Environmentgreen antarcticaextreme sports

Ramón Navarro Surfs Antarctica, Just Because He Can

Fearless Surf-Explorer Conquers Antarctica's Waves (VIDEO)
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"Absolutely gnarly. So dangerous."

That's how big wave surfer Ramón Navarro described his surfing expedition to Antarctica. Navarro is a hyrbid of sorts; as half surfer, half explorer, his driving goal seems to be to surf where no one else has.

Recently, Navarro, fellow surfer Dan Malloy, and a huge support team backed by Red Bull and Patagonia traveled from Navarro's home in Chile to the South Shetland Islands. They spent roughly two weeks among the penguins and seals as they waited for safe conditions, with Navarro eventually conquering at least three new waves that had never been surfed before.

While the waves weren't as large as Navarro had hoped for, he was visibly stoked about the icy adventure. "We made history anyways," he says.

Before You Go

Antarctica Tourism
(01 of14)
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In this Dec. 1, 2009 photo provided by Aurora Expeditions, an inflatable boat carries tourists past an iceberg along the Antarctic Peninsula. In a remote, frozen, almost pristine land where the only human residents are involved in research, tourism comes with risks, for both the continent and the tourists. (AP Photo/Aurora Expeditions, Andrew Halsall) (credit:AP)
(02 of14)
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In this Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 photo, the distant Royal Society Range, photographed from Ross Island, Antarctica, soars 4,200 meters (13,200 feet) above the ice-clogged waters of McMurdo Sound. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(03 of14)
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In this Dec. 2, 2009 photo provided by Aurora Expeditions, an inflatable boat carries tourists past an iceberg along the Antarctic Peninsula. In a remote, frozen, almost pristine land where the only human residents are involved in research, tourism comes with risks, for both the continent and the tourists. (AP Photo/Aurora Expeditions, Andrew Halsall) (credit:AP)
(04 of14)
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In this Dec. 3, 2009 photo provided by Aurora Expeditions, tourists paddle their kayak along the Antarctic Peninsula. In a remote, frozen, almost pristine land where the only human residents are involved in research, tourism comes with risks, for both the continent and the tourists. (AP Photo/Aurora Expeditions, Andrew Halsall) (credit:AP)
(05 of14)
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This Jan. 19, 2013 photo shows New Zealand's Scott Base on Ross Island, Antarctica. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(06 of14)
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In this Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 photo, a Hagglunds over-snow vehicle is photographed from a similar vehicle traveling in convoy on a sightseeing journey along Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island, Antarctica. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(07 of14)
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In this Jan. 20, 2013 photo, tourists scale Crater Hill toward Castle Rock on Ross Island, Antarctica. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(08 of14)
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This Jan. 20, 2013 photo shows tourists near Castle Rock on Crater Hill on Ross Island, Antarctica. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(09 of14)
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In this Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 photo, sightseers board an over-snow vehicle on Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island in Antarctica. Tourism in Antarctica is rebounding five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(10 of14)
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In this Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 photo, a sightseeing helicopter lands near New Zealand's Scott Base on Ross Island, Antarctica. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(11 of14)
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In this Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 photo, a downhill ski run photographed from an over-snow vehicle near New Zealand's Scott Base on Ross Island in Antarctica. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(12 of14)
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In this Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 photo, cross-country skiers pass a survival shelter on Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island, Antarctica. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(13 of14)
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In this Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 photo, U.S. research personnel from McMurdo Station scale nearby Castle Rock for recreation on Ross Island, Antarctica. Tourism is rebounding here five years after the financial crisis stifled what had been a burgeoning industry. And its not just retirees watching penguins from the deck of a ship. Visitors are taking tours inland and even engaging in adventure tourism like skydiving and scuba diving under the ever-sunlit skies of a Southern Hemisphere summer. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk) (credit:AP)
(14 of14)
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In this Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 photo provided by Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of St. Petersburg, Russian researchers at the Vostok station in Antarctica pose for a picture after reaching subglacial lake Vostok. Scientists hold the sign reading "05.02.12, Vostok station, boreshaft 5gr, lake at depth 3769.3 meters." Russian scientists said Monday that a new form of microbial life has been found in water samples taken from the giant freshwater lake hidden under kilometers of Antarctic ice. (AP Photo/Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute Press Service, HO) (credit:AP)
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