The Extraordinary Life of Alex Gray

Alex Gray is one of those surfers who always seems to be in the right place.

The 31-year-old Californian has a hugely impressive wrap sheet when it comes to waves of consequence; he made it out of  one of the heaviest kegs of the day on the Teahupoo Code Red day (winning him best barrel of 2011 at The Surfer Poll awards), he scored all-time Fiji during the comp in 2012, he charges Puerto regularly, has competed in the Eddie as well as on the WSL BWT and had starring roles alongside Slater in two Taylor Steele films.

Like all of the world’s best, he spent his formative years grinding away in the junior ranks, however it wasn’t long before he broke away to focus on going on trips and starring in films. Despite losing a major sponsor last year, Alex is still going strong on that front and in the last few months we’ve seen him scoring all time in Morocco (the session featured in this clip) and tucking in to some incredible kegs in what looks like one of the best slabs on earth, deep in the frozen Alaskan wilderness.

“That’s the hardest part, I live my life off of a figment of a computer’s imagination, and I will literally sacrifice everything to be there for that moment that might happen” he explains.

To an extent this is something all surfers can relate to. We’ve all turned up late to an important event, or blown off important priorly cemented plans to go surf, but for some of the world’s elite surfers, photographers and film makers, their entire life is structured so everything can be put on hold at the drop of a hat so they can fly off and chase a swell. Here’s what it looks like when everything comes together:

More from Alex Gray:
Bright Blue Mexican Perfection
Insta Barrels
An Alaskan Surf Adventure