The Aleutian Islands are a chain of islands that extend west from southern Alaska; they’re known for their extreme weather and nasty seas—the Pacific to the south; the Bering to the north. Alex Gray and Anthony Walsh didn’t just travel here to surf though. The particular island that we were exploring is home to the single longest-settled community in the entire world. The Aleutians who reside there are descendants from a group that migrated from Russia across the Bering Strait over 8,000 years ago; they never left. Gray and Walsh had traveled to the island with hopes of learning some indigenous practices firsthand—hunting, in particular—and teaching the locals how to surf in exchange. No one was making it out of this trip unscathed. – Words by Chris Brinlee Jr.
