Wet ‘N’ Wild with Rockin’ Fig:

It was thunder Down Under at the $400,000 Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks last week in Australia.

The Gold Coast was rocking in summertime, with warm water, top surfers and the start of the 2010 pro surf scene.

Thirty-one-year-old Aussie ripper Taj Burrow was slashing away in the 3- to 5-foot windblown rights to take the victory. Burrow waited patiently for the bigger set waves and tore them apart to defeat South African rad man Jordy Smith.

Smith led the first half of the final, but Burrow busted a big score — an 8.17 — and took it along with the lead in the ratings. Equal thirds were the U.S.’s Dane Reynolds, who lost to a fired-up Smith, and hot goofy-footer Bobby Martinez, who couldn’t stop Burrow.

In other results, Reynolds took out last year’s winner, Joel Parkinson, in the quarters with a 19.20 out of 20.00 and finished with a two-wave total, the highest of the contest. Smith took out nine-time world champ Kelly Slater in Round 4 in a great surfing battle that had the beach packed.

Also, Huntington Beach’s Brett Simpson lost to pumped-up world champ Mick Fanning in Round-3 action. They had met in the U.S. Open final in Huntington last summer, and “Simpo” won.

Next up is Bells Beach for the Rip Curl Pro from March 30 to April 10 — one of the longest-running surf contests in the history of surfing. We’ll see who gets to ring the bell.

In women’s action, the $100,000 Roxy Pro was also at Snapper Rocks, and three-time Aussie world champ Stephanie Gilmore was in top form, blazing to victory and winning her third Roxy Pro title.

Gilmore had some powerhouse front side slashes, taking it to Hawaiian Melanie Bartels, who was ripping, too. Gilmore, who leads the ratings, also beat Hawaiian Coco Ho in the semis, and Bartels defeated former world champ backsider Australian Chelsea Hodges in the other semifinal.

Losing in the quarters, placing equal fifths, were a pair of Aussies, veteran Rebecca Woods and up-and-coming youngster Sally Fitzgibbons, Brazil’s Silvana Lima and Peruvian former world champ Sofia Mulanovich. Bells Beach is next for the gals, too.

The local mountains picked up another 5 inches of snow Saturday and had a dusting Monday night.

Most resorts are still reporting 3- to 6-foot base depths with great machine-groomed conditions and coverage and 100% open.

RICK FIGNETTI is a 10-time West Coast champion and a longtime KROQ-FM surfologist. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.