Duke Aipa Talks About Growing Up in a Legendary Family and Finding His Own Way as a Shaper

Explicit content warning

06/14/23 • 47 min

Duke Aipa took the roundabout way to follow his legacy. Which makes his story so much cooler. After growing up in Hawaii, Duke followed his passions for hockey, and heavy metal music, and other pursuits, which took him all over the United States. But the surfing world is glad he came home. Duke is now carrying on that family legacy as the head of Aipa Surfboards. I talked with Duke about the weight of being Ben’s son, the famous Stinger design, his own journey, and Aipa Surfboards' reputation as a pioneering brand of performance surfing.

Previous Episode

Freeskier Cody Townsend Discusses Finishing The Fifty Project and Balancing Risk as a New Father

Looking for the definition of a modern explorer, only with an emphasis on high-performance? Then Cody Townsend is an adventurer for the ages. And what a cool human to boot. If you hadn’t heard, Cody is in the middle of an epic project, The Fifty, where he’s attempting to climb, and then ride, all of the lines in the book, The 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America. Now, classic to some means straight up gnarly to others. It's all in one's perspective. But Cody is tackling them all, regardless.

The longtime freeskier who’s starred in hugely influential movies like Days of My Youth, started a vlog to document the project. But something crazy happened as he moved through The Fifty: the YouTube channel's popularity grew, not because of his audacious descents (which were notable), but because of his relatable personality. Cody brings it in a way skiers, snowboarders, and even non mountain people, can relate to. We talked with Cody about The Fifty's success, if he can actually finish it, and balancing danger with fatherhood (lest we forget he's a new dad). Enjoy.

Next Episode

Emi Erickson on What It Means to Be a Big Wave Surfer

Emi Erickson occupies two separate realms of the wave-riding universe. She's still a young woman but an old soul, perhaps. She told me she often dreams of the old days when one merely needed a wetsuit, a board, and good swell to ride big surf. Simple times when lineups weren't overcrowded and catching larger than normal waves was just part of your daily routine near her home on Oahu. But Emi lives in the modern big wave world where those who ride big surf often compete, when competitions survive and have longevity. But most surfers really just ride big waves for the love of it. We spoke with Emi about this dichotomy between competition and soul, and her place in the surfing world.