Surfing the Alps with Kassia Meador and Makala Smith
SION, SWITZERLAND — Switzerland is not the first place that springs to mind when you think of world-class waves, nor is it where you’d expect to meet legendary longboarders Kassia Meador and Makala Smith. But just two hours from Geneva, surrounded by 10,000-foot snow-capped peaks, here we are at Alaïa Bay, the first public surfing wave pool in continental Europe. Kassia and Makala have stopped by to teach their second international longboard workshop together.
From securing podium positions on the World Longboard Tour to launching her own surf brand, 40-year-old Kassia follows her intuition when it comes to her surf career. She honed her inimitable style at Southern California’s iconic point breaks and now is focusing on sharing her knowledge with fellow surfers. Makala, meanwhile, hails from the next generation of female loggers, known for her noseriding prowess and graceful cutbacks. We sat down with the pair to discuss growing up in Southern California, transitioning into mentorship, and what it means to be a female surfer in the 21st century.
Take us back to the beginning. Tell us about your first experience of surfing.
KASSIA: I grew up in the Valley, not by the ocean. So, our time at the beach was on weekends. I’d just play in the water, boogie boarding and floating. Every year, my family would take a trip to San Diego. My dad would always surf and I would boogie board next to him.
When I turned 14 and really showed an interest in surfing, he was like, “Listen, go to junior lifeguards. Learn about the ocean and how to be comfortable in the water. Then I’ll take you surfing with me.” He didn’t push me. If anything, I had to beg for it. So, it really made me crave surfing. By the time I was 15, I had friends that drove, so I was at the beach more than I wasn’t.
What was it like growing up surfing Malibu in the 1980s and 90s, especially as a woman in a male-dominated sport?
KASSIA: I was very fortunate to be very invited into the community. Everybody was really supportive. It felt like a family dynamic; all the guys were like brothers. We would all hang out, surf together, make fires, sleep on the beach. We had that experience that felt like the old Gidget movies that I fell in love with. We didn’t have phones. Nobody was looking down, we were just looking at each other and the waves. It was a really beautiful time.
We didn’t have phones. Nobody was looking down, we were just looking at each other and the waves. It was a really beautiful time.
How about you, Makala? You grew up in southern California as well, right?
MAKALA: My background in surfing is pretty similar to Kassia, growing up further south in the SanClemente/Dana Point area. It’s a pretty iconic surf town. It has the same energy as Malibu with the history of the Dana Point Mafia, the guys that started Surfer magazine, and all the surf crafts that came out of there.
I come from a family of watermen, so I was always in the water. Before I could swim, I would just float in a life vest and surf on the front of dad’s board. Once I was able to swim and get my own board, I was out there, no fear. Being a few generations below Kassia, I watched her pave the way for women’s surfing growing up. It made it an easier path for me to come into the surf world.
I watched [Kassia] pave the way for women’s surfing growing up. It made it an easier path for me to come into the surf world.
What ended up drawing you both into competitive surfing?
KASSIA: I’m the opposite of competitive, but the competitive arena, for me, was more of an excuse to travel. It was all about getting fun waves, making new friends and experiencing a new culture.
MAKALA: Surfing was available to us as an elective sport through school. I don’t like running, so obviously I chose surfing. For me, it was never really about winning. It’s a perk if you make some money, but just surfing the waves and meeting people around the world is the best.
Kassia, in 2013, you left competitive surfing and set up your own brand, Kassia+Surf. What inspired you to make this change?
KASSIA: I started surfing for Roxy and Quiksilver when I was 17 years old. By that point [when I started Kassia+Surf], I was 31 years old. I loved the brand, but I wanted to give myself a new challenge. I wanted to create something that supported the woman I was becoming, as well as my peers. There was a community of women that were starting to surf at a different time in their life. Some of them were brand new to surfing, others had dipped their toe in before. I had taken my personal surf career as far as I wanted to take it. So my thing was like, how can I take everything I learned and pay it forward for the future? How can I support this culture and this lifestyle that has given me so much? That’s why I started Kassia+Surf.
I feel like ten years ago, there weren’t surf brands aimed at older women. Your brand paved the way for a new era of women’s surfwear. What has the feedback been like?
KASSIA: Totally. A couple of guests tried on my wetsuits during a workshop recently and they were like,“Oh my god, it’s so easy to get in and out of. I feel like it was made for me”. That’s what keeps me going, when people are super happy with what I’ve made. It’s what keeps me wanting to evolve.
Tell me more about the surf workshops that you have set up with Leah Dawson and Malaka.
