Peter Mel

Who is Peter Mel?

Peter Mel, born November 24, 1969 in Santa Cruz, California, is a professional surfer and the 2012/2013 Mavericks Invitational Surfing Champion. Mel began his surfing life in Capitola, California before moving on to Santa Cruz. His father John, who started the family business Freeline Surf Design the same year Pete was born, made his boards over the years and gradually brought his son under his shaping wing. In the shadow of Steamer Lane locals Vince Collier, Kevin Reed and especially Richard Schmidt, Mel rose quickly through the line-up ranks with an unprecedented crop of young surfers. Like Schmidt, he would spend many winters in Hawaii, enjoying the less-restrictive conditions and developing his signature style.

Throughout the 1990s, Mel found moderate success on the domestic and ASP World Tour Qualifying Series, before finally finding his niche during California’s El Nino winter of 1997-98. At the age of 29, Mel was really just coming into his own.

Known in Santa Cruz as the “Condor” for his extreme wingspan, Peter was a shoo-in to claim the $50,000 Billabong XXL Big-Wave Challenge, for paddling into the winter’s biggest wave, but this was not to be and Peter ended up just short of the honor that year. Mel finished eighth in the 1998 Surfer Magazine Reader’s Poll Awards and established himself as California’s premier big-wave rider. Today, Peter Mel is Director of Marketing for Quiksilver's Waterman Collection and continues to Surf as a Professional Athlete and help run the family business in Santa Cruz. Most notably Peter has conquered a dream of his being crowned the Big Wave World Champion 2011/2012.