The joy of surfing in ice-cold water
-
0:01 - 0:07So if I told you that
this was the face of pure joy, -
0:07 - 0:10would you call me crazy?
-
0:11 - 0:12I wouldn't blame you,
-
0:12 - 0:16because every time I look at this
Arctic selfie, I shiver just a little bit. -
0:17 - 0:20I want to tell you
a little bit about this photograph. -
0:20 - 0:23I was swimming around
in the Lofoten Islands in Norway, -
0:23 - 0:25just inside the Arctic Circle,
-
0:25 - 0:28and the water was hovering
right at freezing. -
0:28 - 0:32The air? A brisk -10 with windchill,
-
0:32 - 0:36and I could literally feel the blood
trying to leave my hands, -
0:36 - 0:40feet and face, and rush
to protect my vital organs. -
0:40 - 0:42It was the coldest I've ever been.
-
0:43 - 0:48But even with swollen lips, sunken eyes,
and cheeks flushed red, -
0:48 - 0:54I have found that this place right here
is somewhere I can find great joy. -
0:55 - 0:58Now, when it comes to pain,
psychologist Brock Bastian -
0:58 - 1:00probably said it best when he wrote,
-
1:00 - 1:03"Pain is a kind of shortcut
to mindfulness. -
1:03 - 1:06It makes us suddenly aware
of everything in the environment. -
1:06 - 1:08It brutally draws us in
-
1:08 - 1:13to a virtual sensory awareness
of the world much like meditation." -
1:13 - 1:17If shivering is a form of meditation,
then I would consider myself a monk. -
1:17 - 1:17(Laughter)
-
1:17 - 1:20Now, before we get into the why
-
1:20 - 1:24would anyone ever want to surf
in freezing cold water? -
1:24 - 1:27I would love to give you
a little perspective -
1:27 - 1:29on what a day in my life can look like.
-
1:30 - 1:36(Music)
-
2:16 - 2:20(Video) Man: I mean, I know
we were hoping for good waves, -
2:20 - 2:22but I don't think anybody thought
that was going to happen. -
2:22 - 2:24I can't stop shaking.
-
2:24 - 2:26I am so cold.
-
2:28 - 2:31(Music)
-
2:31 - 2:34(Applause)
-
2:36 - 2:40Chris Burkard: So,
surf photographer, right? -
2:40 - 2:43I don't even know
if it's a real job title, to be honest. -
2:43 - 2:45My parents definitely didn't think so
-
2:45 - 2:50when I told them at 19 I was quitting
my job to pursue this dream career: -
2:50 - 2:54blue skies, warm tropical beaches,
and a tan that lasts all year long. -
2:54 - 2:58I mean, to me, this was it.
Life could not get any better. -
2:58 - 3:03Sweating it out, shooting surfers
in these exotic tourist destinations. -
3:03 - 3:05But there was just this one problem.
-
3:05 - 3:08You see, the more time I spent traveling
to these exotic locations, -
3:08 - 3:11the less gratifying it seemed to be.
-
3:11 - 3:15I set out seeking adventure,
and what I was finding was only routine. -
3:16 - 3:20It was things like wi-fi, TV, fine dining,
and a constant cellular connection -
3:20 - 3:23that to me were all the trappings
of places heavily touristed -
3:23 - 3:26in and out of the water,
-
3:26 - 3:29and it didn't take long
for me to start feeling suffocated. -
3:31 - 3:35I began craving wild, open spaces,
-
3:35 - 3:39and so I set out to find the places
others had written off -
3:39 - 3:43as too cold, too remote,
and too dangerous to surf, -
3:43 - 3:45and that challenge intrigued me.
-
3:45 - 3:49I began this sort of personal crusade
against the mundane, -
3:49 - 3:52because if there's
one thing I've realized, -
3:52 - 3:54it's that any career,
-
3:54 - 3:58even one as seemingly glamorous
as surf photography, -
3:58 - 4:00has the danger of becoming monotonous.
-
4:01 - 4:04So in my search to break up
this monotony, I realized something: -
4:04 - 4:07There's only about a third
of the Earth's oceans that are warm, -
4:07 - 4:10and it's really just that thin band
around the equator. -
4:10 - 4:12So if I was going to find perfect waves,
-
4:12 - 4:15it was probably going
to happen somewhere cold, -
4:15 - 4:17where the seas are notoriously rough,
-
4:17 - 4:19and that's exactly where I began to look.
-
4:19 - 4:22And it was my first trip to Iceland
-
4:22 - 4:24that I felt like I found
exactly what I was looking for. -
4:25 - 4:28I was blown away
by the natural beauty of the landscape, -
4:28 - 4:32but most importantly, I couldn't believe
we were finding perfect waves -
4:32 - 4:35in such a remote and rugged
part of the world. -
4:36 - 4:38At one point, we got to the beach
-
4:38 - 4:41only to find massive chunks of ice
had piled on the shoreline. -
4:41 - 4:43They created this barrier
between us and the surf, -
4:43 - 4:46and we had to weave
through this thing like a maze -
4:46 - 4:47just to get out into the lineup.
