COLD WATER SURF MAP
Chris Nelson worked closely with surf company Finisterre to help them devise and develop their cold water surf map. The purpose of the map was to showcase those surfers that Finisterre has supported and developed a special relationship with over the years. Chris produced a series of features, launching with five profiles, which captured both an essence of the surfers and the locales. The surf map will continue to develop as an ongoing feature and... Read More
COLD COMFORTS & ICE CREAM HEADACHES
When the crew at the Good Cornwall Guide wanted the inside track on what it’s really like surfing in Cornwall in winter, they got in touch with our resident cold water soul, Chris Nelson who penned them this feature for them. _DT COLD COMFORTS & ICE CREAM HEADACHES // CHRIS NELSON There is something special about summer in Cornwall. Small lines of swell roll through to sandy coves, greeted by the eager battalions of surfers who pepper the... Read More
HOKKAIDO – THE RIGHTS OF PASSAGE
When Alex got in touch and asked me to share a tale with him for his book, I was a little unsure. He’d spoken to the likes of Shane Dorian, Laird Hamilton, and Mark Visser who’d told him big tales of big surf. He wanted to talk to me about Cold Water Souls – a book that had taken me to some of the most inhospitable surf spots on the planet to search out those cold water pioneers who call those locations home. It was a big trip, a... Read More
In My Experience: Wavelength Magazine
Thurso has always been my retreat. While friends sought out tropical relief from North East winters, I was drawn north to the charms of this cold Scottish wave that thundered along the tapering slabstone reef enjoyed by a handful of hardy locals. But times, they are a changin’ and Thurso, in spite of itself hasn’t been immune to surfing’s global boom. I’ve know Thurso local Chris Noble for some years now so I caught up with... Read More
Montecristo
As the familiar crisp edge begins to bite into the shortening days, my thoughts become clearer and I begin to dream again of colder climates and distant lands. I first went to Vancouver Island in 2005 to meet some of Canadian surfing’s most interesting characters and pioneers. This was the journey that planted the seed for Cold Water Souls - an anthropological exploration of some of the world’s least hospitable surfing locales –... Read More
RIPPLES & BOMBS
The Surfer’s Path caught up with Festival Director Chris Nelson to get the low down on this year’s London Surf / Film Festival. Why London? When we sat down to plan out what we’d want from a festival the location was key. I live in Cornwall, but grew up surfing on the northeast coast and there are so many thriving surf communities in the UK, so many epicenters that we decided to bring it to the UK’s cultural capital. It’s neutral territory,... Read More
Port Eliot
Discussing the joys and the pains of the surf magazine world with former Surfing Magazine editor and author Jamie Brisick, as part of his Mag/zine exhibition in the grandeur of the Round Room at the Port Eliot Festival. CN Read More
When The Dust Settles : The Surfer’s Path
There have been many changes in Morocco since the days when Taghazoute was just a dusty little village at the end of the Hippy Trail. During my first trip in the mid-90′s there were no luxury apartments or broadband, no surf shops or wax. My last trip to the area had been in 2001, and I was keen to return to see just how the village had changed, what impact the influx of surfers have had on the lives of locals and hear first hand their thoughts... Read More
AGAINST THE CODE: HUCK MAGAZINE
For Issue 31 HUCK Magazine London Surf / Film Festival founder Chris Nelson talks to movie makers Pierce Michael Kavanagh and Cyrus Sutton to explore whether, with branded surf footage amassing online, the independent filmmaker can still make things DIY. Extract below. AGAINST THE CODE – CHRIS NELSON The ground is shifting under our feet. The fault creep rumbles on, inexorably. The Digital Revolution, that all encompassing subterranean shift,... Read More
THE GOOD TIMES
Chris and Demi were invited to contribute to ‘The Good Times’ a one off creative project from The Church of London, launched on January 16th 2012, said to be the most depressing day of the year. The feature ‘Just For Us’, explores artists and creatives who are working off-line and under the radar including documentary photographer Andrew Forrest and Clare Howdle, founder of Tell Tales, a creative writing night in Falmouth,... Read More
