On The Nose

How an unlikely collaboration between shaper Chris Christenson and an aerospace engineer from Pennsylvania may alter the future of big-wave surfboard design

- Zander Morton

For the most part, big-wave guns have looked much the same for the last few decades. Sure, shapers have made incremental changes to volume, fin placement, rocker, bottom contours, etc., but the general shape of a big-wave surfboard looks about the same today as it did 30 years ago. Until now, that is.

Southern California shaper Chris Christenson, who makes boards for Greg Long, Ian Walsh and many more of the world’s best big-wave riders, recently unveiled a unique craft. With a bulbous nose that’s over 9 inches thick (yes, you read that right), shaped from EPS and glassed with carbon fiber, it looks unlike any big-wave board you’ve ever seen.

“This surfboard came about because of an aerospace engineer from Pennsylvania named Roger Birkbeck,” says Christenson. “And the funny thing is that Roger isn’t even a surfer; he’s never surfed a day in his life.”