Not Your Standard Surf Trip | WSO x Hurley

Not every surf trip starts with checking the swell forecast. This wasn’t your standard surf trip.

No tide charts. No hoping the wind swings offshore. No chasing a storm across the Atlantic. This was something completely different.

Supported by Hurley, I (Matthew from Wetsuit Outlet) headed deep into the Swiss Alps alongside Jensen and Rory for a surf trip that was about as far from “standard” as you can get. Destination? Alaïa Bay, a world-class wave pool sitting at the foot of snow-covered mountains in one of the most unexpected surf locations on the planet.

Surfing in a landlocked country already feels strange enough. But paddling into perfectly engineered waves while surrounded by snow-capped Alpine peaks genuinely messes with your brain in the best possible way. One minute you’re driving through winding mountain roads and frozen scenery, the next you’re waxing boards and pulling into waves in crystal blue water beneath the Alps.

This wasn’t your average surf trip – and honestly, that was exactly the point.

The day started long before sunrise.

3am in Newquay. Boards packed, Hurley wetsuits stuffed into the side of the board bag for extra protection, coffees doing their best to wake us up while the rest of the town was still asleep. There’s always something surreal about the start of a surf trip, that mix of exhaustion and excitement where nothing quite feels real yet. But this one felt different from the beginning.

We loaded up and started the drive to Bristol Airport, slowly trading dark Cornish roads for the first signs of morning light. Somewhere between half-awake conversations and the sun creeping up, it started to sink in what we were actually doing.

We weren’t heading for the coast. We weren’t chasing a swell chart across Europe. We were flying into Switzerland, a country better known for skiing than surfing, to ride waves beneath the Alps.

After landing in Geneva, the trip shifted again. Airports gave way to train stations, and suddenly the whole journey slowed down. The two-hour train ride through Switzerland felt like something out of a film. Snow-covered peaks filled the windows, deep lakes flashed past, and every turn deeper into the mountains made the whole concept of the trip feel even more surreal.

Surfboards stood up in the bicycle section of the train while we admired the view and almost forgot about the waves for a second, until we hit the last leg of the journey. By the time we were on the 10-minute bus towards Alaïa Bay, the anticipation had properly kicked in. After hours of travelling, venturing deeper into the Alps with every stage, we finally caught the first glimpse of the wave pool sitting beneath the mountains.

We finally rolled into Alaïa Bay in the most traditional surfer way possible, almost late.

Our session was booked for 3pm. We arrived at 2:50.

No slow walk around to take it all in. No time to properly figure out where we were going. Just straight into organised chaos. Check in, sign forms, dump bags, find the changing rooms and get suited up as quickly as possible before hearing the first waves firing down the pool.

Luckily, the Hurley wetsuits made that part easy. After hours of travelling, the last thing anyone wants is a fight getting into cold neoprene, but the stretch in the suits meant they slipped on fast, which was ideal considering we were basically racing the clock to make it into the water.

And then suddenly, just like that, we were paddling out.

Me, Jensen and Rory sitting in a lineup... in Switzerland.

For the first few minutes, it genuinely didn’t feel real. Snow-covered mountains surrounding the pool, a blazing sun, crystal-clear water and perfectly mechanical waves rolling towards us one after another. Everything about it contradicted what surfing normally feels like, yet somehow it still had all the same energy.

That familiar pre-session buzz.

The nerves before your first wave.

The scramble to get into position.

And honestly, it took a while for it to properly sink in that we had actually made it. 

What followed over the next two days was a blur in the best possible way.

Between the three of us, we surfed 21 hours in total – seven sessions over 2 days. Trading between 4/3mm and 3/2mm Hurley wetsuits depending on the time of day and temperature. And honestly, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

Sunshine overhead, snow still sitting on the mountains around us, and water temperatures hovering around 16°C. We had the most fun ever, and it was impossible not to.

But what really made the trip stand out wasn’t just the novelty of surfing in the Alps, it was how good absolutely everything at Alaïa Bay actually was.

 

The setup.

The organisation.

The staff and local crew.

The facilities.

The restaurant and bar overlooking the wave.

The atmosphere around the place.

Every part of it felt properly thought through. You could tell the whole place had been built by people who genuinely understand surfers and surf culture, while still creating something completely unique to its location.

And the waves themselves? Just endlessly fun.

Perfect walls rolling through all day long, giving us the chance to surf more waves in two days than you’d probably score during a good week chasing swell back home. 

By the end of the trip, time somehow felt both incredibly fast and completely stretched out at the same time. The two days disappeared in a flash, yet it also felt like we’d been away for far longer, disconnected from normal life and completely locked into the rhythm of surfing, eating, laughing and repeating it all over again.

Having fresh, perfectly fitting Hurley wetsuits for the trip only added to it. When you’re surfing that much, comfort matters massively, and the flexibility and warmth in the suits made long days in the water effortless.

It’s hard to explain how strange, and how brilliant, it feels to surf perfect waves while surrounded by alpine mountains.

But one thing was certain by the time we left:

We were already thinking about going back.

What We Wore:

With water temperatures sitting around 13 to 16°C, we ended up rotating between a few different Hurley wetsuits throughout the trip depending on the session times and changing alpine temperatures.

I started the colder morning sessions in the Hurley Advant 4/3mm, before switching into the lighter and super-flexible Hurley Air 3/2mm for the rest of the day.

Rory ran the Hurley Plus 4/3mm in the mornings, paired with the Hurley Air 3/2mm later into the warmer afternoon sessions.

Jensen kept things simple for the whole trip, surfing exclusively in the Hurley Advant 4/3mm from start to finish.

After surfing seven hours each across two days, having wetsuits that were lightweight, stretchy and genuinely comfortable made a massive difference, especially when you’re constantly changing, travelling and paddling back out session after session.

Thank you Hurley, Mark Blackman, Matt Rumble, Wetsuit Outlet, Alaïa Bay, Jensen Martin, Rory Martin, Heidi Martin & Switzerland. 

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