A Yakutat local surfer surveys Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

This is the fourth post reporting on a surfing trip to Yakutat from the fall of 2008.
It’s the last couple days, by now we were actually getting pretty used to squirming into that cold wet and smoky wetsuit each morning. The 15 minute walk in the surf booties down to our regular break (Pt Carrew) was pretty familiar, and so was the pain in the toes. I don’t think they had hiking in mind when they designed surfing booties. The last couple days of our stay were pretty average, each day seemed to offer a few good waves one way or another. The real highlight however was the last surf session of the trip. We packed up and went the airport in the morning only to find out that we were too late to get on our flight. Remember this if you visit Yakutat – the airport may be small and, yes they could easily scan your bags and put them on the jet in about 3 minutes, but you must check in your bags at least 50 minutues prior to departure.  Well, it seemed like a bummer, but when we got back out to Snappers surf break with four hours to spare it was clear we were not going to be bored waiting for the next flight.

Glassy surf dream emerging out of the flat light in Yakutat, Alaska after our last session.

Jake Beaudoin and I, the only two remaining surfers, had one of our best sessions of the trip. It was glassy glassy, about head high, hollow and fast.  One after another, after another, drop in, turn turn turn, to the lip, to the bottom, watch it jack up, point it and hold on.  Oohh wave sliding at its prime. Certainly if I had the skills there would have been a fair share of tubes.  Maybe next year I’ll do them justice.

Jake performs the morning ritual of gasps and moans as he crawls into his cold damp wetsuit.

peaks

Jake Beaudoin ripping Yakutat, Alaska on the 'taxi cab'.

Alex Wilson trying to ruin a photo with a cheesy hang loose. This might cure him.

Surf and the St Elias Range, Yakutat, Alaska.

Alex Wilson on the walk back to camp at sunset, Yakutat, Alaska.

The end of another great Alaskan surf adventure - cold ones on the beach and getting flipped off by friend as he picks his nose.

Jake Beaudoin walking into a timeless surfing scene, Yakutat, Alaska.

As you probably figured out, this is the third post reporting on a 7 day surfing trip to Yakutat, Alaska. Part 2 was the story for Sept 28th. Something happened between that day and October 1st. Or, what I mean is nothing happened, with the camera that is. I know there was plenty of surfing, and along with it plenty of rain– so the photographer left his camera in the tent and caught up on some surf.  This was good, because on the first morning in October we were excited to see our first and only sunrise for the week. The six days of waiting for a glimpse of the mountains and a chance at some classic Yakutat surf photos finally paid off. No complaints though, waiting out the rain clouds is not bad when it means surfing for 6hrs a day, and when the pay off looks like this.

So, we started this day off with a hike to our regular spot – Pt Carrew. The waves were decent and glassy with a stunning backdrop of the Saint Elias Range. Later in the day we bumped into some visiting California shredders in Yakuat with the good folks from Alaska Brewing and the Coastal Code program. Growing up and learning to surf in Alaska exclusively I honestly was pretty impressed. I didn’t realize shoulder high beach break had so much potential.  To finish the day off there was a very sweet surf session at Snappers. I showed up a bit late with the camera, but judging by the grins on the boys’ faces it was pretty good.

Keith Bell and Dan Stafford starting their day off right with a sunrise surf at Pt Carrew, Yakutat, Alaska.

Glassy morning surf at Pt Carrew with the Saint Elias Range backdrop, Yakutat, Alaska.

Jake Beaudoin surfing Pt Carrew, Yakutat, Alaska.

Clear skies, sunshine, snow covered mountains, and the call of some lonely surf, Yakutat, Alaska.

A lull in the surf, but the scenery was going off- 12,000ft glacier encrusted faces.

California surfer Chris Del Moro doing his thing beneath Mt St Elias, Yakutat, Alaska.

Chris Del Moro surfing Yakutat, Alaska.

Matt Kinney displaying his 'This is surf stoke' billboard after a dreamy session at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

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.

Fall morning with glassy waves at point Carew in Yakutat, Alaska.

During a week long surf trip to Yakutat this fall we had one partly sunny morning. Not the best waves that morning, but certainly some outstanding scenery!

Nothing happening for waves in Kachemak Bay (Homer) Alaska today.