
judges.
I asked Balaram to pose for two pictures. One with 10 fingers extended,
and one with his arms crossed (a Roman numeral 10).
A half hour later, he went out in the Air Show competition and scored his
third 10.0 of the competition.
I wanted to ask him to pose again: this time with his 10 toes,
10 fingers and arms crossed.
But I didn’t press my luck. He still had one heat left, and how many times
can you go back to the well?
Well done, Balaram!
Balaram Gallery from the event here …
