Ice Cream Headaches: Surfing in NY and NJ

Photographs by Julien Roubinet

The Beach Boys never sang about 5mm wetsuits, dragging your board through a foot of snow to get to the break and the excruciating pain of feeling like your head might explode when you duck dive. But to the cold-water surfers of the northeast, this is very much the reality of winter. A new book featuring the photography of Julien Roubinet captures this tribe doing what they love enough to endure the world’s worst brain freeze to do.

Along with writer Ed Thompson, Roubinet spent four years traveling the coast from Montauk to Cape May, with stops at Rockaway Beach and the Jersey Shore, chasing the endless winter and documenting the people, places, and waves for their book Ice Cream Headaches.

The book’s 192 pages are packed with four essays on the coldest surf season and 110 photographs. And you can enjoy it from the warmth and comfort of your easy chair. Almost seems like cheating.

Oh, and if you want an explanation of what causes surfers to have ice cream headaches (and a theory on how to overcome it) check this out.

 

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