from Pico Alto to Puerto Escondido—the Peruvian King holds court…

Welcome to Episode XX of Season Three of Late Drop – The Big Wave podcast. The series was created to showcase conversations with some of the best big-wave surfers in the world — hosted by one of the best big-wave surfers in the world. New episodes will drop on Surfline every other week — upcoming guests include, XXXX and others. Stay tuned here for more.

Being a professional surfer—let alone professional big-wave surfer—is no easy livelihood. Now, try being one from Peru. The flights are long no matter what, the support can be hard to find, and you’re often overlooked by superstars coming from waves like Jaws. Not Peruvian Gabriel Villaran. A man who’s made it his life’s goal to carve out a seat at the table for his country in the big-wave convo (and beyond), Gabriel’s been impressing the world for decades now. From his homebreak of Pico Alto, to Jaws, to Puerto Escondido, to Todos Santos...from what you’ve seen of the man, you may have even forgotten that he’s a multiple national champion, South American and ISA world champ. You know…in normal-sized surf. On the cusp of Peruvian surfers’ arrival to this year’s Olympic Games in Japan, Gabriel Villaran and Jamie Mitchell chop it up on the newest episode of the Late Drop.

0:00 Peruvians qualifying for Olympic Games, Growing up in Lima, Peru, The connection between Peru and Hawaii

12:46 Getting into big waves in Peru, Surfing Pico Alto for first time, Pico Alto (Explained)

21:50 Gabriel’s professional career, Father passing away, Surfing career his only option, Meeting Strider in Hawaii, 2008 big results, Transitioning into a big-wave surfer, Todos Santos event

32:39 Making the finals of the first Jaws event, Relationship with Puerto Escondido, The next generation of young Peruvian big-wave surfers, The struggle of being a South American pro surfer

45:04 Winning the ISA Games in Peru, Beating Australia, Coach Davo, Tow days with Strider and Quik crew in Teahupoo

52:04 Big-wave searches and projects with Red Bull, Realizing the fragility of life, Worst wipeouts in his career (at Pipeline and at Jaws)

1:06:30 The international big-wave

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamiemitcho.substack.com