By the time I pulled into Lido Beach, the storm had already done its thing.
Overnight, the blizzard dropped roughly 15 to 30 inches of snow across Nassau County. Wind gusts pushing 40 to 50 miles per hour didn’t just blanket the beach, they sculpted it. Snow drifts curled against the dunes and fencing like frozen ocean swells. In some spots the sand disappeared entirely under knee deep powder. In others, the wind stacked it waist high, turning the shoreline into something that felt more Arctic than Atlantic.
Most of Long Island was still digging out.
Driveways were half cleared. Snowblowers roared in suburban rhythm. Cars sat buried to their mirrors while their owners chipped away at ice like archaeologists uncovering lost civilization.
And at the beach? Silence.
Blue sky. Sharp cold. The kind of air that bites your face and makes camera batteries nervous.
That’s where I met up with Cliff Skudin and the other locals devoted to the winter surf scene.
While most people were freeing their cars from snowbanks, Cliff and the crew were suiting up. Thick wetsuit. Boots. Gloves. Hood. The full winter armor. The Atlantic was still charged from the overnight wind. The storm had churned the water, reshaped the sandbars, and left behind clean, powerful swell in its wake.
There’s something surreal about the morning after a blizzard. The chaos is over, but the evidence is everywhere. Snow dunes stacked on top of sand dunes. Ice crust forming along the tide line. Plows in the distance. A beach that looks untouched and completely transformed at the same time.
Filming in those conditions is its own adventure. Tripods sinking into snow. Fingers going numb between takes. Salt spray mixing with freezing air. Every lens adjustment feels like a small negotiation with the weather.
But standing there and witnessing all of it…
It suddenly it all makes sense.
The contrast is what makes it special. Suburban Long Island in recovery mode just a few miles away, while out here someone is carving through winter swell under a crystal clear sky. Two completely different versions of the same morning.
That is what I love about documenting these sessions. It is not just about the surfing. It is about the setting. The conditions. The story the weather tells before anyone even hits the water.
Over a foot of snow. Massive blowing drifts. Most people stuck at home or shoveling out.
And surfers choosing to paddle out.
The full vlog captures the behind the scenes of that post blizzard session at Lido Beach. If you have ever wondered what Long Island surf looks like right after a major winter storm, this was it.
Cold hands. Frozen gear. Unreal morning.