KASSIA: I’ve been doing surf retreats for a while. About two years ago, during the pandemic, I decided to start Salty Sensations with one of my best friends and favorite surfers, Leah Dawson, taking people surfing and camping in California. We brought Makala in because she’s one of our favorite surfers. We decided to host the retreats at San Onofre, that’s her homebreak. I really wanted to give people access to improve their surfing quicker, to exaggerate the learning curve so they can have fun sooner. That’s why we teach the workshops now; to share all the things that took me 25 years to learn. We get to support the current generation as well as the next generation.
For me, surfing is more than a sport. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a vehicle to take you around the world. Our first international trip was over in Ireland. Now, me and Makala are here at Alaïa Bay in Switzerland. Soon, we’re going to the Maldives.
How does it feel to work on these retreats with Leah and Kassia, Makala?
MAKALA: It’s really special. I’ve learned a lot about myself along the way. Where we grew up, there was so much knowledge around us. I just soaked it up like a sponge. It’s incredible now to be able to share it with people who perhaps didn’t have the opportunity to grow up around such amazing surfers.
Throughout all of your traveling experiences, do you have a favorite place that you’ve visited?
KASSIA: Honestly, this recent trip to Ireland was one of my favorite surfing experiences. I’ve been traveling the world surfing for nearly 25 years. There’s a very small, tight community of surfers in Ireland. It has this spirit of discovery, freshness and wildness that I remember as a kid. There were just less surfers there; it felt very much like my first surf trips. It was a full circle experience, to be honest. We came from Ireland to Switzerland yesterday; I feel like we’ve stepped out of the past and into the future. It’s a really beautiful contrast of experiences.
MAKALA: Cold destinations have never really been on my list. I’m a tropical girl at heart, but Ireland was just absolutely out of this world. I also never thought surfing would bring me to the Alps. It’s incredible that there are wave pools in different parts of the world; surfing brings you to places where there’s not even an ocean. I’m so grateful to be here.
Where do you feel artificial waves fit into the future of surfing? Do you feel we should have more artificial waves around the world? They are a great tool for learning, after all.
KASSIA: Learning how to surf is like learning a new language. It takes time to study the language of the ocean — that is a big part of surfing. You maybe have five opportunities in a week to see those perfect waves come through. The language of the ocean is one part, but the technical side of surfing is something that you get out of repetition. That’s what Alaïa Bay and this beautiful Wavegarden technology offers: that opportunity to really focus on refining your technique. It would take a lot longer to do in the ocean. That’s something that is really going to expedite people’s learning trajectory. But really, to be a well-rounded surfer, you need both.
MAKALA: I’ve never seen anything like [Alaïa Bay]. I never imagined there could be something this spectacular. It’s my first time surfing in a wave pool. It was difficult for me at first, because I’m so connected with the ocean and here, you can’t see the wave coming. It was definitely tricky at first, but it’s really fun to push myself and be creative. I’m excited to see what comes next.
Kassia, what’s your relationship to surfing now?
KASSIA: I love surfing so much. There was a point when I was 14 years old and I was obsessed. That’s all I wanted to do every day. Then I got to travel the world and do that all day, everyday. It got to a point where I wasn’t disenchanted, but it was time for a new direction. I stepped away from surfing every day and focused on my business. I also had a couple of really bad concussions and injuries, so that made me a little more timid. However, in the last few years, I’m just obsessed with surfing again. Teaching gives you a new love for something. You get to break it down, experience it and share it with others in a different way. That has rekindled my fire. I feel like I’m 15 again. I’m loving it.
Explain how the feminine side of surfing really resonates with you.
KASSIA: There is something so special about being a woman and connecting with other women in a shared, vulnerable space. Learning from each other, dropping our guards and feeling supported by each other. That’s really beautiful and unique. There’s also a competitive dynamic that’s ever-present in the water. But, more often than not, when a bunch of women paddle out and we’re cheering for each other, that competitive dynamic gets dissolved.
We all have a feminine and a male energy. That male energy is more of that competitive dynamic and that female energy is more collaborative dynamic. In the water, it’s important to have both aspects in balance and in harmony. That being said, I really love supporting women because a lot of women don’t feel empowered to sit at the peak in the line-up, for example. That’s a big part of what we teach, not just the skills, technique and language of the ocean, but about supporting each other.
I was the only girl in the water for a long time. You don’t get as much respect. You have to go for it, not sit on the inside and wait.
MAKALA: In my community, I was the only girl in the water for a long time. It was difficult at times. You just don’t get as much respect. You have to just go for it, not just sit on the inside and wait. It pushes your limits, for sure. Kassia set the standard for my younger generation. So I just try to keep passing that opportunity on and encouraging women to have that power.