I guess you’ve been wondering what the pros have been up to since Teahupoo. Well a load of them jetted off to Mentawais on what looks like the nicest surf trip of all time. If Red Bull were to sell this experience it would cost millions. Keep an eye out for Tim Boal’s exclusive low-down on what went down in Mentawais in issue #70 of Surf Europe magazine.

Check out the mindblowing footage. We’ll bring you more of this soon.

MENTAWAI ISLANDS, Northern Sumatra (Thursday, June 11, 2009) – After 10 days of surfing perfect waves on the many reefs to be found around the Mentawai Islands, these are just a few of the accolades heaped by some of the world’s top professional surfers as they completed the ‘Red Bull Surfing Mentawais Trip 2009’:

“One of my top 5 trips, ever.” Mick Fanning (2007 ASP World Champion)

“Best surf trip of my entire life.” Adriano de Souza” (Current ASP World No. 5)

“Best barrel session of my life.” Sofia Mulanovich (2004 ASP Women’s World Champion)

In a world first for surfing, a group of pro surfing’s star names and hottest new talent were brought together for this ground-breaking event. What made it so special? … This was the first time ASP World Champions, explosive young talent and current ASP World Title contenders shared cabin space aboard the surf charter ‘Indies Trader IV’ with a group of specialized performance coaches. They brought in sports science equipment and high-level coaching expertise into the surfers realm in this most swell-pounded of regions.

Never before has such a coming-together of elite athletes, specialized coaching and perfect conditions happened in the surfing world. Surfers were able to monitor their paddle speed, surfing speed and heart-rate during surfing sessions. Blood samples were taken to monitor lactic acid build-up and hydration data. Warm-up and warm-down sessions were introduced to enhance athletic performance. These were just some of the techniques deployed during the trip.

In the hunt for perfect waves, the Indies Trader took surfers on an epic quest around the reefs and beaches of this most exotic of locations. Palm-fringed, white sand islands were the achingly beautiful back for some of the most progressive surfing seen in the world of pro surfing. With machine-like waves reeling across the reefs providing the perfect canvas for high performance surfing, the event allowed for the boundaries to be pushed ever-higher with some very rare and special moments captured on camera and video including: Julian Wilson’s (AUS) signature ‘Sushi Roll’, Jordy Smith’s ‘Rodeo Clown’ and Mick Fanning’s 8-second barrel ride.

Andy Walshe, surf-coaching supremo at Red Bull summed it up by saying: “The basic goal is to provide these surfers with training and techniques to give them the opportunity to be the very best surfer they can be. Whether that’s us putting them in world class waves, whether that’s putting the junior surfers next to the best elite surfers we have, whether that’s us providing some scientific analysis of what they’re doing in the water and how they can improve on that, or if it’s just basic coaching techniques … all of these parts are designed to help the athletes realize their dreams and realize their goals.”

Jordy Smith of South Africa and currently ranked No. 6 on the ASP World Tour commented:

“To see the eyes on everyone of those kids faces and some of the top guys faces, I could tell that was the best surf that they’ve had in the Mentawais and their life, to see their eyes and their smiles after every single wave was just, you know, enough to put one on my face, and to make me feel stoked.”

All photos courtesy of Agustin Munoz/ Red Bull Photofiles

For more information go to www.redbullsurfing.com

For images please go to www.redbull-photofiles.com

For webclips and other moving images go to www.redbullcontentpool.com