Great Lakes surfers are an inspiration. When we’re sitting on our asses because our wetsuits (which have been out on the fence all night in 65 degree weather) are “too cold” to put on, or we’re feeling too lazy to walk the whole two and a half blocks to the beach, we think of Great Lakes surfers and are reminded of the whiney bitches we are.
Reading this story about long-time Great Lakes surfer Greg Isaacson from the Minneapolis City Pages just drove that this point home even further.
When surfers emerge from the lake, icicles dangle from their suits. And out on the water they have to pump their shoulders every so often to break apart sheets of ice that form on their backs. If it’s too cold, ice chunks the size of Mini Coopers roll through the waves, making it impossible to surf. (Isaacson admits that some guys will paddle out if the waves are pretty and the ice chunks are only the size of bowling balls.) But the break also needs just enough ice on the lake to groom the water. “Ice smoothes the top of the water out just like kelp does in the ocean,” says Vince Deur, director of Unsalted, a documentary film about the Great Lakes surf culture. “Without it, the surface would be choppy.”
Then again. If we lived that far inland, we’d probably be surfing the Great Lakes, too. What else is there to do there, anyway?
[Link: City Paper]
