I believe I’m in the majority here when I say that I mind surf way better than I real surf. And I mindsurf some pretty rad waves. The beautiful thing about it is many of those waves aren’t actually real. They are symmetrical. They’re hollow. But they’re never frozen. I’ve never thought about surfing frozen waves.
When Nantucket photographer Jonathan Nimerfroh pulled up to the beach one day last year he stumbled upon some perfect, barreling, frozen waves. He mind surfed the hell out of them. “The high temperature that day was around 19 °F.,” he said. “The wind was howling from the southwest which would typically make rough or choppy conditions, but since the surface of the sea was frozen slush, the wind did not change the shape. What resulted was perfect, dreamy slush-waves. Most waves were around two feet with some larger sets slushing through around three feet to waist high.”
The photos Nimerfroh took while mindsurfing that day became a viral sensation, appropriately known as Slurpee Wave. A year later those same waves are being stamped onto beautiful surfboards so you can stand on top of a perfect frozen barrel while standing inside another barrel. It’s like the Russian nesting doll of surfing. The collaboration took place with Christenson Surfboards, printing the photos onto a brand 7’6″ during the glassing process. Technically these are fully functional boards, so you’re welcome to surf one if you can get your hands on it. But they’re clearly intended as works of art, meant to be hung on the wall at home….you know, for the mindsurfing.
