Palm Springs Surf Club Cranked Up to ‘Max Power’ (Video)

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Aug 22, 2025 12:41 PM ET

My last session – my last wave, in fact – at the Palm Springs Surf Club landed me in the hospital. It was during Coachella, and our two-weekend installation at the wave pool, featuring pro surfers like Bruce Irons, Chris Ward, Jacob “Zeke” Szekely, and more.

I had pulled into the tube on the slab setting, a tricky little mutant of a wave featured at the park, yet something I had done numerous times before during the two weekends we spent at the pool. It lurched, like it always did, I tucked in backside, and then got clamped. A little too behind it. A little too cocksure after all that pool time. Amidst the turbulence, my board struck me in the armpit. My fin, I think. It got me good – a laceration and blunt force blow.

Which is all to say that the pool packs a punch, especially on certain settings. And the Catch Surf team recently headed out to PSSC, where they tested out new wave recipes, even cranking the thing up to max power. Check out the highlights below.

“You’re gonna take off fast, and right when you jump in it, just layback from the start,” PSSC whisperer Teddy Navarro coaches Clay Marzo on his classic “Clayback” before the slab gets turned up to 11. “You’re gonna takeoff, paddle, paddle, paddle. And right when you pop up, just layback from the start.”

According to the PSSC, and their “5 Slabs of Fury” setting: “WARNING!! THE 5 SLABS SETTING IS AN ADVANCED/EXPERT WAVE. You should be a very strong paddler and if you struggle on the pop up this is not for you. If you haven’t surfed proper barrels in the ocean then this setting may be extreme for you. This wave features a top to bottom tube right off the takeoff. The paddle in is key and you need to really hustle to get in early and set up for back-dooring the peak.”

The setting even comes with a height requirement, like a carnival ride: 42” or 3.5 feet.

In other PSSC news, sounds like they’ve got some other new waves in the works. Like a “Desert Point” setting, mimicking the long, Lombok lefthander – only this one goes left and right. To book your session, and face the five slabs of fury, head here.

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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