• OSCAR SCHENK

THE STORY BEHIND OSCAR SCHENK AND THE HOTZONE.

Oscar Schenk grew up in Zaandam, Holland and had a passion for water from a young age. It all started with windsurfing on the lakes with his brother Maurits. Together with his best buddy Wouter Boes they discovered the beach and got hooked on the waves. Next thing you know at 15 years of age he started working at the Hotzone surf shop. At the Noordpier in Wijk aan Zee, in 1996 he started to teach for the Hotzone surf school and soon was teaching kids like Martijn Nijhof, Emiel Tromp and many others who he managed to get stoked for life.

He started to explore the French and Basque coast on a monthly basis. Learning from great surfers like Robbie Page (winner of the Pipeline Masters in 1988) who introduced him to big wave surfing.

During his study he did the work experience at the Time warp Surfing Museum in South Africa. Spending time with legends like Baron Stander Sr. and Max Wetteland (Endless Summer 1). Kevin Olsen, coach of the national South African team, coached and helped him become who he is today. Paul van de Wall, owner of the Aloha surf shop near Durban, also played a big role in the stoke he spread to other people.

Hawaiian photographer Peter Sterling invited him in 2001 to explore the Icelandic coast. Shooting footage for Peter Sterling’s movie “the European Surf Journal”.

Looking for warmer conditions around 2003 he drove to the Canary Islands to teach surfing for half a year, where ended up staying longer than planned. Five years later Hotzone Surf School in Fuerteventura is a fact.

To get some new impulses and ideas in 2013 he went back to Holland and started coaching instructors at Surf School Zandvoort. Setting up a program for the instructors, completely different then teaching methods that have been used before. These teaching methods have been proven successful and are still used by the new generation of Dutch instructors. Different teaching techniques where the focus is on feeling good in the water as a base- instead of hearing countless tips and putting the focus on the stand up part- which he believes is only a small part of surfing.

His methods are based on a wide range of knowledge that he pinpoints perfectly tailored to each individual, and different ways of interacting with the clients.

Now, his main focus is getting people stoked. Based in Fuerteventura. He is there, waiting to share some good times with you!