A desert sunrise helped everything make sense for surfer Kassia Meador
- Text by Huck HQ / Alex King
- Photography by Kassia Meador and Dane Peterson
#30 – Kassia Meador
Kassia picked up a longboard for the first time in Malibu, aged fourteen, and quickly established a name for herself by winning her first-ever contest, the Roxy Wahine Classic at San Onofre, California in 1997. Having just turned thirty-three, she can now look back on a glittering surfing career; her effortless cross-stepping and nose-riding have won her respect and admiration as one of the best longboarders, male or female, in the history of the sport. Six or seven years ago, Kassia remembers hitting a big brick wall. Surfing and travelling weren’t fulfilling her anymore.
Meador wrestled with herself, but one pivotal trip to the desert helped it all make sense. It was New Year’s Eve and she was with her brother and her two best friends at a house party in Oceanside, California. After just drinking coffee all night, at 4am she persuaded them to jump in the car and drove them out into the desert. They hiked their way past wind caves to the summit of the tallest peak in sight.
“The sun was starting to rise on one side, the moon was setting and we were watching both of them. I just had that moment when I knew there was so much more out there. It really was a defining moment which put me on the path to where I am today. I will always be a surfer, it’s inspired so much of my life, but that’s when I really started to push all my other inspirations and realised I shouldn’t feel guilty about not surfing all day, every day.”
“Some people just really put their head into one thing, but I know now I’m not that kind of person. I feel like having all my passions leaves me more inspired. Surfing, photography, design, travel… all those parts make me who I am. Exploring things in other ways made surfing that much more vibrant to me, you know. All those things contribute to making everything else that much more powerful and that much more beautiful. You’re creating all these different experiences and everything becomes three dimensional, rather than one dimensional.”
This is just a short excerpt from Huck’s Fiftieth Special, a collection of fifty personal stories from fifty inspiring lives.
Grab a copy now to read all fifty stories in full. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss another issue.
You might like
The last days of St Agnes Place, London’s longest ever running squat
Off the grid — Photographer Janine Wiedel spent four years documenting the people of the Kennington squat, who for decades made a forgotten row of terraced houses a home.
Written by: Isaac Muk
How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s
From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Artifaxing: “We’ve become so addicted to these supercomputers in our hands”
Framing the future — Predominantly publishing on Instagram and X, the account is one of social media’s most prominent archiving pages. We caught up with the mysterious figure behind it to chat about the internet’s past, present and future, finding inspiration and art in the age of AI.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The lacerating catharsis of body suspension in Hong Kong
Self-Ferrying — In one of the world’s most densely packed cities, an underground group of young people are piercing their skin and hanging their bodies with hooks in a shocking exploration of pain and pleasure. Sophie Liu goes to a session to understand why they partake in the extreme underground practice.
Written by: Sophie Liu
What we’re excited for at SXSW 2026
Austin 40 — For the festival’s 40th anniversary edition, we are heading to Texas to join one of the biggest global meetups of the year. We’ve selected a few things to highlight on your schedules.
Written by: Huck
Capturing the spirit of the ’90s surf scene with Volcom
Nineteen 90 Nowhere — The brand’s latest Featured Artist Series collection sees them tap three surfers and artists in Gony Zubizarretta, Seth Conboy and Issam Auptel, whose neo-grunge work blends the rawness of the decade with the present.
Written by: Isaac Muk
