It is March 1st and it should be the middle of winter right now, but the temperature outside of my Innsbruck apartment feels more like the middle of summer.

My original plan was to tell you guys about my weekend at the Austrian Freeski Open. But the moment I began writing, I caught a glimpse of my surfboard stored on my balcony and changed my mind.

A few years ago I spent my first summer holidays at the Atlantic coast to learn surfing. I thought that being a professional athlete in a slightly related sport would increase the pace of my learning dramatcially. But to be honest: It absolutely didn´t.

The first step in the water – the first time when you have to dive through a wave to get out to where the green waves break – is not always easy. I guess for no one. Depending on how hard the conditions are, it can be a real fight. But when you finally sit in the line-up and observe the waves rolling towards your surfboard, it is definitely one of the most scenic and exciting outdoor experiences at all.

Not the riding part is the hard one for me, the standing up is what causes the most problems. In this very special moment, there is a lot of small things one has to think about: Head and breast up, board position, legs together, hard and deep strokes, body-weight forward. The smallest mistakes decide whether you’ll ride the shore or get overrun by it.

Last summer, I was trying to improve my still poor skills again. Sitting in the line-up waiting, the swell was about three feet high and a soft offshore wind blew over the water. All of a sudden, a surfer next to me screamed

„Freak set“!

Everybody started to paddle towards the horizon, because you could already see some big waves rolling towards us. Of course these unexpected big waves surprised nobody else but me. After I was spit out and back on the beach, I swore to myseld I will never find my way into the ocean again. Only two hours later, I sat in the line-up, again…

Surfing is a mystery. No matter how difficult or hard it looks in the beginning, or how often the ocean kicks your ass, you can’t resist trying it again and again. You are that small thing sitting in the big ocean, with very little control over the situation. That´s usually a situation one doesn’t like to get into, but surfing is different. It is just too much fun! You should definitely try for yourself.

This is the trailer of my favourite surf movie:

Soustons, 4. March 2010

Nico Zacek

Tags
Nico Zacek | Step into liquid | Surfing | Waves


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