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!

Rainbow at Snappers surf beach. Yakutat, Alaska

Day 2: Looking back through the photo files from 9/28/08 there’s nothing for the morning session, must have been rainy and the camera was left behind.  I think we surfed Pt Carrew at first light. Back to camp for a tanner crab lunch, cheers Iceman! It’s not so bad camping in the rainforest when you’ve got all you can eat crab legs after a long morning surf session.

The schedule for our Yakutat surfing trip was pretty strict, rarely in the seven days did we waiver from the following routine:  Wake up at 7am, crawl out of the tents into a drizzle and light the fire. Eat breakfast while stoking up the fire. Moan about crawling into a cold wet wetsuit so early, get over it because the surf is firing, grab your board and hike/run the beach to Pt Carrew for the morning session. Three to four hours later back at camp for lunch and maybe a short nap. Around 3 or 4pm back to the water for the evening session until dark. Once it was too dark to surf, it was time to eat again. Get that fire stoked high and try and forget about the rain till an early bed time around 9pm.  Replay, replay, replay.

Below are some photos from our first full day which gave us a rare and precious glimpse of the sun during the evening session at Snappers. The pot of gold was all you can surf glassy sucking up head high washing machines. Everyone got their share.

Matt Kinney putting away the crab legs in a craze between surf sessions.

Keith Bell navigates the driftwood approach at Snappers. Surfing Yakutat, Alaska.

Iceman applies the wax before surfing at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

Mike McCune dropping into a glassy backlit beach break barrel while surfing Yakutat, Alaska.

Iceman on the nose surfing Yakutat, Alaska.

Mike McCune riding between the lines, Yakutat, Alaska.

Iceman scoring another glassy face at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

Rainbow just before sunrise at Snappers surf beach, Yakutat, Alaska.

Matt Kinney heading back out for another surf session at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

Iceman walking out of the sunset after surfing Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska

Iceman and his reflection go for a walk with their surfboard on the beach. Yakutat, Alaska.

Jake Beaudoin shares a little moment of surf stoke after a great session at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

Back at the campfire Jake begins the long wait for dawn patrol. Yakutat, Alaska.

Jake Beaudoin surfing Yakutat, Alaska beneath the towering Saint Elias Mountains.

If you search online for information about surfing in Alaska you’ll quickly find that Yakutat is by far the most documented location. It seems that this is a case of magazines and newspapers following each others lead, if there is a published story about surfing in Alaska, it’s probably about Yakutat. There are a few good reasons for Yakutat’s rise to fame in the Alaskan surf scene.  First it is undoubtedly the most popular Alaskan surf destination, and for good reason. You can fly there easily from Seattle, Washington or Anchorage, Alaska with Alaska Airlines. The tickets aren’t outrageous and the big jets landing there makes the travel logistics easy.  Yakutat is also home to the Icy Waves surf shop owned and operated by a really great local guy Jack Endicott.  It’s not just relatively easy to get to, Yakutat also has relatively consistent surf. Compared with Homer, it’s incredibly consistent! Yakutat also has a comparably long surf history for Alaskan standards.

Outsiders aren’t the only ones that make surf trips to Yakutat. A mixed group of surfers and myself from the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage area have made two trips down there in the last couple years. Spring and fall have the best surfing waves we are told, so we had one late May to early June trip and this year we spent the end of September and into October there.

This post is part one of a report on the most recent Yakutat surf expedition.

Surfing Yakutat – Getting there in photos:

Mike McCune heading for the jet at the Anchorage Airport.

Jake with his fancy black trash bag carryon waiting to board in Anchorage.

True Alaskan style scenery on our flight from Anchorage to Juneau.

Pay attention to this sign on approach to Juneau. It can be a little exciting.

We are heading to our own form of disneyland.

Every surfer has their face plastered to the window as we approach Yakutat, Alaska. Good news we see a surfable swell hitting the beaches.

Iceman leaves the jet in Yakutat, Alaska.Surfboards at baggage claim in Yakutat.

Surfing magazine with Alaska Airlines, some light reading while we wait for our boards and bags.

Surfboards at baggage claim in Yakutat.

Our piles of gear and surfboard bags fill half the airport terminal.

First stop in Yakutat - Icy waves surf shop.

Icy Waves surf shop door signage. This must be the right place.

Jack has a surprisingly good selection of boards and other stuff at his shop.

I heart surfing Yakutat tshirts.

Matt Kinney trying on some shades. I

Checking out the rental boards at Icy Waves surf shop. They are there in the wood shed, behind the wood splitter.

Rainforest sized puddles on the road to a surf break.

Ok, we made it to Yakutat. Next post I promise I’ll show more Alaska surfing photos. The forecast is looking pretty bleak around Kachemak Bay for the next few days so I might just find some time to keep working on this sooner than later.

Reminder: If you have any surfing alaska stories and/or photos you’d like to share let me know.