AXEL EXPERIENCING THE PEAK

Coming back to South Sumatra for the third time in three years, The Peak was not the wave I was the most excited about (The Peak is a very iconic and recognisable wave that some travel across the globe for). Even though it’s name “The Peak”, it is in reality the right hander that is the star of the show. Meaning that the wave is backside for me, it’s fast and sort of an awkward drop, the ride is really short and I have never had a really good surf there. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m just not good at surfing The Peak. It’s definitely not a bad wave, not at all. Some of my favourite surf photos and videos are actually shot at The Peak. Truthfully, my backside skills are just bad. Which might be because of my extensive time spent in Indonesia which is a dominant supplier of lefthand waves.

During the first couple of weeks at @amysumatra the waves (that I love surfing) around Krui just were not cooperating. The tides were too low, the swell direction was wrong and the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. The waves at The Peak were however PUMPING and it would be stupid not to surf it.

My first session I surfed with a couple of friends who got some amazing barrels. I did not. I actually struggled just to get waves. But seeing my friends getting wave after wave made me want to improve my backside skills. Specifically my backside skills at The Peak.

The next session went better. But still no barrel for me. Nonetheless the waves were still pumping and I had one of the most fun sessions in a while.

Finally, third times a charm. Thanks to Amy who gave me some super helpful technique tips, I finally made it into a couple of barrels, and out of some. The stoke level instantly went through the roof and a newfound love for the wave was instantly created. Thank you Amy for helping me enjoy backside surfing even more. It is still something I find incredibly hard, however I’m excited to work on it and explore more righthand waves.

Here is a couple of sequences highlighting a session out at The Peak.

// Axel

All photos were taken by the very talented Julia Ekström ( @julia.ekstromm )