{"id":546996,"date":"2026-03-19T15:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546996\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:24:13","slug":"polar-vortexes-reindeer-heart-and-a-chance-of-frostbite-the-surfers-chasing-waves-in-the-arctic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546996\/","title":{"rendered":"Polar vortexes, reindeer heart and a chance of frostbite: The surfers chasing waves in the Arctic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n It was only after climbing out of the frigid Barents Sea, when he stopped to admire the icy tundra around him, that surfer Dylan Graves noticed the cold.\n <\/p>\n

\n In hindsight, it had been obvious: Standing on a beach at the tip of northern Norway last December, surrounded by ice and snow, in a wetsuit, the chill was inevitable. Plus, he and his fellow surfers had walked for over an hour through the snow to even get to the ocean.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt felt like I was on some ice planet from \u2018Star Wars\u2019 or something,\u201d Graves told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n The surfers were experiencing the effects of a polar vortex \u2014 a large area of low pressure and swirling cold air \u2014 and the air temperature had dropped from around minus 5 degrees Celsius (23 Fahrenheit) to between minus 15 and 20 (5 and minus 4 Fahrenheit) in just a couple of minutes. Distracted by the epic views and incredible surf, Graves had almost forgotten about the temperature. Now, out of the water, he realized he had lost feeling in his hands and his feet.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI thought, that\u2019s probably not good,\u201d he said. Turning to his fellow surfer, Swede Tim Latte<\/a>, he asked \u201c\u2018Hey, so what\u2019s the deal with frostbite\u2019?\u201d Graves recalled.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n After he and his companions decided that they would have to head to the emergency room if he didn\u2019t get the feeling back in 30 minutes, they started the hourlong walk back to the car. In Finnmark at that time of year, when the sun doesn\u2019t rise above the horizon, you only get around three hours of light a day, and it was fading fast.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf you could imagine a dry desert, it\u2019s the same, but with snow and ice. When you\u2019re in an extreme place like that it\u2019s definitely another level of cold, because there\u2019s nowhere to hide \u2014 the wind comes on and it\u2019s just blowing straight through you, or there\u2019s no protection,\u201d Graves said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI started focusing on the walk, and then feeling came back, and it was all good, but it\u2019s definitely the closest I\u2019ve been to frostbite,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n

\n This might sound extreme to most, people, but for Swedish surfer Latte, the weather \u2014 and the waves that it produces \u2014 is one of the best things about Scandinavia.\n <\/p>\n

\n Growing up in Stockholm, and getting hooked on the sport after trying it in on holiday in Fuerteventura, off the northwest coast of Africa, Latte didn\u2019t live near great surfing spots, or many locals who shared his passion. Although now the sport has grown in popularity in Scandinavia, 20 years ago, \u201cif you had a buddy to go surf with, you\u2019d be stoked,\u201d he explained.\n <\/p>\n

\n Soon, like many surfers, he was traveling farther afield to contests around the world \u2014 often, in much warmer water than he was used to.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019m from Scandinavia, growing up surfing here, you\u2019re kind of indoctrinated that you have to go abroad to surf \u2014 you have to go to Australia, the US, Portugal, and you\u2019re always traveling,\u201d he said. \u201cDoing that year after year after year, you get kind of tired.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/p>\n

\n After chasing waves in the Baltic, and spending more time on the coast Norway, where his mother is from, Latte realized Scandinavia was where he wanted to spend his time surfing and exploring, often away from the crowds that warmer waters attract.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cEverything\u2019s so untapped,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can do it all year round, but the best way is in the wintertime.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n This is exactly what Graves traveled 35 hours from his home in Australia to experience. As the host of the popular YouTube series \u201cWeird Waves,\u201d he explores and surfs the world\u2019s most interesting coastlines and spotlights their communities. So, when he and Latte got talking about the prospect of surfing an Arctic Sea shelf, off Finnmark, which borders Finland\u2019s Lapland region to the south, and Russian Murmansk Oblast to the east, he was all in.\n <\/p>\n

\"Their<\/p>\n

\n The area is home to the largest population of the Indigenous S\u00e1mi people in Norway. There are an estimated 80,000<\/a> S\u00e1mi living across S\u00e1pmi, their ancestral homeland, which spans the northernmost parts of Scandinavia and Russia\u2019s Kola peninsula.\n <\/p>\n

\n Having grown up in Puerto Rico, and now living in Australia, Graves said that experiencing a culture where herding reindeer is so integral to everyday life was eye-opening.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOur Airbnb was owned by a local so they left us a reindeer heart with a cool little note that\u2019s like, \u2018Welcome to your Airbnb. And here\u2019s some reindeer heart. It\u2019s good with beer and some chips.\u2019 To me, that is so cool.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBeing on a surf trip, [experiences like that] just warms me and and makes me super excited because that\u2019s such a unique surf experience.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n With the cold and the spectacular waves, Graves said it was a perfect chance to test his limits.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhat other opportunity am I going to have to be able to experience really good waves with nobody around \u2014 because that\u2019s a rarity in itself these days \u2014 and then to kind of feel completely out of my normal element?\u201d Graves said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI was confronted with something super unknown to me,\u201d he added. \u201cSurfing in general is just a good teacher of that, because you are sort of in another world a lot of times. And I feel like it\u2019s taught me a lot of lessons.\u201d\n <\/p>\n