Surfing as a Swiss person – How does that even work? (Blogpost)

Surfing as a Swiss person – How does that even work?

Author: Lucien Hirschi

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"Seriously? You surf? But you live in Switzerland, a landlocked country, you’ll have to explain that to me now!" If you, dear readers, surf yourselves, you must (!) have experienced this kind of equally curious and critically tinged interrogation with a slightly sarcastic aftertaste at least once. A detailed explanation of what it means to devote yourself to surfing as a Swiss person can be found in this blog post.

So let’s start right from the beginning. Part one of the Swiss surfers’ answer to the question “How do you even manage that, surfing as a Swiss person?” usually points to the local surf scene. Mastering the technique at Urbansurf, or feeling close to the sea at Alaïa Bay: there is no shortage of fresh water in wave form in this country. And yet, the desire for sun-bleached hair, skin burnt to a crisp, and a thorough salt rinse regularly arises in everyone. So, on your maps, get set, and off we go in search of a suitable puddle of sea. Switzerland is like the center of a compass: centrally located, every chosen cardinal direction leads to the sea (almost at least...sorry Eastern Europe! But we do love coming for cycling tours and city trips! Promise!).

The first question is whether it should be a spontaneous swell hunt or a long-planned surf trip. Memorize the terms swell hunt and surf trip! They roughly mean “I’ll probably be sick on Monday” (though in truth it’s about turning the weekend into three days) and “I quit my job and I’ll be back in 6 months.” What mainly distinguishes the two is the stress level during planning. The surf trip is planned in advance, one is aware of the uncertainty of wave consistency and also has an alternative program ready. Usually, half a year in advance, a small apartment or even an entire villa directly on the beach is rented, transportation is booked, and a few people are selected from an exclusive circle. In contrast, the spontaneous swell hunt is brought to life at most 48 hours before departure, the hype rises from that point within about 20 minutes to immeasurable levels completely regardless of minor details like hurricane warnings, and group chats are busily used to search for board bags and wetsuits to borrow. As for choosing the surf companions: “You’ve never surfed before? No problem, you can just take a shift at the wheel and then sip a coffee on the beach; happy to have you with us!”

What all surf travel formats have in common, however, is the wild mix of at least the following three types of surfers (this example's people are fictional, but it is up to everyone themselves to draw connections to real people). Kevin, who is joining for the first time on a surftrip to Cornwall, borrowed his sister’s 1.5 mm swimming wetsuit, brought three pairs of swim trunks, his favorite white shoes, and he doesn’t own a rain jacket. For Nuria-Kayla, it may also be her first surf trip, but she has already fully arrived in the sport. Thanks to the pro version of a surf forecast app, she knows the quirks of every spot, introduces herself unprompted as a “surfer,” sits on the board of four surf clubs, has brought three FCS ponchos for changing, and has a problem while loading the car: both her custom-shaped longboard and her retro fish don’t fit inside. Then there’s Daniel, surfer since forever, not on the trip. Because Daniel works seasonally and every winter travels overseas for 3 months. A quick glance over to him, for example in Indonesia: Daniel has traveled 40 hours to completely turn his back on Switzerland for a while on a deserted break. There are only two people in the lineup, what luck! Daniel speaks to one of the surfers in English and gets the reply with a bright smile: “Grüezi, mir sind au us der Schwiz,” Going to Indonesia to turn your back on Switzerland is about as sustainable (in the double sense) as going to Cyprus to learn English at a language school. If Cyprus sounds familiar, you know what I am talking about, because you don't understand a word of this blog post.

Together, though, the three make a fantastic team, because surfing is a lifestyle in which people grow together like hair in dreadlocks. Whether with a guitar by the campfire, in the beach club with locals, or simply in conversation in the lineup while the set of the day drifts by unnoticed, surfing brings together Swiss people of all kinds. It is definitely a commitment to surf as a resident of a landlocked country, but in return two surfers are more likely to share the same wavelength. For the physicists: Positive interference = bigger waves. For all the Swiss-Cypriot language exchange students: Das ist das Ende, danke fürs Lesen!