‘Endless Summer’ Star Mike Hynson to be Inducted into Surfing Walk of Fame

In 1966, footage of Mike Hynson walking atop his longboard debuted in theaters across the world. Alongside Robert August and filmmaker Bruce Brown, Hynson’s globe-trotting in The Endless Summer helped establish a precedent of surf exploration that lasted nearly 60 years later.

In a few months, the San Diego surfer and shaper will enjoy a different kind of trek when he becomes inducted into Huntington Beach’s Surfing Walk of Fame, according to the La Jolla Light.

Hynson’s name will join 180 granite stones displayed along Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway. Based on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the project is meant to honor those who made a lasting impression on surfing. It isn’t solely reserved for world champions and competitive surfers. Each year since 1994, the organization has inducted six people into six categories: a Surf Champion, Surf Pioneer, Surf Culture, Local Hero, Woman of the Year and Honor Roll. A ballot is sent to 150 people to vote on inductees, except for the Honor Roll, which is chosen by the board of directors. Hynson was selected for that spot this year.

In addition to his impact from The Endless Summer, Hynson is also being recognized for his contribution to progressing longboard design and co-founding the Windansea Surf Club, which became a nonprofit in 1995. 

According to Matt Warshaw's Encyclopedia of Surfing, Hynson was "the best-dressed surfer of the 1960s, hands down—Ray-Ban beach-casual perfection during the Endless Summer years; paisley-and-fur pimp-stoner flights of fancy by the end of the decade. His challengers never made it higher than the tops of Hynson’s calfskin-suede ankle boot."

Warshaw also noted that Hynson's "red fin" longboard, made under Gordon & Smith Surfboards, was one of the most distinctive boards of its era, ridden by Billy Hamilton, Barry Kanaiaupuni, Butch Van Artsdalen, and Herbie Fletcher. Below, Hynson talks shop with Eric Huffman of Bird's Surf Shed about one of Hynson's triple-stringer 10'6 guns.