Iceman surfing a remote surf break in Alaska near Petrof Glacier.

As promised, this post is the meat and potatoes of our last fly-out surf trip to Petrof Glacier, Alaska. Check out the first half of this adventure, which is just getting to this remote beach, in my last post - Surfing Petrof Glacier 1.8.10 – Getting There. With the short daylight of the Alaskan winter we only had four hours to enjoy this swell so let’s get on with it! Below is a nice selection of photos from the day. I photographed for a few minutes, surfed for a few hours, then photographed for a few more minutes. Hope you enjoy the show.

Mike McCune heading out to surf at Petrof Glacier, Alaska.

Mike McCune surfing at Petrof Glacier, Alaska.

Iceman surfing a remote break in Alaska.

Mike McCune surfing the Petrof Glacier break, Alaska.

Iceman surfing Alaska

Iceman still surfing Alaska

A few nice ones snuck by the crew.

Mike McCune surfing Petrof Glacier, Alaska.

Mike still surfing Alaska.

Can you believe this setting!? Mike McCune surfing a coldwater paradise in Alaska.

Loaded up in the plane after a four hour session, Stephanie Haynes is all smiles.

ps: Stephanie is worried that there are no photos of her shredding at Petrof and everyone will notice that she was on the trip but not out there ripping. I tried to assure her that all the other surfers reading this would remember when they were just learning and cut her some slack. For a beginning surfer, we know that success is defined by not giving up after your first three poundings accompanied with a 40ºF flush. If you can endure that and still surf till you are shaking with hypothermia then nothing will stop you!

Mike and Stephanie watch as the plane departs Petrof Glacier Beach, Alaska.

In 2009 our dreams of surfing this particular remote break in Alaska were realized, several times actually. All told I think there was about seven attempts at getting there and maybe four successes. The spot is called Petrof Glacier because the beach we surf is nearby the glacier and it’s the easiest way to locate it on a map. Access is by a short bush plane ride through the Kenai Mountains that is really long on scenery. In the brief 15 minutes of flying we cross Kachemak Bay, pass several glaciers, countless mountain peaks, an ice field, more glaciers, glacier lakes, rivers, and then back to the ocean in the Gulf of Alaska and the much anticipated moment of . . will it be fogged in? . . . will there be a swell?

Flying through the Kenai Mountains in the morning.

Flying over the beach to make sure it's suitable for landing. The break is dead center.

Petrof Glacier surf break aerial view.

Three days ago we scrambled at first light after noting a building swell forecast for a couple days and hoping that the mountains would not be shrouded in clouds as they are 98% of the time in this season. We awoke to a hopeful sky. 45 minutes after the phones started ringing four of us were at the Homer Air office loading a Cessna 206 with our surfboards and survival gear. With some smart packing by the pilot we can easily fit four surfers, one surfboard each (less than 8ft) and some camping gear and food for the day. The camping gear is for the almost expected change in weather that would prevent the airplane returning for a pickup. So far we have never actually been ’stranded’ though on a few particularly sweet occasions we found ourselves wishing it would happen.

Back seat window of the airplane full of surfboards.

Once over the mountains the suspense builds as we start getting glimpses of the ocean on the other side. Things were looking good this morning – the rocky reefs had white rings around them from an ocean surge. One pass over the surf break and we knew it was our lucky day. After one aborted landing near the break where we discovered some exciting bumps on the beach, we had a silky smooth touchdown about a mile back up the beach. With the winter darkness only allowing us four hours on the ground (or in the water) this time of year, it was a frantic show getting the plane unloaded, into our wetsuits and off running down the beach to the surf break.

Mike McCune and Iceman unloading their surfboards from the plane on Petrof Glacier beach.

The plane preparing to depart leaving Mike McCune and Stephanie Haynes in their own Alaska surf paradise.

Iceman leaving the only set of tracks on the beach as he walks towards the break.

