Stab Magazine | A brief history of surf in Russia

Live Now — Episode 2 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

839 Views

A brief history of surf in Russia

Words by Morgan Williamson  Ahh, the motherland! Russia’s got a bustling surf town. Bustling’s aggressive. Russia kind of has a surf town, a surf camp, a surf hut… people surf there. On the Kamchatka peninsula, some 4000 miles from Moscow in an area surrounded by active volcanos, frigid waters and weather patterns that’ll freeze you to your marrow one day and leave you bronzing the next. The water temp never breaks 50 (10 C) degrees, it’d be safe to say it barely breaks 40 (4.4 C). The mystic man, Mr Dane Gudang took a trip there back in 2012. Surfing was just starting to kick off on the peninsula. “There’s a little community of surfers,” Mr Gudang told Stab. “They were just starting to surf. They were all mountaineers, absolute badasses. They were taking to surfing with so much excitement. I follow some of the guys on Insta. It looks like they’re surfing every day.They’re just fully psyched. They learned to surf in like 40 degree water. It’s pretty epic!” These days a cordial young cat by the name of Anton Morozov owns a surf hut at Khalaktyrskii Beach. And now a brief history of surfing in Russia: After the fall of the Soviet Union a group of snowboarders learned about surfing while abroad in the 90’s. These pioneers brought boards and wetsuits back into the motherland. As warm and smooth as Russian vodka surf groups started popping up along the coast of the Baltic sea near St. Petersburg, the Black Sea near Sochi and the sea of Japan near Vladivostok. However the surf in these areas wasn’t optimum. It didn’t really take off until surfers made their way to Kamchatka. Then one fine day in 1997, a group of surfers from Moscow came to Kamchatka. As soon as they came, they were gone. But they left behind their boards and wetties. In 2000 Mr Morozov tracked down a board and suit abandoned on that fateful day in ’97. “The first surfers came here thinking it would be a mecca for waves,” Anton told the LA Times. “But they didn’t know what they were doing, and they had a tendency to blame their problems on the surroundings: the waves, the beach, even the locals.” Then in 2004 a man by the name of Tom Curren descended upon Russia in search of waves. He visited Kamchatka, donned his hood, boots and gloves and took the waves of the peninsula with peerless style. Rideable waves on the peninsula was made apparent. And our dear Anton started to surf until he actually could surf. “Anton is the main man out there. When we were there he was starting to culminate a little surf community,” Mr Gudang tells us. “Outside of the surf hut culture there’s no surf culture for a million miles. You couldn’t identify anyone as a surfer. The coastline is crazy, Kamchatka is the main hub for surfing but there’s infinite potential. It just takes a very peculiar swell direction and it’s pretty inaccessible. If you had like a big boat or a helicopter, you could find something really special on Russia’s coast.” “We would wake up at the beach where we were camping,” Dane recalls his trip a few years back. “The locals would drive in from the town and party so hard on the sand. If the weather is nice for the weekend, it’s on over there! They’d be blasting crazy techno, skulling vodka and shooting guns out to sea. They’d throw us a bottle and we’d take a swig, it was so gnarly! Like full proof. They’d all have their speedo’s on shooting guns, blasting music. It’s insane!” Beautiful.

news // Mar 8, 2016
Words by Stab
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Words by Morgan Williamson 

Ahh, the motherland! Russia’s got a bustling surf town. Bustling’s aggressive. Russia kind of has a surf town, a surf camp, a surf hut… people surf there. On the Kamchatka peninsula, some 4000 miles from Moscow in an area surrounded by active volcanos, frigid waters and weather patterns that’ll freeze you to your marrow one day and leave you bronzing the next. The water temp never breaks 50 (10 C) degrees, it’d be safe to say it barely breaks 40 (4.4 C).

The mystic man, Mr Dane Gudang took a trip there back in 2012. Surfing was just starting to kick off on the peninsula. “There’s a little community of surfers,” Mr Gudang told Stab. “They were just starting to surf. They were all mountaineers, absolute badasses. They were taking to surfing with so much excitement. I follow some of the guys on Insta. It looks like they’re surfing every day.They’re just fully psyched. They learned to surf in like 40 degree water. It’s pretty epic!”

These days a cordial young cat by the name of Anton Morozov owns a surf hut at Khalaktyrskii Beach. And now a brief history of surfing in Russia:

After the fall of the Soviet Union a group of snowboarders learned about surfing while abroad in the 90’s. These pioneers brought boards and wetsuits back into the motherland. As warm and smooth as Russian vodka surf groups started popping up along the coast of the Baltic sea near St. Petersburg, the Black Sea near Sochi and the sea of Japan near Vladivostok. However the surf in these areas wasn’t optimum. It didn’t really take off until surfers made their way to Kamchatka.

