Surf Cat

In 2015, 17-year-old Russell Bierke from Ulladulla, Australia came out of nowhere to land the cover of SURFING Magazine. The photo, shot by fellow teenager Leroy Bellet while riding behind Bierke inside the guts of one of their loony hometown slabs, stands as one of the best surf images of all-time. In an accompanying interview with that issue, Bierke said his life motto is: “You never know until you go.”

Nothing could be more fitting.

In the four years since, Bierke has cemented his place as one of the best big-wave surfers in the world. Especially in slabs. He has an innate ability to handle late drops in over vert surf unlike anyone else we’ve ever seen. And he doesn’t hold back. On anything.

That go-for-it-on-everything attitude has seen him make—and get broken off on—some of the craziest waves of the past few years. Two years ago he took a wipeout in South Australia that knocked him unconscious, and he nearly drowned. But that was just a minor blip for Bierke. If anything, since that fall, he’s only pushed himself harder.

Photo Credit: Ryan Craig

This short film, “Flow State”—directed and produced by Andrew Kaineder—is the most well-rounded look at Bierke yet. Featuring the wave (and wipeout) of his life at Shipstern Bluff, along with a mind-blowing session at an unnamed Pipeline/Mavs hybrid left slab, and interesting off-the-cuff insight into what goes on inside Bierke’s brain, “Flow State” is an edit to be watched immediately.

Click play to watch the film, and then read on for an exclusive interview with Bierke.

The film opens with a slo-mo sequence of a heavy wipeout at Shipstern Bluff, followed by a cool exchange between you and Brett Burcher about that wave. Those mini-interviews continue throughout the film. Whose idea was it to include that insight?

Talking to Andrew [Kaineder] in the past, we’ve always been over the talking head, sit down and look at the camera interviews. So we just decided to record more candid conversations. He [Kaineder] seems to have done a good job of making it work.

Speaking of that wipeout. Talk a little more about that wave. Did you get smoked?

[Laughs] I kinda thought I was onto the one when it was coming in. I thought I was in the spot. But it just had this little ledge at the last minute, and it held me up. I ended up free-falling. I thought I might be able to stick it but the bottom just kept dropping out. I ended up putting a massive dent in my board with my feet. Somehow, I ended up not breaking it, or myself, and I actually didn’t get that flogged on that wave. I had one later in the session that pinched on me and I got a way worse beating. Just goes to show you never really know. But on that one I got off really lucky. I expected the beating of my life [laughs].

How about that left slab, the one that looks like a mix between Mavericks and Pipe. Your positioning out there is crazy. How long have you been surfing that wave?

I think my first surf out there I was 12 or 13, and Paul Morgan towed me into a few. Since then I’ve been doing the mission down there nearly every time it’s broken, just trying to paddle it. It’s been a gradual learning curve paddling that place [laughs].

Looks to us like you have a pretty damn good handle on it. What size board are you riding?

In most of those clips I’m riding a 7’2″, and on some of the bigger ones I’m on an 8’0″.

How did you learn to knife a big board like that? [See 6:20]

I have to give credit to the boards my dad shapes [KB surfboards]. I’m not a big fan of the big, chunky boards. Out there my boards are like old-school Pipe guns. They’re super thin so you can get the rail in, which is a huge factor in big barrels. It’s been really cool to have dad shape my boards and show me the ropes in big waves. It’s definitely accelerated my learning.

In the film Burcher asks: ‘What is your headspace? Were you tortured as a young fellow?’ While you laugh it off, it’s an interesting question. What is that draws you to the heaviest waves in the world? Is it the rush of the chase, the rush of the moment or the rush of the way you feel after catching a f—ked up wave?

It’s kind of a combination of everything. That whole chase, and wanting to push yourself, and then once you actually achieve that goal it’s just a really good feeling. But it does always leave you wanting more. I tend to leave places thinking about how I could have gotten a better one.

Did your near-drowning a couple years ago change anything about your approach in big waves?

It changed the way I look at big-wave sessions and picking my battles. That near-drowning happened on the most perfect day—it wasn’t that big, and it was nice and offshore. So it’s taught me I need to have a safety plan no matter what because things can go wrong, and not always in the gnarly conditions you expect. So now, I make sure I have a safety plan and a Jet Ski in place. The most dangerous thing is when you fall and your board hits you, like what happened to me. You can’t really get out of that situation yourself. Whenever we surf that left slab in the video we trade off on the Ski. It’s worth doing for peace of mind, in case something does happen.

How about fear in general. How do you deal with it? And what’s the most scared you’ve been while surfing recently?

You just can’t let fear turn to panic. Easier said than done, but I’ve tried to learn to take a few deep breaths and not really think about anything. The most scared I’ve been recently was at Nazare, this time last year. I got towed into one, faded too far, and got blown up. I was under forever, popped up, barely got a breath and got another one on the head. I could feel myself getting pulled into the rocks. That was a scary one.

Is the risk/reward worth it for you at a place like Nazare?

I don’t think so. If I did make that wave, I don’t think the reward would have been quite up to what I experienced, punishment-wise [laughs]. I don’t get the same rush out of towing as I do paddling, just putting your head down and having to go yourself. That’s where I’m at the moment.

Speaking of paddling crazy slabs. Talk about the final wave in the film, which you call the wave of your life while speaking with Burcher in the film.

That was the same session as the big wipeout. It was almost like a repeat airdrop, but I just got into that one a little bit earlier, and it didn’t hold me up. Yeah, I definitely think that was the best wave I’ve ever caught.

Describe what that wave looked like from your perspective. And did the clip do it justice?

Talon Clemow’s water clip definitely did it justice. He was just sitting on the bowl looking into it. That whole wave, my feet were a bit funny from that airdrop. My back foot was nearly hanging off my board. The whole time, I was trying to shuffle it back to where it normally goes, just praying I wouldn’t fall. When it flared on the end section, it was pretty surreal standing in that. I have a good memory of it still.

Soooo…how do you top that?

[Laughs] I don’t know. I’m just happy to chase these sort of waves around the world at the moment. It’s a dream come true, really.