-
4:47 - 4:48and once we got there,
-
4:48 - 4:52we were pushing aside these ice chunks
trying to get into waves. -
4:52 - 4:55It was an incredible experience,
one I'll never forget, -
4:55 - 4:58because amidst those harsh conditions,
-
4:58 - 5:03I felt like I stumbled onto
one of the last quiet places, -
5:03 - 5:06somewhere that I found a clarity
and a connection with the world -
5:06 - 5:09I knew I would never find
on a crowded beach. -
5:10 - 5:13I was hooked. I was hooked. (Laughter)
-
5:13 - 5:16Cold water was constantly on my mind,
-
5:16 - 5:17and from that point on,
-
5:17 - 5:21my career focused on these types of harsh
and unforgiving environments, -
5:21 - 5:25and it took me to places like Russia,
Norway, Alaska, Iceland, Chile, -
5:25 - 5:28the Faroe Islands,
and a lot of places in between. -
5:28 - 5:31And one of my favorite things
about these places -
5:31 - 5:34was simply the challenge and
the creativity it took just to get there: -
5:34 - 5:37hours, days, weeks spent on Google Earth
-
5:37 - 5:41trying to pinpoint any remote stretch
of beach or reef we could actually get to. -
5:41 - 5:45And once we got there,
the vehicles were just as creative: -
5:45 - 5:48snowmobiles, six-wheel
Soviet troop carriers, -
5:48 - 5:51and a couple of super-sketchy
helicopter flights. -
5:51 - 5:53(Laughter)
-
5:53 - 5:56Helicopters really scare me, by the way.
-
5:57 - 5:59There was this one particularly
bumpy boat ride -
5:59 - 6:02up the coast of Vancouver Island
to this kind of remote surf spot, -
6:02 - 6:05where we ended up watching
helplessly from the water -
6:05 - 6:07as bears ravaged our camp site.
-
6:07 - 6:10They walked off with our food
and bits of our tent, -
6:10 - 6:13clearly letting us know that we
were at the bottom of the food chain -
6:13 - 6:16and that this was their spot, not ours.
-
6:16 - 6:17But to me, that trip
-
6:17 - 6:22was a testament to the wildness
I traded for those touristy beaches. -
6:24 - 6:28Now, it wasn't until I traveled
to Norway -- (Laughter) -- -
6:28 - 6:31that I really learned
to appreciate the cold. -
6:32 - 6:34So this is the place
-
6:34 - 6:38where some of the largest,
the most violent storms in the world -
6:38 - 6:41send huge waves smashing
into the coastline. -
6:41 - 6:45We were in this tiny, remote fjord,
just inside the Arctic Circle. -
6:45 - 6:47It had a greater population
of sheep than people, -
6:47 - 6:50so help if we needed it
was nowhere to be found. -
6:51 - 6:53I was in the water
taking pictures of surfers, -
6:53 - 6:55and it started to snow.
-
6:56 - 7:00And then the temperature began to drop.
-
7:00 - 7:04And I told myself, there's not a chance
you're getting out of the water. -
7:04 - 7:07You traveled all this way, and this is
exactly what you've been waiting for: -
7:07 - 7:10freezing cold conditions
with perfect waves. -
7:10 - 7:13And although I couldn't even feel
my finger to push the trigger, -
7:13 - 7:14I knew I wasn't getting out.
-
7:14 - 7:17So I just did whatever I could.
I shook it off, whatever. -
7:17 - 7:19But that was the point that I felt
-
7:19 - 7:21this wind gush through
the valley and hit me, -
7:21 - 7:26and what started as this light snowfall
quickly became a full-on blizzard, -
7:26 - 7:30and I started to lose
perception of where I was. -
7:31 - 7:34I didn't know if I was drifting
out to sea or towards shore, -
7:34 - 7:38and all I could really make out
was the faint sound of seagulls -
7:38 - 7:40and crashing waves.
-
7:41 - 7:46Now, I knew this place had a reputation
for sinking ships and grounding planes, -
7:46 - 7:50and while I was out there floating,
I started to get a little bit nervous. -
7:51 - 7:53Actually, I was totally freaking out --
-
7:53 - 7:56(Laughter) -- and I was
borderline hypothermic, -
7:56 - 8:00and my friends eventually
had to help me out of the water. -
8:00 - 8:03And I don't know if it was
delirium setting in or what, -
8:03 - 8:05but they told me later
-
8:05 - 8:09I had a smile on my face the entire time.
-
8:10 - 8:13Now, it was this trip
-
8:13 - 8:16and probably that exact experience
where I really began to feel -
8:16 - 8:20like every photograph was precious,
-
8:20 - 8:24because all of a sudden in that moment,
it was something I was forced to earn. -
8:25 - 8:30And I realized, all this shivering
had actually taught me something: -
8:30 - 8:34In life, there are no shortcuts to joy.
-
8:35 - 8:39Anything that is worth pursuing
is going to require us to suffer -
8:39 - 8:41just a little bit,
-
8:41 - 8:45and that tiny bit of suffering
that I did for my photography, -
8:45 - 8:48it added a value to my work
that was so much more meaningful to me -
8:48 - 8:50than just trying to fill
the pages of magazines. -
8:52 - 8:58See, I gave a piece of myself
in these places, -
8:58 - 9:01and what I walked away with
-
9:01 - 9:05was a sense of fulfillment
I had always been searching for. -
9:06 - 9:09So I look back at this photograph.
-
9:09 - 9:14It's easy to see frozen fingers
and cold wetsuits -
9:14 - 9:17and even the struggle
that it took just to get there, -
9:17 - 9:21but most of all,
what I see is just joy. -
9:22 - 9:24Thank you so much.
-
9:24 - 9:29(Applause)
- Title:
- The joy of surfing in ice-cold water
- Speaker:
- Chris Burkard
- Description:
-
"Anything that is worth pursuing is going to require us to suffer, just a little bit," says surf photographer Chris Burkard, as he explains his obsession with the coldest, choppiest, most isolated beaches on earth. With jawdropping photos and stories of places few humans have ever seen — much less surfed — he draws us into his "personal crusade against the mundane."
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 09:42
Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water | ||
Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water | ||
Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water | ||
Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water | ||
Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water | ||
Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water | ||
Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water |