Photos by Ethan Smith, Brian Kelley, John D. Mactavish, Sam Musselman, Ethan Rose & Karis Reventas.

Epic. It’s a word that is supposed to carry very heavy meaning in the surfing world. Maybe its a result being constantly subjected to less-than-stellar conditions, but I seem to hear this word any time the waves are good. Good and epic are not synonyms in surfing. Sure, you got a few fun ones, it was offshore, maybe a barrel or two — but there’s nearly always something wrong enough with the conditions to prevent it from being truly epic. Inconsistent sets. A shift in wind direction. Lack of a proper sandbar. Tides that are either too high or too low. The list goes on and on.

That said, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 was epic. Truly epic. The fact that the assigned Weather Channel name to the nor’easter that spawned a day-long, offshore-groom barrel fest for the Commonwealth’s shores — Olympia — added to the mythological confluence of conditions that made Tuesday one for the record books. “There was an easy entry, then it went top-to-bottom and was super makable,” Surf & Adventure team rider Shaun Devine said of his Oceanfront session. “It really was the best VB in years — at least the best that I’ve seen. There were proper Hatteras-style waves all up and down the beach as far as the eye could see.”

We’ll let this photo gallery of the action do the rest of the talking.

The sunrise foreshadowed an incredible day of swell for Sandbridge and Virginia Beach. Photo: Musselman
Tuesday was one of those rare, special days when moments of perfection peeled up and down the beach all day long. Photo: Smith.
Ryan Hargrave lines up an afternoon tube in Sandbridge. Photo: Smith.
Matt Aycud finishes on his backhand. Photo: Smith.
Matt Aycud moments before his exit of this Sandbridge teepee. Photo: Smith.
Chocolate barrels made for a sweet Tuesday in Sandbridge. Photo: Smith.
Adam Vaughn checks his speed on this SB runner. Photo: Smith.
Adam Vaughn stalls for a backhand barrel. Photo: Smith.
Barrels reeled off into the late afternoon. Photo: Rose.
Olympia's swell stakes its claim for one of the best days we've seen in some time. Photo: Rose.
Clear skies to the west and clouds to the east made for some photographic drama with the swell as the centerpiece. Photo: Musselman.
Straight offshore. Photo: Mactavish.
Noah Fielder sets up for one of the day's many tube rides. Photo: Mactavish.
If you saw this on your first look over the dunes... Photo: Mactavish.
S&A fam Karis Reventas slides his custom Surf & Adventure SUP into this Sandbridge line.
The scene was nearly identical points northward in Virginia Beach. Photo: Kelley.
Well overhead at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Photo: Kelley.
The groomed beauties seemed to keep on coming. Photo: Kelley.
A strong pulse remained in the water for the following morning on 2/17/16. Croatan. Photo: Kelley.

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