Ian Walsh, by very definition, is going full bore right now. Finishing up a (successful) worldwide scouring for the next great big wave, he flew straight away to Australia to charge Ours with his mental contemporaries, and then was traveling through Europe when he saw a swell he had been tracking along the United States coastline take a positive turn inland. Hurricane Edouard was going to make good a few miles off the Eastern Seaboard and Ian was going to do whatever he could to meet it.
Now, before we go on — with his pioneering ways in mind — let’s make one thing clear: Ian did not discover this break. But he had heard of it, and was thereby adamant to surf it. Basically, a few miles offshore of the Northeast, there is a mythical reef of sorts where certain swells merge to combine into a “slabby, shallow righthander,” one that Ian would praise for giving him the “best waves he’s ever gotten on the East Coast.”
Anyway, with his two brothers Shaun and DK, Sam Hammer and Mike Gleason, the boys made out for the slab and came back all smiles. At the end of the day, it’s simple enough for the surfer from Maui — adventure is about taking initiative, seizing any and all opportunities presented: “There can’t be any hesitation. Any doubt. Everything has to be complete confidence and you have to have the feeling that you’re going to make it.”
Red Bull caught up with their gallivanting jetsetter to hear about the spoils, excerpts from the interview below.
Red Bull: So the pictures look insane, but tell us about this wave you guys scored.
Ian Walsh: Well, it was probably one of the sickest setups for a reef break that I’ve seen in a few years. It’s everything you could’ve wanted from a slabbing, barreling reef that’s way offshore. Almost like a mini-Cortez Bank setup but as a slabbing, righthand barrel. You just feel so far away from any bit of society, even though you’re not tooo far offshore, but when you look in, there’s no lineup to use, nothing. It’s pretty interesting, just this completely slabby, shallow part of the reef that pulls in a ton of swell.
Have you been planning this mission for a while?
We’ve wanted to do this trip for a long time now, but I never had the time to piece it together. But we started paying attention, and it just came together. Sam Hammer, Mike Gleason and my two brothers Shaun and DK came along, and we had a couple Skis and a boat and we somehow scored [laughs]. It was Mike and Sam’s first time there, too, and it was nice to have some good surfers from the East Coast with us. Like I said, the water looked like some West Oz slab or Lance’s Right, even. I couldn’t believe it.
So was that the best surf you’ve ever gotten on the East Coast?
Yeah, for me that was the best surf I have had on the East Coast. I know some of the guys that live over there get really fun wave waves throughout each season. But yeah, for me that was by far the best waves I’ve gotten around there, ever. I mean I saw some waves that were draining where you could get two or three pumps in the barrel, and then spit out and blown into the channel. Just a crazy setup.
To read the entire interview, check it out on RedBull.com. Keep up with Ian Walsh on Instagram.
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