Statement from Ian Cairns, Spokesperson for the Stop the Skijack Coalition

We are relieved that U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced it is withdrawing from formal consideration to take over Olympic surfing. That is the right decision. Their proposal was always about cherry-picking Olympic surfing and its commercial rights at the expense of the rest of the sport, surfers, and the Southern California communities that actually built surfing’s Olympic moment.

Surf Heavyweights Are Rallying Against Ski Federation Bid for Olympic Surfing Control in The Inertia

Key figures in the surf industry have launched a coalition to oppose U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s attempt to take control of the U.S. Olympic surf team.

U.S. Ski wants a second Olympics to cash in on and they will say and do anything to get it. And the truth isn’t the only casualty – our kids’ and surfing’s future are. Ski is not and will not build surf development opportunities, clinics, or culture. They’re in it to expand their commercial footprint. We can’t let it happen.

Surfer Magazine on Instagram

Either double down and keep surfing in surfers’ hands so LA28 leaves a legacy for generations, or sit back and let a winter federation decide Olympic surfing’s future—and siphon away the chance to reinvest in our sport and communities.

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The future of U.S. Olympic surfing is at risk.

USA Surfing is the ONLY internationally recognized and qualified governing body for our sport. The entire surf community stands behind them, because surfing must be led by surfers.

By Assemblywoman Laurie Davies in San Clemente Times

U.S. surfing’s Olympic future is at risk if control is shifted from USA Surfing to U.S. Ski & Snowboard, with the move violating federal law, threatening athletes’ rights, and jeopardizing Team USA’s place in LA28. As a bipartisan Californian, Laurie Davies stands with surfing.

By Jake Howard in Surfer Magazine

USA Surfing and US Ski and Snowboard are locked in a battle for the heart and soul of competitive surfing in the United States, and only one of the organizations is run by surfers.

We’re continuing the celebration of California Surfing Day and the road to LA28 at Lower Trestles by calling on USOPC decision makers to honor federal law’s “one sport, one NGB” mandate so our home-Olympic Games authentically represents surfers, lifts the whole sport, and strengthens our coastal communities.

In a sport known for turf battles, SoCal surfing is facing perhaps its most epic turf challenge yet — all the way from the ski slopes of Utah. U.S. Ski and Snowboard, the Olympic organization for those sports, is making a bid to add surfing to its roster.

The San Clemente City Council joins a growing global coalition of organizations, surfers and community leaders working to protect surfers’ on the pathway to U.S. Olympic surfing. The council’s unanimous support following statements from the “Stop the Skijack – Keep Surf in Surfing Coalition” raises the stakes for this moment in the sport’s future — and for the region’s surf-centric economy, culture, and global profile.

USA Surfing has been making a comeback, of late. The most recent step in the direction of certification comes in the form of an endorsement from the city of San Clemente, California. In a formal letter to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), the San Clemente City Council expressed full support for USA Surfing’s application to be re-certified as the National Governing Body for Olympic surfing.

The L.A. Summer Olympics are less than three years away, but a related competition over which organization will oversee Olympic surfing is already heating up.

San Clemente, which will host Olympic surfing in 2028 at Lower Trestles, backed local nonprofit USA Surfing with a resolution in support of its bid to govern the sport. Headquartered in San Clemente, the group faces a challenge from U.S. Ski & Snowboard in Park City, Utah.

US Ski has applied to represent surfing at the Olympics in an unprecedented move that would deprive USA Surfing of its elite athletes while giving nothing back to the program.