Surfing in Iceland is not for the faint of heart. Swell can be unpredictable, conditions can change on a dime, and the probability of mistiming a session can be disheartening. Still, the possibility of scoring empty perfection keeps the local surf scene (and modern-day explorers) constantly drawn to Iceland’s craggy coastline.
Wasted Talent and Vans recently traveled to Iceland’s temperamental coastline alongside Seb Smart, Ainara Aymat, and Koldo Illumbe to highlight the country’s passionate, tight-knit surf scene for the film below, titled “ISLENSKU”.
“Icelanders…..we’re an island in the middle of the Atlantic,” says local legend Elli Thor Magnusson in the film. “And this was just a farming, fishing, tiny little nation that was basically a third-world country until the fifties. and Icelanders deal with super random crazy weather, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes–so they’re pretty loose. And, we’re not good at planning ahead, but I think we’re, you know, kind of fun, because we live pretty much in the now.”
Click play above to watch the film and find out more about the trip here.