Surfers Ride Frozen Waves in New York: ‘Like Slushies from 7-Eleven’ (Video)
A blast of winter weather hit a wide swath of the continental United States, with bomb cyclone frigid weather impacting multiple regions, southeast and northeast.
It was so cold, that even portions of the ocean partially froze, creating the rare slushy wave phenomenon in places like Montauk, New York. The imagery coming out of Montauk was mesmerizing; but the question remained: Can you surf it?
Well, novelty wave specialist Ben Gravy answered that question in the affirmative.
The New Jersey native made his way to Montauk during the slushy wave conditions, paddled out, and successfully rode a few waves amidst the rare, sloshy conditions.
“Today I experienced an absolute lifetime bucket list novelty wave,” Gravy reflected. “I’ve seen photos and videos of this phenomenon many times, but I’ve been dreaming about actually riding a slush wave for over a decade & today that dream became a reality. A bomb cyclone, freezing temps & some lucky wind brought us legit SLUSHY WAVES!”
It wasn’t without its difficulties, however. As imagined, surfing through partially frozen waters isn’t as easy as a traditional liquid lineup.
“The texture was like slushies from 7-Eleven. We would paddle…think about regular buoyancy. You get up, and then you hit the slush, and you would just slow down. You have no control over your board. But weirdly, you have control because you’re going half-a-mile an hour. The wave was breaking in slo-mo. And it breaks so heavy. That was top three novelty waves of my life.”
So, turns out, surfing slushy waves is possible; but it ain’t easy.