Who knew this monster was hiding in the north? Photo: Morgan Maassen // YouTube
The world is full of waves. Some are in places we know to look, like Pipe, Teahupo’o or Nazare, but an untold number are hiding in the margins. From small breaks that are only notable to locals, to fickle beasts that only exist for a few moments at a time, to entirely new novelties that push the boundary of what can even be considered a wave. In their latest collaboration, surfer Morgan Maassen and filmmaker Freddie Meadows decided to hunt waves in a place few think to look: Scandinavia.
“Upon meeting Freddie in the summer of 2022, I immediately cast my doubt of surfing in the Baltic sea,” writes Maassen in the caption to Rán: A Scandinavian Surfing Saga. “Sweden was both a place I never thought I’d visit, nor would ever aspire to find waves… but through the charm of Freddie and my insatiable curiosity, I couldn’t resist a simple visit.”
By the end of the 17-minute film, the pair have scoured the coastline of the Baltic (with a few sojourns to the North Sea) and proven that, no matter how much you think you know about surfing, there is still more to discover. Not only that, but on one day in particular, they somehow managed to find a beast rivaling any of the world’s most famous barrels.
“The waves we found, while often fleeting, posed challenges that took my breath away,” continues Maassen. “Anything from snow storms to one-hour swell windows kept us on our toes, and as Freddie showed me the landscape of his home, I in turn learned just how passionate and extreme these surfers are.”
