Thirty-one-year-old Emi Erickson came to surfing late in life and at the most unlikely of spots: Sunset Beach. She rode it on a single-fin, passed down from her father, Roger Erickson, a Waimea hell-man in the 1980s. She lives on the North Shore, and her trajectory has been distinctly DIY (waitressing and working at a health food store to fund her surf jones). In 2019, she won the Nelscott Reef Pro in gray, cold, big waves in Lincoln City, Oregon. It’s a path as unlikely as it is interesting.
In this episode we talk about the father-daughter connection, the possibility of a big wave gene, her love of Sunset, the joys of the single fin, her nasty injury in the 2017 Peahi Challenge, sexism in the lineup, our mutual love of Ross Clarke-Jones, conquering fear, and the tight-knit family that is the big wave tribe.—Jamie Brisick
Follow Emi at @emi_erickson.
Produced by Jonathan Shifflett.
Music by Little Wings.
Feature image by Thomas Lodin.