Then one fine day in 1997, a group of surfers from Moscow came to Kamchatka. As soon as they came, they were gone. But they left behind their boards and wetties. In 2000 Mr Morozov tracked down a board and suit abandoned on that fateful day in ’97. “The first surfers came here thinking it would be a mecca for waves,” Anton told the LA Times. “But they didn’t know what they were doing, and they had a tendency to blame their problems on the surroundings: the waves, the beach, even the locals.”

Then in 2004 a man by the name of Tom Curren descended upon Russia in search of waves. He visited Kamchatka, donned his hood, boots and gloves and took the waves of the peninsula with peerless style. Rideable waves on the peninsula was made apparent. And our dear Anton started to surf until he actually could surf.

“Anton is the main man out there. When we were there he was starting to culminate a little surf community,” Mr Gudang tells us. “Outside of the surf hut culture there’s no surf culture for a million miles. You couldn’t identify anyone as a surfer. The coastline is crazy, Kamchatka is the main hub for surfing but there’s infinite potential. It just takes a very peculiar swell direction and it’s pretty inaccessible. If you had like a big boat or a helicopter, you could find something really special on Russia’s coast.”

“We would wake up at the beach where we were camping,” Dane recalls his trip a few years back. “The locals would drive in from the town and party so hard on the sand. If the weather is nice for the weekend, it’s on over there! They’d be blasting crazy techno, skulling vodka and shooting guns out to sea. They’d throw us a bottle and we’d take a swig, it was so gnarly! Like full proof. They’d all have their speedo’s on shooting guns, blasting music. It’s insane!”

PUTIN ON a Shark

Beautiful.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025

Surfing’s 2025 Q2 Report

An assessment of surfing's vital signs throughout the second quarter of 2025.

Jul 2, 2025

What Actually Happened to Occy’s Mad Max Plunger Pool In Yeppoon?

Surf Lakes’ brass talks: internet hecklers, the unplugging of the plunger, and the Tom Curren…

Jul 2, 2025

Poor Goofy Foots 

Data shows that the world is stacked against goofs — they even make 15% less money than…

Jul 1, 2025

Britain’s First Wavepool Has Closed — What Really Happened?

Bankruptcy, social media hackings, debts unpaid — and yet, reopening looms.

Jul 1, 2025

Watch: Was Matt Meola’s Air Actually Better Than Hughie’s?

Watch the full Swatch Nines highlight reel and decide.

Jun 30, 2025

Houshmand Bludgeons Field To Win Second CT — Molly Picklum Tastes Blood, Snatches World #1 In Brazil

You can't argue with big surfing — that's Saquarema wrapped.

Jun 29, 2025

37 Years Old And World #1 — What’s Changed For Jordy Smith?

On rediscovering decades old surfboard templates, having a personality on the CT, and why this…

Jun 27, 2025

Tom Lowe Stars in ‘Let Me Live’

The wild, improbable ascent of Britain’s best big-wave surfer.

Jun 27, 2025

Saq Wrap: Italo Celebrates Mid-Heat, Griff Drops A Freestyle, Jordy + Yago Continue BBQing 20-YOs

Top seeds sow ruin, Final 5 starts to crystallize.

Jun 27, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 2

Our seven surviving surfers confront an oddly large California beach break.

Jun 26, 2025

SEOTY: The ‘Once-In-A-Decade’ Caribbean Swell That Kelly Slater Passed On

Michael Dunphy stars in Jimmicane's 'Blue Veil'

Jun 25, 2025

Who Owns Bingin? Legal Fight To Stop Demolition Begins

Eviction notices served for all businesses built on state land.

Jun 25, 2025

Tony Hawk Just Named Hughie Vaughan’s Internet-Breaking Air Because… No One Else Can

89% of our IG poll respondents claimed the 'stale fish flipper' was the best air…

Jun 25, 2025

German Surfers: AN INVESTIGATION

Truth is the light by which the world can see. 

Jun 24, 2025

“I Lost Everything I’ve Ever Owned, But This Board Came Back”

One month after the LA wildfires, a surfboard washed ashore.

Jun 24, 2025

Shock Therapy: World 1 & 2 Eliminated Early In Saquarema

Gabriela Bryan and Caity Simmers fall victim on Day 1 of the Vivo Rio Pro.

Jun 22, 2025

German University Surf Contest Derails After Local Pushes Competitor Off Wave

The story behind the shove, and why wave-rental politics turned physical in Seignosse.

Jun 22, 2025
Advertisement