Surfing
Ian Walsh is a global superstar in the big wave world. Come and meet the surfer from Maui, in Hawaii, who’s as dedicated to doing it right as he is to going hard.
Summary
- 1He’s a all about simple pleasures and epic adventures
- 2He decided to become a pro surfer at a young age, and stuck to his plan
- 3He’s travelled the world but will always return to his first love: Jaws
- 4My Last Two Winters is a seminar on setting up for success
- 5Nothing in surfing compares to a generational swell on home turf
- 6Following proves no surfer is more dedicated to the details
- 7He surfs hard and trains harder
- 8Walsh and his wingmen are leading the paddling charge
- 9He'll never stop looking for magical surf spots in unlikely places
- 10Once an island boy, always an island boy
- 11Walsh will forever be loyal to his Maui roots
- 12Distance Between Dreams is his tribute to big wave surfing
- 13Teamwork makes Distance Between Dreams work
- 14Friends in high places
- 15Typhoons in Japan? Walsh says yes
- 16He won Ride of the Year and Tube of the Year at the 2018 WSL Big Wave …
Like a lot of young Hawaiians growing up, Ian Walsh dreamt of being a professional surfer. Unlike a lot of his peers, Walsh went out and put a plan in place to make his dreams a reality. At the age of 16, Walsh surfed Jaws for the first time and started to think that maybe the big wave arena might just be his preferred path to surfing success. Figuring out how to perform to the best of his ability would also prove a wise decision to Walsh, one that would serve him well long into his future.
Twenty four years and countless trophies, magazine covers and waves of a lifetime later, it's safe to say Walsh's career has surpassed his wildest ambitions, and he's far from finished. Allow us to run you through a few things you may or may not know about the polished performer from Kuau on the North Shore of Maui, Hawaii.
01
He’s a all about simple pleasures and epic adventures
"I grew up in a small little town on Maui, conveniently located in close proximity to the best big wave on the planet," says Walsh. "I think developing as a surfer in Maui is unique because you have one-foot waves to 60-foot waves and everything in between, whether that’s sandbars, point breaks, slabs, punchy close outs, outer reefs, giant waves and barrels and whatever you want to have, it's there.
"I could finish school, knock out as much of my homework as I could on the bus ride home, get out, grab my board and either hitchhike or run down to the beach right from the house, and go surfing until the streetlights came on, which was my parents rule."
02
He decided to become a pro surfer at a young age, and stuck to his plan
"My dad drove tractors for the sugarcane company after they’d burned the fields," says Walshi. "I checked out my dad's job while I was in the early stages of my high school to go get my bearings for what life was like out there in the dust. And after that I was like, there is zero chance I am not going to be a professional surfer."
03
He’s travelled the world but will always return to his first love: Jaws
Tell us about the first time you surfed Jaws?
I still vividly remember the first couple of waves I got and I immediately understood that this was why everyone ends up getting consumed by it. Straight away, I knew I never wanted to miss a swell out there, and sitting here now, I don’t know if I ever have since, apart from the two times when I’ve competed at The Eddie (Aikau Invitational, held at Waimea Bay on the North Shore of Oahu). I still remember my first couple of waves, thinking if I could be deeper, where I could do turns, really analysing it all, and it’s been like that ever since. The talons sunk right into my back that day. That was me done for life.
These day Jaws is still my favourite big wave. By far. I think it’s just the structure of the wave, it's set up the same as a perfect 4-6ft reef break, except it’s 60 feet. From a big wave standpoint, if you are going right, there’s no better place in the world.
04
My Last Two Winters is a seminar on setting up for success
When Walsh's episode of My Last Two Winters was released in early 2023, he spoke exclusively and in depth to Red Bull about his quest to track down and tame the biggest waves on the planet.
Aside from the surfing, what really stands out in My Last Two Winters is how meticulous you are when it comes to every aspect of your preparation. Is that who you are, or did you decide that was going to be your approach when you entered the big wave realm full-time?
As far as big wave surfing goes, attention to detail is absolutely non-negotiable. We’re a long way removed from land. We’re way out there and reliant on whatever we’ve put together ourselves in the way of systems and safety in case something catastrophic goes down. I want to be with people who are thinking things through and are really set up and well-dialled in so that we can push ourselves with confidence knowing that we’ll be looked out for.
05
Nothing in surfing compares to a generational swell on home turf
Every surfing town has a mythical wave that is spoken of more than it is seen. You can live somewhere your whole surfing life and only ever hear of the perfect point that has to be seen to be believed, or the ballistic beach break that only exists for a few hours before sinking into the sand as quickly as it surfaced, not to be seen again for another dozen years. In Maui that wave is called Freight Trains, and it is this story on steroids.