Mike walking to the Petrof Glacier surf break.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that the winter storms had changed the layout of the break significantly for the better. The tidal slough drain / river shown in the above photo has moved it’s outlet down the beach a couple hundred yards which keeps us from having to fight the current during the ebbing tide. And in its wake it left a picture perfect sand bar that looks like it was hand carved for producing peeling rights.

When I edited the photos there was too many to fit in one nice post, and really, getting to this surf break at Petrof Glacier is half the adventure so I’ve split it up into two posts. The rest coming soon, your patience will be rewarded.

Surfing in Alaska we get to see a lot of unusual things. These waves in Anchor Point a few days ago were cool, really cool, almost frozen, like a salt slurpee. I was mesmerized, in a desperate effort to try and capture this sight, despite the flat light, I shot some video and photos:

Alaskan slush barrel

The slush layer was about 100ft wide, see the dark water outside.

The set waves were about thigh high.

Heavy slush with ice chunks

We thought about trying to surf these, but the size just didn’t look like it was enough to overcome the drag of moving through all that slush and we were actually having a good time just watching! Besides just being alien like, one fascinating thing about a slush layer is that even a 20mph onshore wind can’t disturb the waves underneath. I’m really looking forward to finding these conditions with a head high swell. Can’t wait to see someone surfing down a slush face or getting barreled in a slurpee, probably call that getting slurped I guess.

Santa walking up the beach for another surf in the Cook Inlet storm swell.

It’s become a bit of a tradition to go surfing on Christmas day here in Alaska.  Well, at least for about five of us in Homer anyhow.  Every year we wonder if Santa will show up and what kind of wave slider he’ll be using. Not too surprising then when he did make an appearance for our stormy session at Anchor Point with his ruby slipper as we call it. We’ve seen this one before, seems to be a favorite craft of his.

The surf was pretty decent in Anchor Point (20 miles north of Homer) with about shoulder high sets and a pretty stiff sideshore breeze. The current was brutal though – With some of the largest tides in the world, Cook Inlet moves a lot of water during each tide cycle. A 20ft water depth change every 6hrs is not uncommon.  This session the wind and the tide were double teaming us which made for a bunch of beach walking . . . Jump in, paddle out, try your best to stay in one spot, maybe catch a wave, get out and walk up the beach and try again.  Even Santa couldn’t beat this current. Sort of made me wonder why he didn’t bring the reindeer along, we could have all used some help.

ps. I’ve heard some reports that local surf kayaker Randy Keller was missing on Christmas day, he has since been found and appears to be ok.

Crows and an offshore breeze after sunset. The Aleutian Mountain Range rising in the background .

Hi all.  This is post to let you know about some cool new stuff going on here at Surf Alaska. . .

First things first – After about two weeks of no surf I had a killer 5 hour + surf session today. No photos except a few snaps from the iPhone. Most of the local crew is gone so no models and I had to surf alone for the first 2hrs.

Now check out these new additions to the Surf Alaska website:

1. Shop Surf Alaska – There is now an online shop where you can buy photo prints and the very nice Alaska Essence t-shirt. More to come soon. Here’s your chance to support this labor of love and join the cool crew.
2. Surf Alaska is Twittering. Follow me for surf updates, crappy phone photos, the latest from the site and who knows what else will end up on there. I have an iphone now so it’s pretty easy to update on the road so far you have missed some pretty good content I think.
3. FAQ There is now the beginnings of a Frequently Asked Questions page. I hope it turns into a valuable resource. If you have any questions you think should be in there send them to me! I’ll do my best. If you think you could answer some better, don’t be shy, I don’t consider myself the final authority on all matters.
4. Free photo. For a little celebration, I’m giving away two 8×10 photo prints from the gallery or any image from SurfAlaska.net. The third and seventh people to contact me with their mailing address and favorite photo will be our lucky winners.
5. Resume normal programming. . . Thanks for reading.