Athletes - Butch Van Artsdalen

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	Athletes - Butch Van Artsdalen

Butch Van Artsdalen (1942–1979) was a talented surfer from La Jolla, California who pioneered the art of tube riding on longboards in the early 1960s. He was among the first to master the powerful, hollow waves at Ehukai Beach (the Banzai Pipeline) on Oahu's North Shore, earning the original title of "Mr. Pipeline."

Developing his talent among a cadre of famous surfers at Windansea Beach, Van Artsdalen rose to fame and recognition at the same time the sport of surfing did. A talented athlete who lettered in baseball, basketball and football at La Jolla High School, he ultimately preferred the unstructured freedom of surfing to the demanding discipline of conventional professional sports. Foregoing a possible career in Major League Baseball, Buch migrated to Hawaii not long after graduating from high school and quickly rose to the top of the surfing ranks.

Butch was featured in in several early surf films by Dale Davis and Bruce Brown, most notably "Endless Summer," which featured a dramatic Pipeline barrel ride that culminated with Butch applauding his daring feat as he exited the critical portion of the wave literally by the seat of his pants. Buth also made brief cameo appearances in some of the campy William Asher-directed "surfploitation" dramas starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

In 1964 at age 22, Van Artsdalen was ranked among the world's best surfers by Surfer Magazine's first annual Surfer Poll. A year later he was invited to join the Duke Kahanamoku Surf Team, becoming a global ambassador for wave riding and making appearances at shopping centers and promotional events across the nation along with team members Paul Strauch, Joey Cabell and Fred Hemmings.

As surfing evolved during the late 1960s from heavier, more cumbersome longboards to lighter, shorter boards, Butch's reputation was gradually eclipsed by a new generation of tube riders such Gerry Lopez and Rory Russell. Although he remained at Banzai Pipeline as a lifeguard and made several dramatic rescues, his moody temperment, affinity for fistacuffs and weakness for alcohol eventually caught up with him. Van Artsdalen was only 38 years old when he passed away from cirrhosis in 1979.

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