Photography

A short drive from Lofoten’s Lekenes Airport, the tiny town of Unstad lies between two mountains where the sea brings in ideal waves for year-round surfing for those who aren’t afraid to brave the cold. This year the Lofoten Arctic Masters surf competition brought a crowd of dozens to the tiny town with more sheep than residents people live in Unstad year-round. Some local residents embrace the influx of new visitors while others find themselves wary of too many tourists and not enough infrastructure to support them. The surge in cold-water surfing is due largely to advances in wetsuit technology but also to proliferation of the sport through social media networks like instagram and YouTube. These platforms showcase once hidden surf sports like Unstad, which has steadily attracted more visitors in the past five years.

A group of surfers cook out on the hill above the beach in Unstad, watching surfers in the water below.

Timothy Latte of Sweden watches the surfers compete from the sauna. My Latte took 4th place in the men’s surf competition. He was the only Nordic man to place in the finals.

Mattias Hörnquist was knocked out of the Lofoten Masters surf competition in the semifinals. At one point, he ran into the ocean without a wetsuit. He also spent a lot of time in the sauna watching other surfers compete.

Markus Wegge, 28, of Kabelvåg has been surfing for 9 years. He said the weather and water temperature during the competition was “perfect”. He said that saunas were a growing part of the culture among cold-weather surfers.

On a clear, cool night in Unstad, you can see the Northern lights over the oceans and mountains surrounding the city. While surfing has been attracting visitors to the area in recent years, Unstad has long been a popular destination for hikers and Aurora Borealis tourists visiting Lofoten.

Tommy Olsen, 47 and Marion Frantzen, 45, were surfers themselves before starting the Unstad Arctic Surf center with Ms. Frantzen’s parents. After the Lofoten Masters surf competition, the center hosted a party for all the surfers. Later in the evening, the group headed outside to watch the Aurora Borealis.

Surfing Under the Northern Lights: There’s a thriving surf scene in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, where the waves are cold and the air is colder. Unstad, home of the Lofoten Masters, which is billed as the world’s northernmost surf competition, is an attractive surfing destination in the Lofoten archipelago. Written by Jeré Longman.

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Travels, 2012-2022 - Various people and places from a decade of travel.