Aloha icebergs

Winter surfers on the St. Lawrence
go with the floes

CAN’T WAIT FOR SUMMER: Winter surfer Darren Edwards

by ERIK LEIJON

Surfers are stereotypically viewed as a carefree bunch who laugh in the face of imminent danger and have never met a wave they couldn’t handle. Of course, your typical surfer likely lives somewhere tropical, where a morning breeze is considered a weather hazard. During the winter in Montreal, besides picking a snowboard and closing your eyes, there aren’t too many options when it comes to getting a surfing fix, but local surfboard maker Corran Addison and a small group of truly hardcore surfing junkies have taken to surfing noted local spots on the St. Lawrence near Habitat 67 and the Richelieu River in Chambly in the dead of winter—when the only things typically hanging are icicles.

“It’s an extreme thing, something that will never appeal to the public,” says Addison, a South African expat. “It’s too dangerous to ever become popular among the masses.” For Addison, surfing during the winter months occurred more gradually than one might think. As a lifelong surfer, he would continuously extend his local surfing season beyond the summer, starting with cold but bearable October days to eventually figuring he could manoeuvre around the large chunks of ice that presented themselves from January through March. “It’s not that we’re specifically trying to go out and dodge icebergs and not kill ourselves,” he says. “It’s just that we’re dying to go surfing and we can’t wait for summer.”

WAITING FOR A BREAK IN THE ICE:
Corran Addison (with board) at Chambly

Fighting chunks, not cold

The first time he attempted to partake in what could be called ice or winter surfing was in early 2005. Learning how to actually manage surfing both at Habitat 67 and Chambly in winter has come largely through trial and error.

“There’s a five- or six-second period right before you catch the wave where your back is turned and you can’t see what’s going on,” he says. “I remember sitting on shore the first time and looking at the ice, waiting for the right period where I could swim out so I would have enough time to stand on my board without being inundated by ice. I waited for about 30 minutes for a break in the ice floe.”

When he finally took the wave and ended up in the water below, the sheet of ice in front of the shore was too slick for Addison to grab onto. He needed to use the fins on his board like a grappling hook in order to pull himself out.

Being stuck in four-degree water doesn’t pose as much of a problem for surfers, as the wetsuit utilized can sustain below-freezing temperatures. Even if it’s considerably colder on the surface, the water remains temperate. The dangers of the cold pale in comparison to the very present dangers associated with wayward ice blocks. Especially at Habitat 67, the thick, five-metre long chunks of ice move quickly with the current, and if a surfer gets caught between two fast moving icebergs, it can cause significant injury. Even the smaller pieces of ice can destroy a surfboard, another big deterrent for avid surfers.

“You have to be vigilant and you need someone on shore pointing out stuff so you’re aware what’s coming down the river,” says Addison. “Just because 10 seconds ago there weren’t two icebergs converging in your direction doesn’t mean they aren’t now.”

UNIQUE DYNAMICS, NEW RISKS: Addison

Don’t get attached to winter boards

“It’s just like an obstacle course,” says fellow ice surfer Christine Pinsonneault, 25. “You’re basically doing a slalom around the blocks of ice as they come down the river. You can’t miss them all so you have to be willing to have a board you don’t mind destroying in two months.”

Even if the water is relatively warm, it’s impossible to surf below minus-five-degree weather, as the water splashing on the board and wetsuit will freeze quickly, making it impossible to stand on the surfboard or swim with much ease. The weather must also be consistently moderate over a couple of days, says Addison, otherwise a huge ice shelf can build up along the shores and surfers can get caught underneath and potentially drown.

“It’s not just about being an expert surfer, it’s also understanding the dynamics of this unique situation,” Addison says. “There are some things you would never think are dangerous until they happen to you. There ould be 100 metres separating two big icebergs and you wouldn’t think twice about it until you have a friend who has been squashed between the two because he wasn’t paying attention.”