September 5, 1991 // Point Lookout, New York
Synopsis: Described by ESM editor Matt Pruett as “the complete package, coated with a distinctly smooth style, a fundamental grasp of strong, rail-to-rail surfing, and an instinctively perked ear for advice,” Stack is being heralded as the best surfer to ever emerge from the Empire State.
Variables: Contest results were spotty at best in 2008.
Forecast: Balaram was on the road last year, in places like Tahiti, Indo, and Hawaii—where he spent almost two months exclusively surfing Pipe. A new home-schooling program will allow room for even more travel in 2009, which should only add to the momentum, and growing profile, he’s begun to establish.