I think this goes down as one of the all-time greatest days on Maui. The waves were all-time, all day long. I can’t believe what just happened
On July 17 in 2022, a few days after the Code Red Two swell thumped into Teahupo’o in Tahiti, it continued across the South Pacific and turned north, stealing through the tiny gap between the coast of Maui and the uninhabited islet of Kayo-olawe at the exact perfect angle needed to turn the Ma'alaea Harbor into the world’s fastest wave. So rare is this gem that Kai Lenny, rider of the world’s wildest waves and Maui local, had never surfed it before. He sure has now though, and Walsh was right there alongside Kai, happily filling his boots.
"Have you ever seen better surf on Maui in your life?" asks Walsh, rhetorically. "I don't think so!"
06
Following proves no surfer is more dedicated to the details
We’ve all seen the dramatic images of surfing’s gladiators taming monsters in the middle of the ocean, but have you seen the 4am wake-ups, the wrestling of huge board bags through airports and the shivering pre-dawn car park rev-up sessions? As the above video from a 2022 Mavericks mission proves, when Walsh and close friend Kai Lenny decide to chase swells across oceans, they do so with military precision.
"I really geek out on meteorology," says Walsh, "and everything that makes the storms we surf, and how to track them. I've had a log for years now of pretty every day and every wave that I've surfed, so that I can look back and compare swells. I can't remember where my car keys are right now but I could tell you exactly how the waves were on January 10, 2004! I have this catalogue in my head of memories of days, waves angles, wind size, swell periods, swell fetch, and where a storm actually was built."
07
He surfs hard and trains harder
An intensive fitness programme keeps Walsh primed. Red Bull High Performance trainer Samantha Campbell even claims she often has to make Walsh go surfing instead of working out, such is his dedication to his preparation. A combination of strength, stability, plyometric and cardiovascular workouts keep him ready for anything, as is necessary in the big wave realm, where there is no fixed season and you live your life in a constant state of high alert, ready to chase swells at the whims of the weather.
"Every year Ian gets exponentially better than the year previous," says his close friend, fellow big wave legend Greg Long. "His incredible fitness and surfing level are testament to the time and energy he's putting in to his physical training."
For cycling to gain the stamina needed to surf long hours, to rotational box jumps simulating big bottom turns, nothing is off limits in Walsh's training schedule. Five-minute static breath holds on the surface are easy when you can free dive to 45 metres and push your limits to the same level you would in heavy water. Sport science comprising everything from nutrition to bloodwork, paddling simulators to hi-tech treadmills, are all part of the Walsh routine.
08
Walsh and his wingmen are leading the paddling charge
The level these guys have taken paddling at Jaws to just doesn't seem real.
Given that Jaws was where the tow-in revolution began with the Strapped Crew in the late '90s, it's fitting that now big wave surfing has gone full circle Jaws is now the ultimate testing ground for how hard surfers can push it barehanded. Naturally local legend Walsh is at the vanguard of guys seeing how far they can go.
"I saw him whip it and go," says big wave icon Shane Dorian, of Walsh's El Niño paddle monster above. "My first thought straight away was, 'he's too deep!' When you're out there though, sometimes you just have to take that risk." Threading a huge tube, Walsh escaped the maw and was spat out into the channel, to the acollades of the world.
"It was such a well ridden wave," says Dorian, "that's what makes him one of the best surfers on earth. He can mix it up with the best guys when the waves are smaller, then apply that same ability when Jaws is maxing."
09
He'll never stop looking for magical surf spots in unlikely places
"I saved up when I was really young and got an around-the-world ticket," says Walsh. "Did a whole trip all over the world and figured it out as I went, treated it like I was in an up-and-coming band where everywhere you go you have to put on the best show you've ever played. I wanted to have a ton of fun, I wanted to surf my best at every event, and I wanted to enjoy all places I was going.
"I'd stay between events for however many weeks and connect with the place and the surfers and get such a better understanding of the waves. I went to Japan, then flew to Australia, South Africa, stayed a while, flew up to Europe and competed, stopped in the East Coast and competed in New Jersey, on to California, and then when I got home to Maui I realised I'd just had so much fun. I was like okay, 'this,' and it just snowballed since then."
From icy Alaska to chasing typhoons in Japan, there's no limit to where Walsh will find adventure and friends. While Walsh is from Maui, he loves surfing at Mavericks in California, so when the No Contest crew rolled up to San Francisco in 2023 with a hunger for big waves and hot meals, of course he was down to jump in the van alongside Jamie O'Brien and Izzi Gomez to check out the City By The Bay's underground surf scene.
