2026 Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico, Episode 05

As cold and as perfect as waves in the US get.

features // Jul 27, 2026

Words by Holden Trnka

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Watch Episode 01 here.
Watch Episode 02 here.
Watch Episode 03 here.
Watch Episode 04 here.

Welcome back to Episode 05 of the Surf100 Challenge Series Presented by Pacifico, the fifth of our eight-part $100,000 surf match.

After eliminating Kyuss King at Blacks Beach in Episode 01, Benji Brand in Oceanside in Episode 02, Ryan Huckabee at Steamer Lane in Episode 03, and Jackson Bunch in Santa Cruz in Episode 04, four surfers remain in contention: Zeke Lau, Finn McGill, Dakoda Walters, and Dimitri Poulos.

Of these four, only two surfers will survive into our classic Surf100 finale*, where they’ll face off against two mystery invitees for a chance at the six-figure prize purse.

There’s a middle finger hidden in this photo if you look hard enough. Photo by Billy Watts

Our fifth challenge? Freeze Your Face Off.

The vaseline-coated rules are as follows:

Four surfers split into two, one-hour head-to-head heats. One surfer advances each heat.
In each heat, surfers can ride as many waves as they want, but only the top two scores count.
The two surfers who advance from the first round are safe, the two surfers who don’t will surf one more heat for sudden death elimination.

‘Get it? Cuz it’s freezing and it’s a face-off.’ – Josiah Amico.

The night after knocking off two challenges in Santa Cruz, our production team spotted a swell spinning off the Eastern Seaboard.

“The goal was always to get over to the East Coast at some point in the series,” explained Surf100 host Josiah Amico. “We were talking to Mikey C and Brett Barley a lot about the forecast, and it was pretty obvious that it was gonna be good. As we were making our way up the coast in California and eliminating surfers, we saw this swell going over there and it all aligned perfectly.”

Zeke initially insisted on wearing a 3/2 because he didn’t want to surf in so much rubber. That was, he later realized, not realistic. Photo by Billy Watts

Perfectly indeed, judging by the crisp liplines in this episode.

Upon arriving to the Outer Banks, our crew was greeted by idyllic head high tubes and the coldest water the East Coast has seen in 13 years…

A healthy layer of vaseline locks in your body’s natural moisture to prevent windburn and severe chapping, while offering a mild insulation against the icy sting of the ocean. Photo by Billy Watts

“The boys weren’t prepped at all, cause they didn’t know where we were going the whole series,” chuckles Josiah. “Every day they were finding out in the morning where we were going, so none of them knew we were going to the East Coast.

“We had no idea it was gonna be that cold,” he laughs. “Right away we realized we needed to go to a surf shop and get these guys some thicker rubber. It was hilarious watching them try to put on 7-mil booties and 7-mil gloves. The guys in the surf shop were cracking up at how ignorant these guys were to how cold the water was.”

Zeke, baffled.

So, how did our production crew convince Brett Barley not to surf when his hometown was firing?

“Dude, I actually don’t know,” chuckles Josiah. “There’s another wave that he was really trying to surf, and it’s a way better wave, like a lot heavier. I’ll just not name it for his sake, but I think it’s pretty well known. I don’t think it was very good and I guess he had already given up on surfing for the day.”

And, did Yadin and Josiah get to surf?

“No dude, it was devastating,” Josiah tells me. “I’ve never looked at good waves for that long and not gotten to surf. It was brutal, me and Yadin were stressing.”

Imagine watching this all day and never touching saltwater. Photo b Billy Watts

As for the actual competition? Well, like pretty much every single one of these challenges, it came down to a buzzer beater that was all but indisputable.

Another note — before the session, Surf100 Director Will Stiles almost dispatched our rental car to the junkyard.

“He crashed the car off the side of the road,” laughed producer Garrett James.

“I saw Jeffrey [Oneill} pull over and I thought that’s where we were going, so I pulled over onto what looked like grass and it ended up just being like a foot of mud and then the car just started sliding into the mud and tilting sideways,” remembers Will, grinning. “Yadin was in the front seat and he was tripping.

“We tried to push it out, we attached a rope to Brett Barley’s car and he tried to tow us out. The rope ended up snapping. That happened before we’d even surfed and we were kinda panicking because the waves were getting good, so we just left the car there for the whole challenge.”

The guy that eventually towed the crew out was a large bearded man with a ‘big ass diesel truck’ and a revolver on his hip.

Release Schedule

The second season of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented by Pacifico goes live June 17 on YouTube, but Premium members get to watch each episode two days early (watch your email).

Here’s the full YouTube release schedule:

Ep 1: Wednesday, June 3
Ep 2: Wednesday, June 17
Ep 3: Wednesday, July 1
Ep 4: Wednesday, July 14
Ep 5: Wednesday, July 29 (above)
Ep 6: Wednesday, August 12
Ep 7: Wednesday, August 26
Live Finale: Wednesday, September 9*

*Watch the finale online exclusively on Stab Premium, or join us in person for the big song and dance (all comers welcome, details TBA) on September 9.