“It was like a scene from Avengers Assemble,” laughed Swedish surfer Freddie Meadows. “In this speck of a bay in the far reaches of the Arctic Circle, surfing legends like Andrew Cotton, Nic von Rupp and Morgan Maassen all turned up, and then this mythical wave just turned on.”
Meadows had discovered the wave more than a decade ago. He’d seen potential, enough to call it RÁN, after the Norse Goddess of the Sea. But he also knew it was a serious wave, and that he couldn’t surf it alone.
Normally, in Freddie’s world, that comes with the territory. His first-ever surf was a solo session. Then, as a skinny 12-year-old with a shock of blonde hair, he donned two wetsuits and dishwashing gloves and completed the ensemble with a wool beanie under a swimming hat. His board was a battered windsurfing board he had “borrowed” from under a neighbor’s house.
Magnus Nordmo
“I remember feeling the power of the ocean and seeing the potential in surfing,” said Meadows. “Oh, and the cold, I remember the cold.” The next year, having caught the surfing bug, he remembers traveling with his mum and her friends on a day trip to the beach at Knäbäckshusen.
The beach is unusual because the two-meter-wide golden sand beach is the only land separating the dense pine forest and the sea. As Meadows peered through the forest, he was astounded to not only see clean, surfable waves, but three surfers riding them. “Before that day, I was convinced I was the only surfer in Sweden,” laughed Meadows. “After that day, I knew what I was going to do with my life.” There was just the issue of how.
A move to Portugal as a 16-year-old was pivotal. He was taken in by ex-CT surfer Marlon Like and his family, and with pure dedication gained sponsorship and competed professionally on the European circuit. One of his best mates and mentor was a young Nic von Rupp, who, before becoming a leading force for progression in the slab and big wave genre, had a dream of making the CT.
“I had 10 years training and competing with Marlon, Nic and the best European surfers, but I was so behind and so clueless,” Meadows said. “But no matter how much that decade kind of hurt and broke down my ego, it also prepared me for the waves that I would soon find in and around Sweden.”
Magnus Nordo
After a decade away from home, Freddie returned to discover an emerging and thriving surf culture and the potential of the Baltic Sea. Having surfed every ocean on the planet, Freddie says the Baltic’s unique properties (he calls it a small, violent sea) meant it still could surprise to him. Waves arrive suddenly, lurching through brackish water almost perfectly onto basalt and limestone reefs, and then disappear even more quickly. It’s unpredictable, cold, dangerous and empty.
Photographer and filmer Morgan Maassen has often accompanied Freddie on these solo adventures. Maassen, who has shot in every corner of the globe, described the most recent trips with Meadows as the most extreme, isolated and rewarding experiences he’d ever had within surfing.
Related: The Next Big-Wave Spot Is Still Out There
However for RAN, from the outset, unusually the Arctic Circle’s weather actually cooperated. “It’s so rare in Scandinavia that the weather improves as you’re getting closer to the moment of truth,” said Meadows. “Generally you see a forecast that will slowly deteriorate, or even if it stays okay, there’ll be the shortest of windows because it’s so changeable.” This day a predicted snowstorm turned to sunshine, the wind stayed calm, as rare as coconut trees in that part of the world, and the swell stayed true and big.
After a long session with the trio trading the rope and waves on the reef, Freddie was ready to call it a day. It would have already been registered as the most iconic session surfed in Scandinavia when Morgan called in from the boat saying the wind had backed off and, after a lull, the swell was building.
Magnus Nordmo
“It was 90% perfect and it just went to 100%,” said Freddie. “We had an hour before we had to drop the boat back, but you could sense the ocean coming alive and I felt I hadn’t achieved all that I could that day. And I knew we might not get another day like this for a decade, or maybe ever.”
Meadow’s next wave was the one now pictured above, the biggest of the session, and probably the biggest wave surfed in Scandinavia. “It was a pure moment of beauty,” said Maassen. “I sensed something truly special was happening. I just felt privileged to be a witness. All I had to do was stay still and make sure the lens cap wasn’t on.”
The pair are aiming to make a documentary film on the experience that Meadows says was, without a shred of a doubt, the best day and experience of my life. “For all the dots to connect and to have the support of these incredible surfers, friends and filmmakers was incredible. I just remind myself that this is my calling. I’ve been able to create a whole life through surfing. It’s my joy and passion, it’s my everything.”
Related: Watch: Pumping Swell Lights Up Rare Swedish Pointbreak