Winter Paddle Surfing Lake Superior

DULUTH, Minnesota - Jared Munch isn’t letting the winter chill get to him. He’s been getting wet and staying busy on his SUP in the Minnesota where he lives. Jared has been catching a few waves on the lake and enjoying the considerably “warm” weather in the Northeast. Jared sent us the two videos below of him paddle surfing Lake Superior last week. Here’s what he had to say about the two clips:

“To put things into perspective, this is still relatively warm. It was 20° air and 37° water on both occasions. Winter is just starting to really pick up here and after waiting, we finally got the first subzero surf day of the year. It's fun getting ice buildup on the wet suit during the subzero days. It's a bummer that it really minimizes mobility, but at least the ice adds more insulation, which can be nice. The surfing on the lake is extremely difficult in it's own way. The waves are wind generated and we paddle out into 30 knot headwinds on occasion. The intervals between the waves are also extremely short. A 10 foot wave might have an 8 second interval, so getting caught inside can be really devastating for people.”

“The water is less buoyant than ocean water, so we usually opt for a slightly board. Last, it's really cold. It takes a huge amount of dedication just to suit up and get in the water. For SUP surfing, I'm usually caught making a critical decision of what to put on my hands. I can wear a 7mm mitt and sacrifice paddle dexterity, or I can wear a 5mm glove/mitt and not be able to feel my fingers after the first 20 minutes. The conditions certainly aren't ideal, but it's a really unique experience and it keeps the locals glued to their computers reading wind and wave forecasts, looking for the next big storm.”

To watch more SUP Surfing videos, Click HERE.