The Snowy Classic this year celebrated its 21st, and after a week of shocking weather in Sydney, Saturday dawned with clear skies, and good waves on the International Bank at Manly.

With Tandem Surfing and Standup Paddle Surfing (SUP) in 2008, and Mark Kelly (CEO of Global Surf Industries) backing the event, the Snowy is looking to be, once again, in a strong position.

Surfable waves continued right through the weekend, but drizzling rain that came and went no doubt limited the amount of spectators.

Look for a full coverage of the event in ALB#59, on sale Aug 27.

Photo above of Snowy Contest winner Christian Pimm on the Saturday at Manly by Surfinfo.com.au

Simon Phin sent us a small piece on Snowy the man, which we thought some of you might like to read:

Snowy McAlister pioneered board-riding on the peninsula and was the Australian champion 13 times. Born in 1904, he took up board-riding in 1915 after Duke Kahanamoku’s famous visit to Australia and display of surfing at Freshwater Beach in the summer of 1914/1915. He was still surfing at Fairy Bower well into his sixties. Snowy made his own 8-9 foot solid 50-60lbs boards, and finless. He always surfed straight on. At the start of the 1919 year he won his first event at the Newcastle carnival, (with the famous headstand all the way to the beach!), and he retained the crown up to 1925. In 1928 he travelled to Amsterdam to see his mate Boy Charlton competing in the 1928 Olympic Games; on the return to Australia the ship’s passengers were confined to quarantine off Port Phillip Bay, Victoria and McAlister evaded the smallpox quarantine to surf at a nearby beach. In 1985 he was the first Australian to be inducted to the Surfing Hall of Fame. He died in November 1988. The Manly Daily obituary referred to him as ‘Australia’s oldest grommet’. His favourite t-shirt read ‘Valuable Surfing Antique’. A plaque on the Manly ocean beachfront remembering him was dedicated on February 3, 1989.