This week on the Monday M.A.S.S. podcast, Chris and Todd break down one of the most emotional surf contests of the year—the final stop of the Challenger Series—where dreams are made, hearts are broken, and the 2026 CT rookies are finally revealed. From shark stoppage drama that forced a heat restart and reshuffled careers (sorry, Kade Mattson) to Levi Slawson surviving the chaos, the boys unpack the brutal math of qualification and debate the best surfers who just missed the cut, including Jacob Wilcox, Winter Vincent, Bronson Meydi, Taro Watanabe, Xavier Huxtable, and more. They also run through the fresh class of CT rookies—Kauli Vaast, Eli Hanneman, Morgan Ciblic's wild comeback story, Sammy Pupo, Mateus Herdy, Liam O'Brien and others—as the tour heads toward Bells Beach April 1–11. Elsewhere in surf, Ethan Ewing's new Stab in the Dark season promises a pure board-testing throwdown, John John Florence's new Vela series looks absolutely stunning, and Joel Tudor lit up the internet on Pinch My Salt. There's also grom domination at the Quiksilver King of the Groms Final, a new Patti Zhou film from Sun Bum, and details on the upcoming Andy Irons Forever Surf Festival in Kauai. The show also dives into snowboard news, including Natural Selection and Red Bull's creative team-format Features Cup, plus skate chaos from Swamp Fest, the wild KASSO lineup in Long Beach, and a breakdown of the new X Games League format. As always, the episode wraps with Nerd News—movie talk, weird trailers, and Todd's questionable Oscar watch list. Surf, snow, skate, culture, and a few laughs along the way—another packed Monday M.A.S.S. Presented By: Sun Bum @sunbum Odie's Pizza @odiespizza Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain VEIA @veiasupplies New Greens @newgreens Spy Optic @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnaturals Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp
