Every sport and culture has its subdivisions. Cold water surf exploration is a niche within a niche and an extreme pursuit reserved only for the keen few. It’s a world away from the stock standard Indo boat trip. Bush planes, fishing boats, weather warnings, camping in the cold – these are all part of the process with no guarantee of success. Despite this, it’s this exact formula that film maker Ben Weiland has built a career on.
His obsession for finding waves in the most remote and frigid corners of the globe has led to projects such as Under An Arctic Sky, Cradle of Storms, Island X, Return of the Bering and, most recently, The Search for Volcano Island. Ben’s best adventures exist far beyond surfing’s traditional playgrounds. His films have taken viewers to Alaska, Kamchatka, the Faroe Islands, the Aleutian Islands and other isolated coastlines.
“I love surfing personally,” said Ben, “but as a filmmaker and a creative I love the storytelling. The surf is just the cherry on top.”
This philosophy is what separates his films from others. Each one is more than a standard surf film. They’re about the people, the landscapes and the journey required to reach them.
In 2009 Ben started ‘Arctic Surf’, a cold water blog dedicated to the exploration of waves in the most remote corners of the globe. However, his fascination with wild landscapes took root years earlier.
“My family has a lot of background in the mountains,” he said. “My grandfather and my uncle were both into mountaineering, they climbed in the Himalayas and all throughout Alaska. So I always had a love of the outdoors and mountainous, forested terrain.”
That passion collided with surfing while in New Zealand’s South Island.
“When I experienced surfing during snowfall around pine trees with mountains surrounding you, it just captivated me that you could overlap surfing with that kind of outdoor experience. It felt like such a novel thing.”
At the time, cold-water surfing still occupied surfing’s fringes. Most people assumed these places were little more than novelty destinations – proof that waves could break in freezing climates rather than places capable of producing world-class surf.
However, Ben thought otherwise.
After spending countless hours poring over maps of Alaska and submitting potential discoveries to Surfer Magazine’s Google Earth Challenge, he eventually started documenting his research on ‘Arctic Surf’. It caught the attention of photographer Chris Burkard, who reached out with an idea that would ultimately shape both of their careers.
Together they began documenting expeditions for Surfer Magazine, travelling through New Zealand, Russia, the Faroe Islands and eventually Alaska, where projects like Cradle of Storms and Under An Arctic Sky would help alter our understanding of what was possible in these remote locations.
“At the time it was still a bit of an open question whether you could actually find world-class surf in the coldest places in the world,” said Ben.
“People always thought it was onshore and terrible, but those trips were eye-opening. You realised there was actually incredible quality surf if you were in the right place at the right time.”
Those films also cemented another truth. The waves might be spectacular, but they’re almost secondary.
“Visually it’s stunning,” said Ben. “But from a storytelling perspective it’s even more interesting. You’re encountering different cultures around surfing. I love the characters you meet, the bush planes, the ferries, the weather, having to brace yourself against the cold. I love how dynamic those places are. It’s just a totally different environment.”
These types of adventures demand a certain type of personality and a level of patience not many of us have when we’re hungry for waves.
“You definitely have to be obsessive,” Ben admitted.
“You have to be stoked to be in a super remote place where there’s nothing around. You could be stuck on an island for three or four weeks because of weather delays. Hardly any food. Maybe potatoes and onions on a shelf. Two people to talk to. You have to enjoy that kind of stuff.”
For some, that sounds like torture and is enough to drive some surfers insane. However, there’s always a select few who are fascinated by the possibilities and are willing to do whatever it takes.
“You realise some people have dedicated their entire lives to solo hiking through remote parts of Alaska looking for waves,” he said. “You kind of have to have a couple of screws loose.”
Amongst Ben’s catalogue of cold water pursuits, two stand above the rest.
“The Aleutian Islands trip with Chris Burkard was just such a crazy, unique trip and the waves were so good,” he said.
“And then Kamchatka back in 2012. We had a really great crew and those places are just so different from anywhere else I’ve ever been.”
For Ben’s latest venture, he joined a crew of surfing brothers aboard the Milo, a science research vessel, in hope of finding a world class wave under a volcano in the Aleutian Island chain.
“There are literally areas that are uncharted,” he said.
“You don’t even know what you’re coming into when you approach the coastline. You’d need to spend years living on just one island figuring out the surf, let alone all 165 islands. It was kind of a joke to think we could just sail through and find great waves.”
Yet somehow they did.
Not because exploration has become easier, but because they’re willing to accept how difficult it remains.
“People think you can click around on Google Earth and then just show up. But when you actually look at what it takes to get to these places it’s extremely complicated, expensive or completely prohibitive. My mind is more open than ever to how much there still is left to explore.”
One of the misconceptions surrounding these types of expeditions is that these films reveal the locations to the world and blow up the spots.
“You’ve got somebody sitting in California saying you’re blowing up the spot without having any idea what it takes to actually get there. Just the thought of the journey is enough to put most people off.”
After more than a decade of producing some of surfing’s most ambitious adventure films, Ben’s outlook has become increasingly philosophical.
The pursuit is no longer about claiming first ascents or discovering mythical waves.
It’s about staying curious.
“Originally I was excited by the idea of finding waves that had never been documented,” he said. “But now I love hearing stories about people who surfed somewhere back in the ’90s off a sailboat with no internet or satellite phones. It gives you such a respect for what people have been doing for so long.”
That curiosity continues to drive Fielder Films, with new expeditions already underway and a rapidly growing YouTube channel giving old projects and untold stories a second life.
But if you ask Ben what keeps pulling him back to the cold corners of the earth, the answer has very little to do with surfing at all.
“The hope is that the stories are really about the characters, the adventures, the challenges and the cultures you encounter along the way,” he said.
“The surfing becomes the treasure that’s being hunted down.”
For Ben Weiland, that treasure has never simply been a perfect wave.
It’s everything that lies beyond it.
