Wax Up Those Boards - It’s Nearly Winter on Lake Erie

By Greg Evans

Winter is nearing and cold water surfers looking to catch waves, will soon make their way to the pristine snow-laden beaches of Lake Erie. Though it doesn’t grace the pages of Surfer Magazine on a regular basis, Lake Erie has great waves and surf spots.

For example, Cleveland, is a great place to paddle out for an afternoon of hanging loose with your pals or girlfriends, and winding down after a long week of work. Had I stayed at St. Bonaventure for my entire Master’s, maybe I would have car-tripped to the frozen shores and given it a righteous try?

Surf enthusiasts will waste no time waxing up their boards and getting barreled.

Lake Erie’s unique shape and weather conditions make for suitable surfing conditions primarily in the fall and winter seasons, producing gnarly waves that draw surfers from around the region who flock to Edgewater Beach, Lakefront park in Fairport Harbor, and others to hang ten.

Along the shores of Lake Erie, the eastern basin is more conducive to catching decent waves than the western basin. Cold fronts, those aggressive frosty northwest winds, and for the more experienced, incoming storms, can generate challenging waves for cutbacks, foam climbing, snaps, carves, duck dives, swimmer’s ear, and wet suit and thermal rash guard-shedding hypothermia.

Being that there has never been a documented shark attack in Lake Erie, surfers can dangle their limbs at will into the icy pond.

Don’t get nervous when those big rollers come barreling in. When in doubt, paddle out!

Lake Erie has seen its share of large waves. In 1844, a 22-foot seiche (a standing wave, similar to a seesaw motion, that oscillates back and forth) wave was recorded. In 1942 there was a “mystery” tidal wave, most likely a meteotsumani (a wave generated by atmospheric disturbances, or big foot cannon balls, and not seismic activity) estimated at 15 feet high. It was ascertained, during Superstorm Sandy back in 2022, 20+ foot waves were generated. However, those are waves that ocurred in extreme conditions like polar plunging parties. The average wave is 1 to 3 feet, with 5 to 10-footers noted when winds are stronger.

Neal Luoma is considered the first person to carve the waves on Lake Erie beginning in the 1960s, and he is also credited with starting the first surfboard company on the Great Lakes, Oscar-Harris Surfboards.

Surfing isn’t just a past time, for many it is a lifestyle that is not just about catching air, but appreciating the water, the beach, and the snow bunnies. This year Rocky River Beach Park hosted an International Surfing Day beach cleanup and BBQ for International Surfing Day, June 21, which is a global event that celebrates the sport of surfing and the preservation of the ocean and beaches.

Surfing dates back to ancient Polynesia, most prominently Hawaii, where people participated for spiritual reasons of connecting with the ocean as well as a recreational activity. Imagine their horror that hundreds or even thousands of years later people would be enjoying their sport, in the dead of winter on the waves of Lake Erie.

There was a time when surfing was nearly driven to extinction during the aggressive and oppressive colonization of the pacific islands. The colonists and missionaries viewed the practice as pagan in nature, and lacking moral principles. It was also viewed as immodest with so much revealing of skin. Along with their prudeness, colonists and missionaries associated surfing with laziness. Those years are still considered the “dark ages” of surfing. You can only imagine how they’d assess surfing in a blizzard. However, in the early 1900s, legends of the sport like Duke Kahanamoku and others reignited the spark and passion for this timeless pursuit.

The real “surfboard revolution” though, took place between the 1960s and 1970s, and its popularity has soared ever since. The evolution of wood boards to fiberglass and foam helped to make surfing more manageable for soul surfers, while enhancing performance for the more serious-minded, and professional competitors, such as those in the World Surf League and the totally insane.

There is an estimated 23 million surfers worldwide. With such a desire to participate in this activity brings with it a demand for surf equipment, surfing lessons, mittens, boots, ear muffs, and other surf related expenses making it a lucrative industry.

Just like back in the ancient times when island royalty and commoners shared waves together, surfing is for anyone and everyone who gets the itch. It doesn’t matter if you are a kook (a beginner) or a veteran of the waves with years of experience, give it a shot. Earlier I said maybe I would have given it a shot, but that is balderdash. The potential of a rogue 300-year-old Greenland shark, icy riptides, polar-gators, Bessie, ischemia, gangrenous frozen toes, bears with a palette for rubber-flavored amateur surfer, etc…, I’ll watch from the pub with a steaming Irish coffee. Surf’s up.