Is it okay to make fun of Aron Ralston yet?

[BLOODSWEATSTEEL]

Raise your hand if you care.

[Ireallyliketoski2]

It's high time to make fun of this fool from Ohio! I can't believe the media
fuels morons like this guy.

I know, the media never does anything stupid.

[Danno]

I want Laird's wife.

any male who doesn't has to be gay.

as for Ralston, he's an idiot, but come on, the guy has figured out how to parlay his stupidity into a source of money, gotta give him some credit for that!

[H-man]

I read his book. It wasn't that bad, but it was no "A Farewell to Arms".

WINNA!!!

[mrw]

I want Laird's wife.

....Attachment 12187....

[iceman]

WINNA!!!

Seriously, I laughed out loud.

[alto]

Did anyone see that issue of SBC Skier with an article about the same thing? All you gotta do to make it big is get injured, barely survive, and then write a book. "I'm rich!"

[Viva]

outSide slamed two of my friends back in 94-95 or thereabouts. Same writer in both cases. That guy (Martin dugard) was an absolute douch and the fact that ouTside would employ him for so long told me that they were more interested in "sensationalist" stories rather than the core/gnar that they had focused on before.

The stupid fucks wouldn't answer any letters of complaint and there were many form the San Diego area.

I wouldn't even wipe my hairy ass with that sorry excuse for a publication.

I think I'm done now.

[Mybad!]

Yea, that mag sucks. What is this month's issue? Probably 20 best up-and-coming mountain towns part two or some other bullshit. The best parts of that mag are the 3 or 4 photos in there and some of the hot women on the cover.

[flatlander#2]

My Laird dig is that he's overexposed. I swear I've seen mags with headlines saying We cut Laird's hair. And eat it! It has to be tricky to make a living doing what he does. I have the Playboy with his wife laminated, holy crapola.

[watersnowdirt]

Is Aron single? if so, think I get some some digits?

(this is horrible and fun all at the same time. who'da thunk?)

[tenB]

I thought Outside was just a hero worshipping forum for Laird lovers. I give him props for his early day big wave riding, buts his ego is killing his own sport. Do you know why so many people are riding Jaws these days? Because tow surfing is easy! Sure, mistakes are dangerous, but its just like snowboarding...........need I say more? Laird himself has totally commercialized big wave riding, and now he's bitching about it being too crowded at his favorite spots?

Anybody who's ever met Laird will tell you the same thing, he's a self-centered asshole, period! As for style, he has none. He surfs like a monkey taking a shit!

[Viva]

Aron Ralston vs Chuck Norris

Winner takes on, and loses, of course, to Ditka.

[homerjay]

Outside magazine blows.

[erica_z]

I'll go out on a limb here and say the attention he gets is prosthetic. I mean pathetic. Whatever. I say we should sever the media outlets that arm such people.

Holy crap..

thanks I needed that.



this one too:

Armageddon? How do you finger? Maybe I should just give it a wrist.

[freshies]

you know, its Laird's wife that got him a publicist (same one she uses) and catapulted him into magazine and TV fame. i can't blame the guy, i mean, he was living a pretty meager existence in HI surfing, and then someone says "hey, let's get you some media exposure and TV ads that will fund your lifestyle for the rest of your life" - who here would say "no, then some people on an internet chat borad won't think i am core anymore" - he's laughing all the way to the bank and living the life.

[erica_z]

I want Laird's wife.

dude, even I want Laird's wife. Gabby Reese is a fockin hottie.

[weibo]

. I have the Playboy with his wife laminated, holy crapola.

Why do you have it laminated

[homerjay]

dude, even I want Laird's wife.

SCHWING!!

[MidwayJ]

I thought Outside was just a hero worshipping forum for Laird lovers. I give him props for his early day big wave riding, buts his ego is killing his own sport. Do you know why so many people are riding Jaws these days? Because tow surfing is easy! Sure, mistakes are dangerous, but its just like snowboarding...........need I say more? Laird himself has totally commercialized big wave riding, and now he's bitching about it being too crowded at his favorite spots?

Anybody who's ever met Laird will tell you the same thing, he's a self-centered asshole, period! As for style, he has none. He surfs like a monkey taking a shit!

Ummm.... so do you tow? If so, where? Have you ever surfed an even moderately large day in Hawaii or NorCal? If so, where?

Laird does have the reputation of being an egotist, and his publicist and the mags have definitely overcommercialized him, but let's not forget that his water skills are ridiculous. A lot of the guys that tow now can surf really well, but have little or no water skills- something that's pretty essential for what they're doing. That's why you see those sleds crashing into the cliffs at Jaws, and Laird + Co. zooming into the whitewash to pick guys up because their partners can't find them.

An excellent example would be Snips and Gerlach (quite the egotist himself), when they first came to Jaws a while back. Granted, their teamwork and water skills have gotten much better, but they got into BIG trouble in a hurry, and had to get their asses saved. Yes, riding the wave is easy when you're towed in- you just need to be a decent surfer- but there are so many other aspects to it. Gerlach had absolutely ZERO big-wave credentials until he started to tow- I would liken it to someone who has done Corbet's a few times (but never been OB, and has no avy training) going to La Grave and trying to tear shit up- bad things will happen. Laird grew up doing this shit, and took it to another level. Give him that much at least.

By the way, most of the hype about Laird goes on outside(! pun intended) of the mainstream surf media. If you look at Surfing, Surfer, Water, TW Surf, etc. you don't see that much Laird. It's the folks at American Express, Outside, etc. that overexpose him.

[cj001f]

outside sucked since it became, well, outside magazine. mariah isn't/wasn't bad. Laird has been getting press for years - Surfer's Journal did a 38 page spread on him in 1998

Ralston epitomizes our fucked up media culture. How a serial dumbass can be an inspiration boggles my mind. He earns zero respect - our perhaps as much as strippers cashing in on their 15 seconds.

[watersnowdirt]

I just showed this thread to my friend, and she asked if Aron read this if he'd laugh. I said probably - I bet he has a good sense of humerus.

[stayalert]

havn't read the article but I'd give it a pre-read 5 out of ten apologies...weak...look at my post count what did you expect???

[EPSkis]

I haven't read the article, but I'm sure it's a real nail-biter.

[MacDaddy]

I want Laird's wife.

BIG UHHMM


Laird is not married to Reece anymore.
From the SD Reader.com from 2001!!!
---Gabrielle Reece, 31, the statuesque pro-volleyball player from La Jolla, is splitting from Laird Hamilton, her pro-surfer husband of three years. In 1996, he was voted one of People magazine's "most beautiful people" ...