Heck yes, it’s cold on Lake Superior, but Dan Schetter finds surfing the Great Lakes a rewarding challenge.

On Jan. 10, 2008, in Marquette, the temperature dips below 20 degrees, and a mean north wind whips through town. An earlier forecast called for a storm to produce 12-to-17 foot waves on Lake Superior. But Dan Schetter, 29, of Marquette, is disappointed. The waves are much smaller than expected.

“Hard Core Dan,” as his friends call him, surfs Lake Superior (and occasionally Lake Michigan) in the winter months because that’s when the biggest storms occur. Big storms mean big waves. And catching big waves is Schetter’s passion.

Mostly undaunted, he dons his wetsuit, headgear, gloves and boots, which protect him from the freezing water. With a surfboard under his arm, he heads down the shoreline through the jack pines and snow at Marquette’s Presque Isle Park looking like some out-of-place Jacques Cousteau—a Yooper version of the French oceanographer.

Schetter caught his first big wave in Hawaii near Waikiki beach in early 1994. Sitting around with his family, wondering what to do, Schetter says it was like a light bulb came on. “We’re in Hawaii man, we gotta surf.”

A surf shop provided a body board, good for beginners, because you can ride on it prone or on your knees, he explains. He swam out. He watched the locals. He kicked really hard, but just couldn’t get the timing right. He was on his belly, kicking. Try again. Try again. When suddenly, a wave caught him.

“It picked me up in the air and threw me out in front of it. Ahhhhhhh,” he beams. “I had never experienced anything like that before. It was the coolest thing ever. All this energy behind me. Solid adrenaline shooting through my body. And the wave was only 3 or 4 feet. It was at that moment that I became a surfer,” Schetter reminisces. “I’ve been chasin’ that feeling ever since.”

Back in his native Marquette in 1995, Schetter observed the waves on Lake Superior and decided they were surfable. He thought he was alone, but he soon discovered a handful of others surfing the big lake. “There’s a solid group of about six or seven of us, and sometimes a couple dozen out on a good day,” says Schetter of current local interest. Actually, surfing the Great Lakes has a bit of history.

The Great Lakes Surfing Association was originated in Grand Haven, in 1964. According to P.L. Strazz’ book, “Surfing the Great Lakes,” Grand Haven’s South Pier on Lake Michigan is popular with local surfers for its easy access into deeper water and waves. The book is very informative for anyone interested in surfing fresh water. He covers all aspects of the sport, including location statistics on each of the Great Lakes and stories from experienced “Lakes” surfers who share the love of riding a wave on a board.

At collectively one-fifth of the world’s fresh water supply, the Lakes’ size is what makes them able to produce big enough waves to surf. Strazz describes a process called wind set-up in which a lake storm lasting several hours or days continually pushes water toward shore, producing progressively larger waves. He says it takes five to 10 hours of winds blowing at 15 knots over water for a distance of 50 miles to produce suitable waves.

Schetter watches the weather almost every day for the right conditions to build the biggest waves. There are differences in catching fresh water waves as opposed to riding ocean swells. Surfing the Great Lakes, he says, can be both more challenging and rewarding. Waves may be smaller, but they are usually closer together, so the wait between rides can be shorter. But there’s less buoyancy without the ocean’s salt, which makes paddling out a little harder. There is also ice and rocks to avoid, and of course there’s the cold. Strazz charts Marquette waters in January to average around 17 degrees. He adds that if you are going to surf the Great Lakes in the winter, there are two words with regard to wetsuits: “Get one.”

For anyone who’s driven by Casualties Skate & Snow, a Marquette sports shop, and wondered what the black, rubber-clad mannequin was doing in the display window in February holding a surfboard, now you know. The shop is one of the largest surfing equipment dealers in the Midwest, and sponsors Schetter by providing his wetsuit and surf boards. Equipment can even be purchased on a rent-to-own agreement, making the sport accessible to most anyone at around $65 per session. Although Schetter says most locals still don’t believe anyone can surf here.

“People are so in denial,” he says. “You can even show them pictures, and they still don’t believe it.”

One can’t blame them. Without personally knowing the exhilaration of conquering one of Mother Nature’s most powerful elements, it’s hard to understand why anyone would risk such peril. “It’s an extremely dangerous sport,” confirms Casualties employee, Jeff Larson. First, you must be an excellent swimmer. You have to know about rip currents and what to do if you’re caught in one. You need to know how waves work. And, the right equipment is essential.

Strazz lists even more possible scenarios. Hypothermia, cold shock, rocks, pollution, ice, fatigue, vertigo, and getting accidentally whacked by the board are all good reasons to reconsider venturing out.

Yet, watching Schetter rush straight into Lake Superior’s beautiful wrath is admittedly exciting. It’s enough just to watch the waves roll and crest in constant green-and-white chaos, let alone watch a human brave enough to meet them head-on.

He paddles a little, rises atop a crest, and then hops to a stand. It looks insanely fun as he rides it in—twisting, cutting and leaning. Boosh! He smashes through a whitecap next time out and surprisingly emerges upright.

It’s frigid. The photographer’s batteries are not cooperating. The reporters’ pens are useless when ink freezes. But after a few more successful rides, Schetter is radiant, despite the icicles forming on his beard. He’s what others in the business call “stoked.” And he may be at it for a few more hours yet, because it’s not every day the waves are surfable. Asked if he’s cold—“Wooohoooo,” is all he can say.

And he runs out to do it again.

Kim Strom is a former writer for the Escanaba Daily Press who moved “home” to Marquette as a marketing executive for the Action Shopper and is pecking away at a degree in English.