A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Long, narrow, oil-rich Scandinavian country on the northwestern edge of the European continent. Norway's weather-battered coastline is a breathtaking assemblage of mountains, cliffs, and fjords, difficult to traverse, but wide open to surf generated from storms near the Arctic Circle and Greenland. 

The Jæren region, a stretch of coast near the southern tip of Norway between Stavanger and Eigersund, has nearly 30 charted surf spots—mostly rocky pointbreaks or broad sandy beachbreaks, many of which produce first-rate waves from two to 12 foot— and is the center of the Norway surf scene. 

Waves hit the area regularly from midfall to early spring; the best surf usually arrives in December and January, but limited daylight makes deep-winter surfing a hit-and- run operation. Heavy winds are often a problem. Average winter air and water temperatures are 45 and 35 degrees, respectively. During the summer months, when temperatures are mild and daylight is plentiful—Norway is known as the "land of the midnight sun"—the surf is generally small and unpredictable. 

Novelty-seeking surfers can detour to the Sommerland waterpark in Bo, 30 miles from the coast, home to the world's most powerful FlowRider machine, which produces a chlorinated standing wave up to 12 foot high. The FlowRider, however, is for bodyboarding only, and each 30-second ride is more often than not preceded by a 15-minute wait in line. 

Roar Berge, a fireman from Skeie, along with several visiting American oil workers, were Norway's first surfers, testing the chilly waves in the southern part of the country in 1982. A handful of natives took up the sport in the late '80s—while Berge became his country's sole representative in the 1988 World Amateur Surfing Championships in Puerto Rico—but surfboards weren't retailed in Norway until 1993. 

Norway came to the attention of the surf world at large in 2000, as a group of surfers from Santa Cruz, California, rode some small but well-shaped waves for a Surfer magazine travel article. In 2001, British pros Spencer Hargraves and Sam Lamiroy, toured above the Arctic Circle and discovered "perfect waves and world-class barrels" beneath the Northern Lights. 

As of 2003, Norway was home to just one surf shop and about 250 surfers. The Norweigan surf is detailed in The Stormrider Guide Europe (1998).

Norway

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

Encyclopedia of Surfing