Name: Ricardo Gutierrez
Age: 24
Birthplace: Granada Hills, CA
Position with Adventure Out: Surf Instructor
Bio: I grew up landlocked in L.A. county. The closest thing I did to surfing growing up was skateboarding and competitive swimming. I had always wanted to learn to surf, but I didn't start until I moved up to NorCal to attend UC Berkeley (Go Bears!). The summer of my sophomore year, I bought a beat up $35 Nev shortboard, straight out of the 80's, at some garage sale in Huntington Beach. I still laugh when I think about that board. Hot pink and neon green logos, boxy rails, and those bottom channels that were a huge 80's surfboard fad. Next thing I know I am at Linda Mar trying to do something close to surfing, but failing miserably. Little did I know that learning on a shortboard is hard. Even though I was horrible, I always had tons of fun and kept coming back for more. Three months later, I was as decent as most of my beginning surf students are in 2 days. Four years later and hundrerds of surf sessions, I am lucky enough to have the ability to share surfing, an important part of my life, with others. I love teaching surfing so much that I haven't even picked up my diploma since I graduated in 2004.
Why you love surfing: For me, surfing is about creating moments and memories. Simple things that made me feel so good, so alive, that those moments will always be with me; Places, people, waves, boards. My first time getting barreled at Ano with Ali. Long, perfect, head high, moonlight session at Rincon with Blake. First feeling the speed and power of Ocean Beach. My first time connecting from 1st peak Pleasure Point to 38th. Feeling the speed of a fish for the first time. Warm Costa Rican Barrels. Sunset sessions at Trestles. Riding the nose at Cowells. Teaching my buddy Sam to surf and watching him get more stoked every session. Countless students sharing the stoke of their first wave with me.
Make Us Laugh: This summer I cruised down the Costa Rican coastline with some buddies in the infamous Daihatsu Terios. The Terios is a compact SUV almost as long as a Mini Cooper and only a narrow 5.75 ft wide. The Terios is notorious for being top heavy and rolling over but it was the cheapest rental car that fit 4 cheap passengers. The first day I was really nervous every time we hit one of the many holes in the gnarly Costa Rican roads. By the end of the first week, I was trying to see how much mud I could get on the windshield as I accelerated through mud puddles as big as the Terios itself. I was gaining confidence that the Terios could take on anything, until... on our drive to Dominical, we came to a river that had no bridge.
Apparently the bridge had been washed out during the last rainstorm. We stopped and pondered whether the tiny Terios could ford the swift river without getting rolled downstream. We decided to sit and watch other cars attempt to cross. A Landrover D-90 crossed no problem, a couple of Mitsubishi Monteros did as well. A local Tico with a tractor was towing people across for 1000 colones (~$2.00). He offered to tow us across but because he thought we were rich Americans the price was 3,000 colones.
Before we could give him an answer my buddy hopped in the drivers seat and said lets go. Another Terios had just forded the river with no problem so we were going for it. He turned on the car and slowly descended down the muddy river bank. Once we were in the river the car stalled and we were slowly being swept downstream. There was some screaming and panicking as he turned the car on again hit the gas only to stall out again. This happened a few more times as the tractor drove right up next to us smiling and offered to tow us out for 10,000 colones. Then laughing, and probably thinking "stupid gringos" the tractor driver pointed out that the parking brake was on. My buddy turned on the car once again, released the parking brake, and we drove across the river to the sounds of " Stupid @$$ Kurt"; Kurt being the straight A mechanical engineering student that doesn't know how to operate a parking brake.
1% For The Planet is an alliance of businesses committed to leveraging their resources to create a healthier planet. Members recognize their responsibility to and dependence on a healthy environment and donate at least 1% of their annual sales to environmental organizations worldwide. 1% For The Planet was launched in 2001 by Yvon Chouinard, environmental activist and founder of Patagonia, Inc., and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies. Chouinard calls this an "earth tax," recognizing that his company has a responsibility to conserve and protect the natural resources it utilizes to make and market its products.
