Often times surfing in Alaska doesn’t actually feel that extreme. Wetsuit technology is so good these days that being too hot is more often the problem than being too cold. And that’s without a battery powered heated vest.
But this day was. Extreme. Ridiculously so. So it is no surprise that National Geographic thought it was a natural for the Extreme Photo of the Week. Get a sweater on and a hot cup of chocolate and then read all about it.
Surfing in Alaska is experienced by a very few and forgotten by not one of them. While we don’t always remember the individual waves ridden, or even the specific sessions, it’s the whole adventure that is so memorable. It’s the rawness and beauty of the total wilderness that we discover waves in that sticks in our daydreams. Those mornings after a long stormy night when there’s a bit of frost on the deck of the boat but the wind is calm, the stars are out and the only thing you can hear is the roaring of surf outside the bay.
The clothing and outdoors brand/religion known as patagonia just released their 2014 wetsuit guide video. Patagonia surf ambassadors Chris and Keith Malloy’s recent trip to Alaska is featured with footage by Scott Dickerson. Check it out.
[youtube id=”OPmndC8eQE0″ width=”640″ height=”360″]
This project was special for us on several levels. For one thing it was an opportunity for Scott to showcase that his talents aren’t only in still photography. It also gave us another chance to show new friends how we have fun in Alaska – on a great surf trip with Ocean Swell Ventures on the M/V Milo. The timing just worked out such that our friend Daniel Zatz of Zatzworks was in the area shooting cineflex aerials and was kind enough to get a few shots for this project as well.
We are proud to count many Patagonia ambassadors as our friends – they are some of the most enjoyable folks in the industry that we’ve gotten to know.
Stay tuned for the report from Scott’s most recent Patagonia shoot in Alaska with kitesurfing ambassador Jason Slezak.
Inspired by Instagram’s Throwback Thursday trend, here is one from the SDP archives. The other day I started flipping through a stack of old magazines from a friend and opened right up to this quintessential Homer surf scene. It made for a fun surprise! Here Mike McCune surfs Alaska for Outside Television in a photo licensed by Aurora Photos, one of our stock agents. From Outside Magazine, February 2012.
Helisurfing. There’s a word I’ve been thinking about for a while. Just sounds nice. Finally had a chance to do more than just think about it yesterday. Thanks to Jeff Hoke and the Chugach Powder Guides for making this come together. Laying in bed catching up on some sleep from our recent travels down under, Jeff called and said we might have a chance for a helisurf trip. I had been watching the swell and knew this would be good opportunity to live the dream so the scramble began.Two of hours getting boards, wetsuits, booties, mittens etc. together for everyone stuffing everything in the Suby and I was off on the 3.5hr drive over to Seward.