Nate Florence Attempts To Pioneer Remote, Gurgling, 10-Foot Reef Pass — Nearly Takes Entire Ocean On The Head

Did anyone really think Nathan Florence would rock back on his laurels and contentedly sip some Mai Thais following his award-heavy year of backless acrobatics?

This week, in what one commenter described as ‘Star Trek for surfers,’ Nate and Zoard are joined by brother John and longtime filmmaker friend Erik Knutson for an intrepid boat ride to somewhere in the Pacific Ocean [we’re skeptical about the titled location, but will leave it at that]. 

Though it takes nearly 10 minutes of watching to even see Nate get in the water (much to the chagrin of the more logical John), the wait is well worth it. 

Despite not catching a wave — or really even looking at one — Nate’s first person perspective into a remote, empty, gurgling, 10-foot-tall, three-foot-deep reef pass is impossible to wrench your attention away from. Plus, he nearly cops the entire ocean on his head, which makes for further terrific viewing.

“The way it starts to feel is you’re starting to use up your cat lives; you roll the dice too many times, and eventually you’re going to come up with snake eyes,” Nate told us, in a recent Stab Interview. “It’s really not a matter of if, it’s when. Your good luck roll can only last so long, and mentally it gets so fucking taxing.”

“It’s not like the better you get in big heavy waves of consequence, the easier it gets. It actually gets scarier because you’re no longer expected to just go out and get one or two on the shoulder. I almost feel that unless I’m going on the gnarliest one that comes in, I’m going to be disappointed in myself as far as pushing my own limits.”

A solid explanation for why he felt the need to have a sniff at what is, to any mortal, an evident deathtrap of a lineup.

If the outro is to be believed, the next few days should serve us some further Slab Tour antics.