What do you like most about San Francisco?
Ultimately the way the place looks and feels comes down to the locals, and that's really important. As much as things night evolve and change there's always going to be that backbone to it, and that's what drives the community forward.
A dedicated foodie – his Kitchen Captain cooking channel on YouTube has nearly 50 videos uploaded – Walsh loves the food in San Francisco as much as he loves the waves, and despite the distance from home, the cold air and colder water, he'll never have to be asked twice to board a flight to SFO.
10
Once an island boy, always an island boy
Although a proud Hawaiian, Walsh was born in his father's home state of Rhode Island, on the opposite side of the US mainland. An unlikely surfing destination, though it can hold some serious juice on its day, Walsh even claims to have enjoyed one of the best East Coast surfs of his life at a reef many miles off the coast of New England.
"After me my parents tried for a girl and had twin boys," laughs Walsh, of his brothers Shaun and DK. "It was the ultimate backfire because they're the polar opposite of a cute little girl, they were completely out-of-control wild twin boys. They've grown into great men now, but when they were young they were definitely a handful!"
11
Walsh will forever be loyal to his Maui roots
Since 2004 Walsh has hosted his Annual Ian Walsh Menehune Mayhem at Ho’okipa Beach Park in Maui.
"A lot of it was originally built around the concept of, 'Okay, if I was 12 or 13, what would my ideal weekend look like?' And that's what made it really fun," says Walsh. "Then we started adding these other layers of scholastic achievement, environmental awareness, and then obviously, sports performance within surfing, and mixing it all together.
"I also really wanted to create an event that was free, first and foremost," says Walsh. "The other events all cost money and I remember vividly being 12-years-old and trying to get $35 to enter a contest was hard, so a big premise of the event from its inception is that it's 100% free for every kid who does it."
These days the competition has grown to include more than 400 kids under the age of 15, in a weekend-long affair that is the high point of the calendar year for the Ian Walsh Menehune Mayhem Foundation.
With the charity looking to support activities and events that encourage the youth of Maui, it's fair to say they're hitting the mark with Walsh's annual event.
12
Distance Between Dreams is his tribute to big wave surfing
"Shooting Distance Between Dreams conveniently landed in probably the most historic winter in my lifetime – if not the most historic year in big wave surfing, ever," says Walsh of his 2017 biopic. "That was a really rare circumstance, with everything culminating at the same time."
'Convenient landings' don't just happen, though. They are the result of a lifetime of dedication and, as Kai Lenny says, living just down the street from the best big wave on the planet.
From Maui to Mavericks, Nazaré and beyond, Walsh has dedicated his life to his dreams, and this beautifully put-together biopic perfectly reflects that. No wonder it took out Best Documentary at the 2017 Surfer Poll Awards.
13
Teamwork makes Distance Between Dreams work
"You're always at the mercy of the ocean, but you can minimise this risk by training and water safety," says Walsh. "I really wanted to show that in Distance Between Dreams. Without the growth of water safety, the sport doesn't directly have the same catapult and progression it's had in the last few years. Water safety is a talent of its own, just like the way Greg Long or Shane Dorian surf. I think we're showing that there is a lot of risk in this, but we're not doing it blindly. We're trying to have as much control over ourselves in these situations as we can."
Walsh and his crew realised that the safer they are about their surfing, the further they could push the limits of what's possible.
14
Friends in high places
Walsh has a network of surfers around the world he calls friends. From home in Hawaii to Australia, Mexico, you name it, if there's a swell on the maps, he's got someone on the ground he can call to report on it. And if Tahiti is looking good, why not ring up two-time world champion John John Florence and go trade turquoise tubes in the South Pacific together? Sounds good to us.
15
Typhoons in Japan? Walsh says yes
"You learn a lot more about an area being there and crawling around every little option on the coast than you do sitting on Google Earth at home," says Walsh in Peaking, a series of videos following surfers as they prepare for big wave season. It's an update on the old traveller's adage that 'getting there is half the fun', and in this day and age of modern surf exploration, it's a reminder that nothing beats time on the ground, or, as the case may be, in the water.
16
He won Ride of the Year and Tube of the Year at the 2018 WSL Big Wave Awards
Was the perfect 10 you got at Jaws in the 2017 Pe'ahi Challenge the highlight of your career?
Want more insights into the wild and wonderful world of Ian Walsh? Stay tuned for Why We Go, coming very soon.
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