If you have been a regular here at SurfAlaska.net you should be familiar with our fly-out surfing adventures to Petrof Glacier. In a nutshell we pile into a bushplane at the Homer Airport and after 20 minutes of flying over some incredible ocean, mountain, glacier, and ice field scenery we are at a sweet surf beach in the wilds of Alaska.
The suspense was excruciating.
The swell forecast looked strong for three to four days over the weekend but the flying forecast was marginal. For the first three days the clouds were hanging thick around the Kenai Mountains preventing us from flying through them to our favorite fly-out surfing paradise in the wilds of Alaska. The morning of the last promising day of the swell also brought some hope for a flight.
Alex Wilson heading out for a lonely surf in Icy Bay, Alaska.
Situated on the Eastern edge of the Gulf of Alaska with a long sand spit protruding into the bay and miles of beach on either side Icy Bay will catch any Alaska map surfers imagination.
Even better than dreaming – Fellow Alaskan surfer, Alex Wilson, shared a report of his session there last summer including a few photos.
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 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?
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