Minnesota
Best months:
November to February

Minnesota

United States
LAST UPDATED 04/05/2009
Bookmark and Share

introduction

2856c94190598e82e30aa29991c74ce0
Jona Thunder: Welcome to Minnesota; 2007

Lake Superior is by far the largest of the lakes in the system and by itself contains 10% of the worlds freshwater. With dimensions of roughly 350 by 160 miles. a shoreline of 2700 miles and a maximum depth of over 400 metres, there is easily enough fetch on this body of water to generate rideable waves. In fact, he maximum recorded waves on this body of water exceed 20 feet in height.What you should expect and plan for is something far more manageable however.

Minnesota's rivermouths, beaches and points all work on NE to Easterly wind swells. Winter to Spring will be your best window here, (Dec-May). From the chart above, it is clear that the water in Lake Superior typically hovers at around 5-10 degrees year round and rarely freezes over. Air temps fluctuate however from around -10 in winter through to a balmy 25 in the summer. Your wetsuit is your friend here and if you plan on taking the lake on in winter, bring plenty of rubber. 7mm suits, heaters, the works.

surfing

98bc5543df387e66d0a30b9f0f492b46
Mila Zanova: Exit Stage Right; 2008

Planning your surf trip to Minnesota is a cinch. Depending on how much time you have, plan to base yourself in Duluth for the start until you get a feel for what breaks are going to suit you best. Shortboarding is a possibility but you should be looking 'large' as far a s board selection goes. Freshwater effect will reduce the buoyancy of your board and if you are used to swimming mainly in the ocean, affect your swimming too. The extra wetsuit padding tends to make up for the swimming factor but its a safe call to bring at least one longboard on this trip, 9 foot plus. Its unlikely to get over 5 feet so leave the gun at home in it's rack.

First Turns is just to the east of town. Like most of the breaks here you'll need a NE wind swell to bring it to life. Its a stretch of beach that often throws together a nice bank around the middle of the beach and is actually very consistent though usually junky. Off The Pier is just by the canal entrance, the breakwall aftificially increases the wave height and in a clean swell its a fun, fast ride.

When the swell gets over 3 feet, get out of town and head north. Lester River throws up a nice left known as the L-Train and there are several other peaks around here. French River just to the north is a similar rivermouth break offering lefts and rights depending on the acute angle of the swell. There are a few gems right up the coast best discovered in a short drive by when the swell is firing. The best break to the north almost at the Canadian border is 121's (pictured above), a solid rivermouth set up that offers well deposited banks surrounded by fairly deep water. clean swells barrel over the banks offering a short intense right or a walling left. It's a tricky find, just use our maps to help you out. North of here you are into Canada and east of Duluth you're in Wisconsin.

You must be a registered user to comment. Click here to register.