Surf City Winter Jam 2012 is one, if not the coldest, surf competition in the history of surfing. Forget Pipe, if you want hardcore surfing, this is it. Johan Otterdahl reports.
This years was held on the 9th of December in Sweden’s surf city near Varberg. Local surfers joined national team surfers, Central Americans and stoked Swedes for a day to remember. It wasn’t a big day, but considering the wind and time of year it was very glassy conditions by Swedish standards.
It was -14 degrees C in the morning, however during the competition it got about 10 degrees warmer, up to a balmy -4 to -5 degrees C. The weather forecasts had warned people not to go out unless they really needed to because of a massive snowstorm. But that didnt stop the surfers or the stoke of the day. It began snowing as we were in the water.
Costa Rican Derek Gutierrez took the overall title. Second place and best wave of the day went to Swede Pontus Hallin. Johan Otterdahl managed third place.
Johan Otterdahl
Surf City Winter Jam 2012
Derrek Gutierrez
Visit Nordic Surf Magazine’s site for more photos.
Photos: Linn Edfeldt and Jonas Eckerström.
