Have you ever imagined doing something that nobody has done before? Are you brave enough to pursue what you love and not care what anyone thinks?
Siska Tasiripoula, despite never seeing another woman surf, became the first female surfer of Mentawai. She is a true pioneer and rebel of surfing.
Siska Tasiripoula
Home break: Ombak bulaubukgei
Village: Toloulaggo, North Mentawai
Tribe: Suku Tasiripoula
Age: 20
Siska Tasiripoula began surfing at 11 years old on the tiny shore-breaks of Toloulaggo, her hidden jungle paradise. Under her feet was a finless, snapped, wax-less and leggy-less surfboard which she received after many months of persistent begging to her older brother Mull.
At every opportunity Siska was in the water. No one in her village understood her captivation with surfing, they openly announced their disapproval of her passion by calling her “ugly” and “too black”. She was constantly told she shouldn’t surf as a girl, but Siska simply didn’t care, there was something about surfing that was more important to her than anything else.
For 6 long years Siska lived in a different village to attend school. She was forced to stop surfing as she could no longer afford to access the waves. Last year, she scored a job at Pitstop Hill Surf Resort - an absolute dream for a surf stoked natural footer. Siska quickly packed up a bag and moved in, right in front of a wave she’d always heard stories about.
Guests of the resort helped Siska get started, teaching her to how to stand up again. On her first wave, she stood up perfectly, it wasn’t long until she was confident in the line up and was even gifted a JS Industries board by a kind friend, Eileen.
I crossed paths with Siska a few months after she moved to Pitstops. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, for almost a year I’d been trying to entice Mentawaian women to surf, but they would always laugh but take no interest. I was elated to see Siska’s massive grin as she took off on the biggest sets of the day. We became friends instantly and that’s when I quickly learned that despite living on the doorstep to the world’s best waves, she hadn’t surfed any of them. The very first day we met we made a promise to explore all of her home together!
Siska and I have the same goals - big barrels and big rights, and with continued support she will be well on her way to leading the charge of women’s barrel riding in Indonesia. After all, a big barrel is a walk in the park for someone who has already rebelled against every social norm of their community.
On our trip she became the first ever Mentawaian woman to surf Bankvaults- one of the heaviest right handers in Mentawai, the first Mentawaian woman to tuck into a barrel at an unnamed right and the first Mentawaian to ever have a major surf brand back them for a film part and surf trip.
Siska has already been flooded with messages from Mentawaian girls who heard about our surf trip, asking her to help them learn too! This is just the start.
Thank you Siska, for being the trailblazer that you are. The whole team involved in this project truly admires you, we can’t wait to be a part of the next step of your journey.
See ya soon ya little pemberontak!
Love Ruby :)
