Travel

SURFING EUROPE

SURFING EUROPE – BOOK – CHRIS NELSON & DEMI TAYLOR

An invaluable resource – a one-stop guide to surfing across the continent.
Surfer Magazine

THE IDEA

To produce the ultimate guide and total resource to surfing and travelling in Europe. Original concept by Chris Nelson and Demi Taylor.

THE RESULT

Surfing Europe conceived and written by Chris Nelson and Demi Taylor. This groundbreaking 400pg full colour, best selling surf and travel guide, covers the Atlantic coastline of Europe and Morocco, combining practical information, anecdotes, tales and stunning photography. Published by Footprint Handbooks.

Picture edited by Demi Taylor featuring images from the cream of European surf photographers.

Critically acclaimed, 400 pg full colour book.

2 Editions published

THE APPROACH

This is the one that set the hook, the one we left the 9-5 of desk jobs for. Starting September 2001, we embarked on a year long road trip; surfing, charting, researching and exploring the coastline of Europe – finding out all the information a travelling surfer really wants including: the best places to surf, sleep, eat and drink, where to get your board fixed and what to do on the inevitable flat days.

Simply put, we wanted to create a innovative book that was all about maximising water time – helping surfers spend more time surfing and less time searching, whether they’re looking for where to score the best waves on the day or the best places to kick back and relax – and that book became ‘Surfing Europe’.

Taking in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Spain and the Canary Islands, Portugal, Morocco and Italy, ‘Surfing Europe‘ combines in-depth, accurate surf information and mapping, surf travel essentials and Surfers Tales – horses mouth stories of adventure bringing the coastline to life. From ideation to delivery, we conceived this durable, heavyweight to go the distance, so the book fits into any glove box making it the essential companion for anyone serious about surfing in Europe. The revolutionary format we created for publishers Footprint Handbooks spawned an entire series of activity guides.

An indispensable guide to any Euro jaunt.
Carve Magazine

THE REVIEWS – SURFING EUROPE

“Hailed as the new surfer’s bible.” Extreme Sports Channel

“The best surf guide to Europe ever published: concise, very informative, beautifully designed and illustrated and easy to consult.” Surf Portugal Magazine

“The most up to date guide to surf in Europe.” Trip Surf Magazine

“An indispensable guide to any Euro jaunt.” Carve Magazine

“A one-stop guide to surfing across the continent.” Surfer Magazine

“Will have you packing your bags and planning your next trip” ZigZag

SURFING EUROPE
FLICK THORUGH

SURFING NORWAY

BRACING BREAKS IN THE NORTH – TRAVEL FEATURE – DEMI TAYLOR

BRACING BREAKS IN THE NORTH

> SURFING NORWAY <

The white noise intensified into a roar as a thousand black boulders were marshalled in and out of formation by the sea, each movement serving to sculpt the rocks into ever-more precise globes.

THE IDEA

To explore the previously unheralded surf potential of the Stavanger region of Norway for a main travel feature.

THE RESULT

Written by Demi Taylor the surfing Norway article featured in The Independent accompanied by photography by herself and Chris Nelson.

THE APPROACH

Demi was commissioned by the Independent newspaper to write a main travel feature about a surf destination that was off the beaten track. Supported by the Norwegian Tourist Board, Demi travelled to Stavanger to explore the region. Timing her visit to coincide with one of best swells to hit the region in decades, Demi’s reputation as a surf writer meant she was taken to some of the region’s closely guarded surf spots and given unrivalled access to the community. The resulting feature exploring the potential of Surfing Norway weaves together interviews, anecdotes and first hand travel insights.

Bracing Breaks in the North. Demi Taylor catches some extremely cool waves Surfing in Norway

For more than an hour, six of us traded waves. The party included Norway’s first surfer, Roar Berge, who spent the 1980’s pioneering these shores. ‘Well, that was a religious experience,’ he exclaimed as he walked back to the car park, grinning ear-to-ear. His face said it all, while his background put it into context; this really was a special day.

bracing breaks
read

COLD WATER SOULS

COLD WATER SOULS – BOOK – CHIS NELSON

COLD WATER SOULS

> READ AN EXTRACT <

Superb – a testament to the spirit of the surfers who are out there year after year, building the world’s frigid beauty into the stuff that fires the soul.
The Surfer’s Journal

Cold Water Souls: In Search of Surfing's Cold Water Pioneers written by Chris Nelson exploring Nova Scotia, Hokkaido, Scotland, Alaska, Iceland and beyond. — Image: Tim Nunn

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson conceived the idea to write a book unearthing the tales of cold water surfing’s pioneers.

THE RESULT

Cold Water Souls: In Search of Surfing’s Cold Water Pioneers written by Chris Nelson – a ground breaking 280pg full colour, critically acclaimed non-fiction book. Published by Footprint Handbooks.

The book explores the frigid line ups of Nova Scotia, Hokkaido, Scotland, Alaska, Iceland and beyond, bringing to life the tales of the surfers that call these places ‘home’.

Picture edited by Demi Taylor featuring images from the cream of international surf photographers.

Critically acclaimed, 280 pg full colour book

THE APPROACH

Chris Nelson grew up surfing the frigid reefs of England’s northeast coast, where winter water temperatures regularly dip below 5 degrees.

Cold Water Souls is a book of our times. It is an anthropological study of the world’s most inhospitable line ups – North East England, Scotland, Nova Scotia, Vancouver Island, USA, Alaska, Hokkaido, Iceland and beyond – and the surfers that call these waves ‘home’.

Chris’s international reputation as a respected surf and travel writer allowed access to communities whose stories had been previously untold. He travelled to inhospitable shores glazed in ice and beaches hidden beneath snowdrifts. He broke bread with biker gangs in Japan and talked story with nuclear engineers in Scotland, unearthing tales of communities across the globe whose surf culture runs counter to popular wisdom. Blending travel tales, history, and cultural references with never before heard tales of cold water surfing’s pioneers and photography from the world’s leading lensmen, Cold Water Souls is a critically acclaimed story of surfing’s final frontiers as told through its waveriding community.

A rich and beautiful book… Good reading and good looking – definitely one for the collection
The Surfer’s Path

Cold Water Souls in Search of Surfing's Cold Water Pioneers written by Chris Nelson Japanese surfer Taro Tamai image Richie Hopson — Image: Richie Hopson

THE REVIEWS – COLD WATER SOULS

“I’ve been captivated by (Chris Nelson’s) untold stories of weathered pioneers. A unique mix of historical and contemporary non-fiction, I recommend this book to anybody looking for peelers on roads less travelled” Cyrus Sutton, Korduroy TV

“The best surfing book to ever come out of the UK, it easily stands shoulder to shoulder with the best pieces of surfing literature on a global level.” Wavelength

“If you want to be regaled with inspirational tales of those on the vanguard of surfing’s latest evolution, start reading.” SBC SURF Pick of the Literature

“A genuine masterpiece of surf publishing that will whet your appetite for something different.” Drift

”Nelson has produced a beautiful read…grab a copy of Cold Water Souls. This book is too plain cool.” ESM

“Chris Nelson’s excellent book Cold Water Souls, (is) an exploration of the way the sport of surfing has spread from its warm-water genesis points to more frigid corners of the world.” The Scotsman

“A book of frozen treasures… championing the maverick spirits and unexpected beauty of these harsh environments.” Cooler Magazine

COLD WATER SOULS
READ AN EXTRACT