Scoring Surf in Iceland’s most Violent Storm in 25-years
Surfing in Iceland may not be the unknown exploration that it was just a few years ago due to the hordes of surf media that have descended upon the place since Chris Burkard helped put it on the map. But this! This is a story of adventure. A 25-year storm, an arctic equipped sail boat, close calls, Icelandic cold water survival folklore visiting pro surfers Sam Hammer, Justin Quintal, and Timmy Reyes joined up with local pro Heidar Logi, Ingo Olsen, and Elli Thor Magnussen to score the aftermath of perfection. And of course they had the million-follower man himself Chris Burkard leading the charge and closing the shutter.
After having been skunked due to a record breaking storm….
“This is the obvious drawback to chasing waves through Iceland. The conditions are difficult for most of the year, but surfing there in the dead of winter is borderline masochistic. The entire island freezes into a maze of snow and ice, blizzards barrel through without warning, avalanches consume highways, and darkness devours the country.
The local surfers, however, are accustomed to these challenges. To them, it’s simply the price you pay if you want to surf year-round. The Icelandic surf community is a small, tight-knit group that have arranged their lives and jobs to accommodate the whims of Iceland’s temperamental character, exploring jagged fjords and vast black-sand beaches hoping to find the next icy barrel.
It sounds romantic, but the reality involves endless hours of travel, crossing from one side of the island to the other, chasing the ever-shifting wind and trying to stay one step ahead of storms that could strand you for days. The occasional score is all they can hope for, and returning from a long excursion empty-handed is the bitter pill they frequently swallow.”
Click over to SURFER MAG for the full feature NORTHERN TRESPASS: For Icelandic surfers, chasing waves along the country’s frigid shores comes naturally. For everyone else it’s a lesson in punishment.
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