Wisconsin's four seasons give us windows of opportunity to enjoy our pastimes and passions.
But some people like breaking windows.
In Sheboygan, icy winter waves on Lake Michigan can mean only one thing: surf's up!
The early morning February sun is rising over North Beach. Beyond jagged walls of ice barricading the shoreline, there's a sea of possibility for those willing to brave the elements.
"This is what we call 'dawn patrol,'" says surfer Christa Gornjak, of Kewaskum, taking a moment to step out of the freezing water to talk, "yesterday my husband surfed, and we knew there was going to be leftover waves."
Sheboygan might not jump off the map as 'Surfing Capitol, USA,' but for those who know the waves here--and when to find them--it might as well be.
"You have these jetties here, and then they call it 'the elbow' over there," points out Gornjak, as her husband catches a wave in the distance. "The waves wrap around, and kind of break it up, and they have a little beach break. And the waves come in nice, and calm-sometimes."
It's an experience Gornjak and her husband are willing to dive into every winter.
"Last winter, we probably surfed 15 times all winter long because this didn't freeze over," laughs Gornjak, "you have to have the right gear on, because you have to be safe first."
In this case, for Gornjak, that means a neoprene wetsuit 6 millimeters thick.
"So, it's like a walrus suit, basically," says Gornjak, "thick mittens, thick booties, keep your head covered, and try not to get too much water inside."
It's a sight that attracts its share of onlookers..
"Surfers are a committed bunch," says Michael Tiboris, of San Diego, who walked down to the beach with his son to watch the surfers ride the waves, "I don't get in the water unless it's 65 [degrees] or warmer," he adds, laughing.
Gornjak isn't immune to the freezing waters and bitter winds, either.
"If it gets really windy, your core drops," says Gornjak. "Your feet get cold, your hands get cold."
Using her body like a temperature gauge, she says when she's lost feeling in her arms and legs, it's probably time to head for shore.
"Or, you just go until you can't anymore," laughs Gornjak.
With the eventual warm-up, summer weather will bring with it hundreds of surfers from across the state, even country.
But gornjak says, don't write the experience of trying a mid-February surf off just yet.
"It's all liquid goodness," says Gornjak, standing on inches of jagged ice along the shoreline.
