Catching up once again with Russ, he’s home for the winter, playing cat and mouse with forecasts, working with tides, winds, and chasing what he can before it fizzes out. With a film deadline looming, he’s been squeezing in trips wherever he can. “Just trying to make the most of it before the cut-off,” he said. “AK and I are putting something together. It’s coming together pretty quick.” AK, better known as Andrew Kaineder, is a longtime friend and filmer—someone Russ has shared more than a few heavy sessions with over the years. In between those missions, he’s also been chipping away at some R&D with the crew at Ocean & Earth, work that’s shaping up nicely, albeit very hush-hush for now.
Russ has been putting that gear through its paces in real conditions, testing how it holds up when the ocean is at its heaviest. “It’s cool to see how much the guys down at O+E are pushing their hardware, even though it’s already super high quality. They’re still trying to find ways to make it better,” he said. For Russ, being part of that process means blending his day-to-day surf missions with a bit of hands-on development, making sure the gear can handle whatever the coast throws at it.
Refinements being made, O&E Head Quarters, South Coast, Australia
Scoring waves on the South Coast is never straightforward. Big cold fronts roll through regularly, bringing strong winds that can completely shut down any spot in an instant. Russ put it simply:
“You have to be so onto the tides and winds and quick windows. More often than not, it means driving around like a lunatic, checking one spot after another, chasing fleeting moments when the swell and wind line up just right. But when everything comes together, the waves at home can be as good as anywhere in the world."
Out Early, In Deep
Among all the rocks, there have been a few diamonds. One session stood out: Russ finally caught a rare left slab bombie, “a wave I’ve wanted to get good since I was a kid,” he said. The swell showed up just right, delivering the kind of hollow, slabby barrels that make the South Coast notorious. But the session came at a cost: a heavy fall saw Russ slam face-first into the reef, breaking his nose and putting him out of action for a few weeks. “Thankfully, it wasn’t any worse,” he said. “Yeah, that session will be a pretty big feature in the upcoming film, which should be out in September. So, I'm pretty keen to share a bit more with you guys then!”
Russ @ Unknown Location - Screen grab
This winter’s been a mix of grit and luck. Big systems have hammered the coast, stirring up wild conditions and making timing everything. But when it’s come together, the payoff’s been real, heavy water, waves of a lifetime, maybe even a generation. Mystical offshore bombies that haven’t broken in decades… and we’re only halfway through.
🦘 Born in Australia.