Following surfing during the Winter months can somehow turn into a North Shore based show. Or maybe Australia, depending on which side of New Year we’re sat on.
And despite for our love for watching the wave of the winter story unfold, we recently had the chance of stumbling on something quite different that is well worth sharing, coming from the good blokes at Vans. Written and hosted by Dylan Graves and film director Dave Malcolm, the said show called Weird Waves is dedicated to exploring the unconventional faces and places of surfing, and highlighting the world’s most eccentric waves ever surfed — beyond your typical sunny beach locales. Weird Waves is a celebration of the raw side of surfing that is rarely championed, but no less compelling than any other break.
For the first installment of the show, the Puerto Rico native linked up with lake surfing specialist Burton Hathaway and the rest of the surfing community in the Great Lakes to experience the biggest winter storm of the season. What they ended up scoring is quite blowing and qualifying Burton as a Frother Royale is a massive understatement, and truly something that’s well worth the watch itself…
Being based near the ocean, it’s sometime easy to forget how fortunate most of us are, and witnessing the dedication shown by the characters Dylan meet on his path, no matter how funky the conditions, is quite motivating. If you enjoyed the first episode of the series, we’ll recommend tuning in for the second one, in which Dylan and the team head to Bend, OR, to link up with Alex Lopez and his dad, Gerry. They talk about life, river boards, and why the wave in Bend has a “brain”.
