Surfer Profile: Ian Walsh

Highlights:
Catching a 69 foot wave and getting second in the Billabong XXL awards a few years ago, as well as getting on to the list for the Eddie. 3rd place Excel Sunset WQS event 2004 1st place Excel Sunset WQS event 2005

Ian Walsh catapulted into the surfing media, literally, in 2004. Growing up maui, Walsh had always known about Peahi and had seen it ridden, but had never received a chance to have a go out there. Until January 10th that is, when all things changed. He was out there and getting a few when he let go of the rope on a medium looking wave that turned into a real 70-footer. He had gotten a few good ones in the morning, and when this one came through he was feeling confident and decided to fade a little bit deeper. It was this action that saw him in the right place at the right time for the photo, that was translated into the 70-foot wave that made him famous.
Although it was big surf that made him shine, Walsh is pretty adept in most surfing conditions, and can bust out some big new school turn at the local beachbreak as well. after surfing the Pro Tour and chasing points, he decided to take off and follow a slightly different path. In 2006, when he got off the tour, he ended up winning the O’Neill Mission, a speciality event that took a group of surfers through Tahiti’s best waves, took part in the RB5X Fiji, and even went snowboarding in Chile, far away from The Grind.
Now it’s back to big waves for this extremely talented surfer. With a list of sponsors next to his name and mainstream media frothing whenever his name is mentioned, Ian has a lot on his plate, but is dealing with it all admirably. He was off to Japan to surf a Typhoon with Ross Clarke-Jones. They surfed giant surf generated by the typhoon, or Tai Fu called Typhoon Ioke, along with Tom Carrol and others.
Now its Dungeons for Walsh. At the age of 25 he will be one of the youngest competitors present, but he has more experience than many of his competitors, and he has plenty of unbridled confidence. Along with good mate and fellow Hawaiian surfer Jamie Sterling, Walsh could very easily do something crazy at Dungeons, and have us all reassess how the wave is actually supposed to be surfed. If you were to judge him from the different and unusual lines he draws at Teahupoo you would be able to see that he has a fresh and bold approach to the monstrous waves that so many of us fear. When it comes to the big stuff he has a unique approach. “You just have to surf it as if it was three-foot, and keep having fun. It really takes the pressure off.”

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