A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Impeccably researched guidebook series created by Low Pressure, a London-based surfing/snowboarding chain and publishing house; surfing's answer to the Lonely Planet books. The Stormrider Guide Europe, the series' debut book, released in 1992, was largely the work of peripatetic British surfer Ollie Fitzjones, with help from Bruce Sutherland (research, editing, writing), Dan Haylock (photography, art direction), and Tim Rainger (research, editing). Rainger left the company in 1999.

The opening section of each edition includes articles on swell formation, tides and currents, wave forecasting, and ocean-related environmental problems; the bulk of Stormrider Europe consists of a region-by-region look at European surf breaks, from the North Sea nations to Portugal. Each break is introduced with a row of pictographs indicating bottom type, prevailing wind direction, wave type (pointbreak, beachbreak, etc.), preferred wind and swell direction, and average water temps and wetsuit thickness recommendations. Each regional section opens with an article on local surf history and culture; sidebar guides for transportation, lodging, food, weather, and other essential travel-related information are also included. A short paragraph of text lists further details about each break, though the editors are careful to omit particularly sensitive or secretive breaks.

Hundreds of photographs and dozens of professionally rendered maps are featured throughout. Surfing guidebooks have been published since the early 1960s, but none had anything approaching Stormrider Europe's level of detail and craftsmanship. It was updated in 1999. The World Stormrider Guide, follow-up to Stormrider Europe, was published in 2001, with French surfer Antony Colas as primary researcher and writer; several subsequent volumes have since been released. The Stormrider Guide North America was published in 2002, and edited by former Surfer editor Drew Kampion. All Stormrider books are paperback and their page counts are between 280 and 300. While the quality of the Stormrider series has never been in question, a minority of surfers feels that the information offered is a disservice to local surfers; that it's a cheat sheet for knowledge that should come with time and experience rather than a $30 book purchase.

Stormrider also maintains a popular website (under the Low Pressure label) which archives much of the information found in the books, stripped down, but fully searchable. A Stormrider app focusing mainly on Europe is available on mobile devices.

Sales figures for 2013 were just over 15,000 print copies sold, along with over 5,000 digital editions. The Low Pressure website receives several hundred visitors each day.

Stormrider Guides

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