Slater Trout

Maui Jim perfectly fits my lifestyle as an athlete and as a person who seeks life adventures through travel, surfing, SUP racing, photography, motorcycles and my latest passion, skydiving.

I have been competing in SUP surfing and racing since I was 11 years old. Living on Maui introduced me to the sport but also through competition and travel to so many great friends and fellow competitors through the years. The spirit of aloha was always there on the beach, on the podium, at the after parties and long after we all went home.

SUP surfing and racing have taken me to amazing destinations all over the world. Mexico, the British Virgin Islands, Nicaragua, Fiji, South Africa, Indonesia and Taiwan are just a few.

Living near the ocean on Maui and on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida was a wonderful way to grow up. The ocean provided endless fun and activities. If there was surf, we surfed. If it was flat we paddled out and listened to whale songs, went on training runs, swam with turtles, snorkeled through beautiful reefs, practiced breath holding exercises while running with rocks underwater or hiked to hidden pools and waterfalls. There was always something to do to get outside.

For my senior project in high school I chose to do a study on skydiving. My first jump was on Oahu in 2013 and I was hooked. It took a couple of years but I eventually blocked out the time and ended up at Perris Skydive in Perris, California, one of the best skydive facilities in the world where I got my solo jumping license.

Now I have a couple hundred jumps under my belt and have been lucky enough to jump around the world. So far I have jumped on Oahu over Turtle Bay Resort, in Mexico out of a helicopter and even did a naked jump in Panama onto a crowded beach at sunset just for the heck of it but my favorite jumps of all have been out of a hot air balloon here in Southern California.

It’s hard to describe the feeling of total quiet and stillness as you step onto the platform and slowly let go to drop off into thin air. You slowly pick up speed and you can feel the pressure increase on your body as you hit top decent speed. I jump whenever I get the chance and my next jump destination is Europe. So many incredible jump sites there, I can’t wait.

My other passion is photography and I recently added a drone to my equipment line. Two years ago I traveled to Iceland and Norway with my good friend Connor Davidge.

We took along a SUP inflatable and paddled some of the most beautiful water in the world. We self published a photographic coffee table book called Norther Waters about our adventures. It was an amazing project we put together. We had a blast doing it and I hope to do more books like it. We just have to pick the next destination and this next book will for sure include some skydiving!

Last year I became an LA County Ocean Lifeguard which was a longtime goal of mine. It was a long process full of physical and classroom training but graduation day was one of the best experiences ever. I am proud to be a part of such an amazing organization and I look forward to a long career with LA County.

I am lucky that a job I love and the sport I love both take me to the ocean everyday. But along with that comes an appreciation for how delicate our oceans really are. Over the years I have often done charity events for groups that care for our oceans like Sea Shepherd. They are out there on the front lines everyday protecting whales. I am also passionate about our wounded warriors and have supported the Eagle Fund for Wounded Warriors. I trained alongside many vets working to get back in shape at the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze Florida. It was amazing to get to know these guys and see how truly strong and dedicated they are.

Aloha, Slater