Nathan Florence surfing Rileys. Photo: Nathan Florence // YouTube
It takes a lot to give Nathan Florence pause. He’s seemingly explored every known slab in the world, and a lot of the unknown ones, too. From pounding Pipeline to frigid Northern Scotland, he’s seen it all. However, a recent journey to Riley’s in Ireland seemed to strike an uncharacteristic twinge of fear into the heart of the big wave pioneer.
The moment came from Florence’s most recent video, published on his YouTube channel. “All the current going into dangerous keyholes, we briefly hesitated, wondering if we would be able to get in,” describes Florence in a chyron, with a tableau of jagged rocks in the background. “The waves were crazy though, so we waited for a window then sent it.”
However, that was not quite the end of the drama. At one point, Nathan witnesses Callum Robson nearly get sucked right towards one of those perilous keyholes. “Every wave was one of those situations where you’re like ‘This guy’s not coming up,’ after the wipeout,” described Nathan afterwards. “Everyone made it home safe, but it was one of those sessions where every wave was that dangerous.”
As Nathan appropriately summed up at the end of the long and sketchy session: “That was the definition of slab tour.”
