Surf's Up in Yakutat.

[Blue_In_AK]

I have to share this story with you. The photos are so cool.

http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/613509.html

It was the last Saturday in November, and snow was falling in Anchorage. In Nome it was minus 20. In Southeast Alaska, however, the sun was shining, a rainbow arced the sky, and some of the best surfers in the world were frolicking in the waves off Yakutat.

Not just any waves either. These were gnarly 15- to 20-foot Aleutian swells, quite possibly the biggest waves ever surfed in Alaska. So says Australia-born adventure surfer and movie-maker Tony Harrington, who captured the moment on film.

<snip>

The waves improved on Thanksgiving, but time was running out. On Nov. 29, the day before the group was scheduled to leave, a buoy about 50 miles southwest provided good news: A wave 23 feet high was headed toward Yakutat. Others were nearly as big. Best of all, they were expected to arrive in the middle of Yakutat's brief five-hour window of daylight.

"Then all of a sudden the tide changed, rideable waves appeared before our eyes and the only 20 minutes of sun of the entire trip cast the most incredible rainbows we had ever witnessed," Harrington said.

Sterling and Gabiera had a ball.

"They were certainly the biggest waves ever surfed in Alaska, and they were ridden with style and finesse," said Harrington (who's posted multiple images of the day on his Web site, at www.wheresharro.com).

Endicott agrees with both statements. "It was really, really cool," he said.

Many more photos of this trip at his website. They're really good.

[uppityperson]

1. Very nice pictures. Oh, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Juneboarder]

2. Exactly what I was thinking...

BRRRRRRRRRRRR!!

I'm from San Diego and never even thought that folks might surf in Alaska... shoot, I won't even go in the water in San Francisco it's so cold!! :)