Six Pearls Of Big Wave Surfing Wisdom According To Kai Lenny
The first time I met Kai Lenny he was an unknown kid from Maui who was dropping by a beach workout with the Waimea Bay lifeguards on the North Shore of Oahu. Bright-eyed and eager, he's ridden a lot of giant waves since then, but 15 years later and he's still the same super stoked, positive person he's always been.
Eager to take on the El Niño winter of 2023/24 and whatever the world's oceans can throw at him, I just caught up with him at the Coast Film and Music Festival in Laguna Beach, where he was giving a talk on surfing and the environment. With two young twin girls and a full training and travel schedule, he's a busy man, but I managed to extract these insightful bits from him:
On the challenges of filming while surfing giant waves...
I the hardest thing is trying to surf big waves and perform and survive, but then having that producer mindset too where you’re thinking about the storylines and directing filmers is challenging. Basically, you are taken out of the moment and it is really difficult to get back into that state of focus. That being said, if you can do both, then you clearly can handle a lot more than you expected.
On making the decision to chase a swell...
You get the phone call that it’s on and here we go. But it’s really tricky because you show up to Nazare, for example, it’s 80 feet and you’re jet lagged and you’re tired and you jump right into it. It’s funny, I think it’s prepared me to have twin girls.
On the rewards of big-wave surfing...
The reward of riding a massive wave, it’s incredible. It’s taxing, for sure. When it’s over you might feel alright, but your adrenal glands are drained. Your dopamine is gone. And your serotonin is zapped.
On the physical costs of chasing big waves...
You have to be really careful because your immune system becomes pretty compromised. It’s extremely easy to get sick. At one point I flew from Maui to Nazare, was there for two days and flew straight back home. My immune system was totally shot and I ended up getting really sick. There’s a cost to doing all these things and the reward outweighs that cost in, in my opinion. But, yeah, but at the same time you have to be able to manage it.
On the future of big wave surfing...
I think we’re just starting to get a glimpse of it, but bringing snowboarding more into big-wave surfing, we’re only scratching the surface. That's the ultimate goal, do what those guys do on those massive Alaskan mountains. Honestly, that’s probably more consequential than riding a big wave. Those big airs and corked rotations off cliffs, that’s possible in big-wave surfing too, I think. The hardest part about riding a big wave and performing is that you’re basically at the mercy of the wave and you never get the same wave twice. The mountain is moving underneath you, so when you’re approaching a big chop and want to launch off it, you have to really be thinking ahead about your landing. The consequences can be terrifying, but that’s part of the journey. It’s the same thing in the mountains. You get a few days a year that are perfect and that’s when you have to take advantage of all your training and preparation.
On being a role model...
If I could inspire people to go out there and follow their dreams and don’t be deterred by the speed bumps, I think that’s something we can all agree on. There are speed bumps in life, almost on the daily nowadays, and in order to persevere and overcome you have to have passion for what you do. That’s been my secret, it’s just passion for what I do. I hope people see that.
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.